# Augmented Reality in a Lean Workplace at Smart Factories: A Case Study
## 4 Case Study Presentation  
This study focuses on a tier-one supplier in the automotive industry, located in Portugal. Founded in 1990, this company is specialized in the manufacturing and development of multimedia systems, electronic equipment, primarily navigation systems and automotive instrumentation. With around 4000 staff members, the company based its management model on the TPS and Lean principles in order to increase competitiveness and eliminate waste from existing processes.  
The logistics department was the focus of this work and the case study was deployed within Material Flow and Physical Logistics section, which is responsible for the internal storage, warehouses management, supply materials to production areas and transportation operations and comprises four main logistics areas (Figure 3):  
1. Incoming;
2. Internal logistics for final assembly;
3. Internal logistics for Surface-Mount Device (SMD) assembly;
4. Shipping.  
The logistic processes within this section were analysed from an ergonomic and safety point of view, with a special focus on activities that represent greater human effort or where more work-related accidents or incidents occur.  
A rigorous analysis and process mapping were carried out within these areas, with a special focus on the following tasks:  
1. Incoming tasks;
2. Warehousing tasks;
3. Repacking tasks;
4. Final and SMD assembly supermarkets tasks;
5. Lines supply tasks;
6. Shipping and dispatch tasks.  
The flow of information is ensured in real time, through the use of internal software tools that are integrated with the company's Enterprise Resource planning system.  
The conclusions drawn and the opportunities for improving working conditions were used for the developed methodology.  
It is important to emphasize that the company has several employees who work to improve ergonomic and safety conditions. The factory has an Ergonomist, responsible for evaluating the working conditions within the workplace and implementing solutions to enhance ergonomic conditions and reduce the risk of MSD. Furthermore, there is a Safety Specialist in the logistics department that is responsible for analysing the occurrences in this department. At the same time, this specialist promotes the best practices and implements correction and mitigation actions in order to eliminate risks. In the safety area, the company also has a Technician for Health and Safety at Work that is responsible for the risk evaluation in every area within the plant, identifying the risks, prioritizing and scoring them based on their frequency and severity.  
Therefore, these three professionals can join forces to ensure workers' well-being in the workplace, reducing the risk of accidents, incidents, and MSD, while establishing safer work environments with improved ergonomic conditions. However, in the past, collaboration between them was not always the case, and their efforts were not always integrated with all stakeholders. Each professional used their own methods, and the results of their work were not shared among each other in a standardized way.  
Figure 3: Areas of Material Flow and Physical Logistics section [59].  
The goal of this project was the combination of ergonomic, health, and safety functions into one unified methodology. This involves creating a risk assessment methodology for the logistics area that promotes standard work and helps evaluate risks faced by logistics operators. The methodology involves proposing mitigation measures based on Augmented Reality technology to reduce the risks. The development of this methodology is outlined in the following chapter.