Exploring new ways of connecting customers to products
Sartorius is one of the first companies in the biopharma industry to use Microsoft´s HoloLens. The benefit: customers can interact with Sartorius products without necessarily having to be on site.
This article is posted on our Sartorius Blog.
Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the team at the Sartorius Application Center was already looking for ways to improve accessibility for customers and provide product training without physical presence. As a result, Sartorius implemented the use of Microsoft’s HoloLens, an augmented reality (AR) tool, to enable customers around the world to interact with and learn about Sartorius products in real-time simulations from wherever they are.
An industry first mover
HoloLens enables all training participants to see through the eyes of the instructor. The device is equipped with four cameras and a microphone, and can create holograms and digital labels visible not only to the one wearing it, but to everyone joining the session. Motion tracking allows the presenter to interact with virtual objects as if they were real. “We are among the first ones in our industry to have the system,” said Dr. Ralf Schneider, who manages the Sartorius Application Center in Göttingen, Germany.
As COVID-19 spread across the world and travel became limited, the need for HoloLens grew more important. “Given the circumstances, streaming became the most interesting part,” said Ralf. “All that participants need is a computer with access to the Internet as well as Microsoft® Teams. HoloLens allows us to be highly interactive with the customers during a meeting. Participants can interact, for example via digital labels, to point out specific parts of the product they would like to have explained. This is very dynamic.”
Satisfied customers
Ralf has hosted meetings with 130 customer participants so far, plus around the same number of internal meetings. The vast majority were highly satisfied with this innovative form of presentation. As a result of interacting with HoloLens, customers are even more confident in the abilities of Sartorius.
“At the end of the day, it’s a technology for me to convince the customers that the product they see is really what they need,” he stated. “This is my role at Sartorius, and it hasn’t shifted regardless of the technology.”
The use of HoloLens is currently being expanded to other company sites around the world. This technology is now available at the Application and Training Centers in Bohemia, New York, USA; Shanghai, China; and Singapore, as well as at other departments.
