Remote 

Inspections
The Nation’s Combat Logistics Support Agency Established 1961

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Remote Inspection 

Augmented Reality

Jamie Hieber

DLA Troop Support PTC-A Lab 

Manager 

November 16, 2023
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A New Idea: Remote Inspection

• Purpose: Benefit both the 

Government and US Textile 

Plants

• Increase communication, 

enhance oversite, green 

initiative, while being 

unobtrusive.

• Since 2018 for the Clothing and 

Textile Supply Chain most 

DCMA representatives are not 

in vendor plants to see the 

process.

• C&T changed their own process 

to allow vendors to pull samples 

for PDM’s, FAT’s, and PLT

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A New Idea: Remote Inspection

• Vendors now can pull samples and 

sign off on test reports in lieu of a 

government representative. 

• This left DLA open to the possibility 

of non-conforming and counterfeit 

parts that affects the form, fit and 

function of both critical and noncritical safety items.

• For the plants it removed a 

necessary in place resource.

• New technology would give DLA 

the advantage of random remote 

inspection.

• The new technology gives the 

vendors real time communication 

on lot formation and testing.

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Updating an Old Business

• In 2021, working with the DLA J68 

R&D team on the Textile Greening 

Initiative, the PTC-A was offered the 

use of a set of augmented reality 

goggles. 

• The PTC initially used the goggles 

for internal training and future data 

capture. 

• Some brainstorming from the team 

established that goggles would be a 

good way to continue with random 

oversite of component laboratories to 

ensure quality processes are being 

followed, without overburdening any 

one supplier.

• “Random” being the key term, we 

needed to link the idea of a remote 

inspection to the notification process 

that all the C&T vendors are required 

to do as part of their contract.

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Who Wants to be 

First?

• Phase 1:

• DLA R&D purchased two Mira Prism headsets, and 

two tablets that can serve as remote expert or 

authoring tablets. They have contracted with 

Naval Information Warfare Center for technical and 

IT support.

• Information on headsets, no hard hat. 

https://www.mirareality.com/hardware/

• PTC will train our textile technologist and 

engineers on procedures using the headsets. 

• PTC will travel to five selected vendor laboratories 

to introduce the concept of remote inspection, 

demonstrate how the equipment works, and train 

vendor personnel in the concept.

• Vendors being asked to participate are Burlington 

Raeford, Burlington Finishing Plant, Brittany 

Dyeing and Finishing, Milliken, and Brookwood 

Industries

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Phase I

• The program has been running a year and will extend to 

end of calendar year 2025.

• The vehicle that supports this work is the DLA Troop 

Support Clothing &Textiles Additional Quality Assure 

Requirements.

• It is cited in every C&T contract and specifies all quality 

issues including testing.

• As the AQAR already has procedures for witnessing 

testing, those procedures will be used for remote 

inspection. This allows for oversite without undue burden 

on the plants willing to participate.

• The PTC-A engineers will write the specific testing 

workflows that will correspond to each vendor’s 

specification or purchase description.

• New headsets work of a Wi-Fi signal, but currently must 

run off the DLA network. I cannot use my iPhone hot spot.

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Phase II

• Headsets will be sent to vendor plants or have a 

headset placed there permanently to be used when 

the PTC is notified of a lot formation on specified 

items twice a quarter for all four laboratories

• The augmented reality headsets will be used in lieu 

of a laboratory specialist traveling to witness testing

• Only some testing will be viewed as specified by the 

lab specialist

• Lot formation and sample selection will also be 

viewed as a live stream.

• Data will be correlated by the PTC to see if remote 

inspection improves passing physical testing 

samples for the C&T supply chain

• We will add in end items inspection to follow the 

same procedures.

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Textile Mills

Lessons Learned

• Brittany Dyeing and Printing

– Difficulty connecting headset to phone

– Photos taken can be downloaded from 

Mira Website and enlarged for easier 

viewing.

– Workflows can be downloaded and 

saved

– Safety reminders/instructions will be 

added

– Using eyewear with older test 

equipment could prove challenging

• Brookwood Companies

– DD1222 can be uploaded instead of 

data input

– Did not get motion sickness while 

using AR headset

– Countdown while taking photos did 

not leave enough time for setup

– Photos: too much of surrounding area

– Difficulty while connecting live video 

streams from headsets with notebooks

– Stiffness test too difficult to perform
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Textile Mills

Lessons Learned

• Burlington Raeford

– No QAR at the plant for years

– Able to use the headsets and tablets to 

livestream how they cut the lots

– Burlington Finishing Plant will use the 

headsets to perform testing workflows

– Workflows will be written for each 

separate plant, so the PTC-A and the 

plant can view these workflows, and 

not worry that a competitor could also 

see it

• Milliken

– Verified you could talk through the 

headsets, and the person with the 

tablet can hear you

– Verified the livestream can be seen on 

any tablet or computer

– Prompts for remote inspection will be 

done through the source portal 

notification

– Evaluate shade baseline for monitors 

to see if a livestream shade courtesy 

could be done with remote inspection
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Next Steps

• PTC-A will travel to each plant two more times in the next six 

months

• We will introduce individualized 

workflows against items that are 

under current contract to DLA 

C&T.

• We are continuing to collect 

feedback from the users in the 

plants to address safety, ease of 

use, streamlined function, and 

communication with the PTC-A.

• In the spring time frame, we will 

move to Phase II and have the 

vendors use the headsets on 

their own.

• If proof of concept is established, 

we will work to use this method 

going forward for all component 

plants.

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DLA TS PTC-A Remote 

Inspection Journey

Initial visits to 

industry 

partners

Workflows 

developed / 

loaded

Cross 

Service 

War Fighter 

Equipment 

Board

2nd visits 

to 

industry 

partners

End item 

textile mfg. 

discussions 

w/ C&T

Eyewear / 

testing at 

component 

plants

Report

PTC-A RI 

implemented

Industry 

partners 

confirmed

PTC/J68 

discussions

01/2023 – 04/2023

05/2023 – 05/2024

12/2024 – 02/2025

12/2022 – 03/2023

02/2023

05/2023 – 10/2023

11/2023 - 11/2024

03/2025

11/2022

11/2021 – 07/2022

Burlington Raeford: viewing lot selection

Brookwood Co.: viewing stiffness test
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Remote Inspection & Product 

Verification

• “You See What I See”

• iPhone / tablet

• Eyewear

• Real time 

inspections / 

verification using 

interactive video

• Incorporate supply 

chain data, for 

viewing, during 

sessions

• Government labs

• Augmented 

reality

• Government 

labs and 

vendors
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J344 Remote Inspection

PURPOSE CUSTOMERS

DESIRED END RESULT MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Why?: DLA currently faces throughput testing challenges 

which result in excessive lead times and failures reducing 

material readiness and product availability

Result: Utilize Digital Reality (XR) to streamline acceptance 

processes and increase the speed with which critical parts 

enter the supply chain and reach the warfighter

Warfighter: Must be provided with essential material 

at the point of need

Engineers: Provided with more options and time to 

work on other key tasks 

DLA: To result in cost-savings across the organization

Cost Savings: According to DLA TQ’s analysis, 

successful implementation of the proposed XR 

technology could save DLA as much as $81M on 

testing processes and $26M on Engineering Support 

Requests (339’s)

Time Savings: Time savings on inspection, reduced 

travel and minimal coordination of logistics required

Decreased Testing Failures: Reduction by up to 40%

Success: To validate and expand upon business cases 

for XR technology while clarifying the path to secure 

implementation of remote inspection technology

Goal: To provide a foundation for DLA to implement and 

scale the integration of remote inspection capabilities and 

XR technologies across the Enterprise
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Jamie Hieber

DLA Troop Support

Product Test Center Analytical

Manager

Jamie.Hieber@dla.mil

Anna Wilson

DLA Troop Support

Product Test Center Textile

Testing Branch Chief

Anna.Wilson@dla.mil