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Challenge

How might we enable internal and external maintenance specialists to remotely support maintenance activities at Grupo Bimbo’s Guadalajara plant through smart glasses, VR and AR, so that plant teams can perform live videodiagnosis, execute guided maintenance routines, reduce downtime and avoid unnecessary travel?

Grupo Bimbo wants to improve industrial maintenance support by enabling plant maintenance teams to access specialized expertise remotely during maintenance interventions.

The challenge aims to test a pilot-ready VR, AR and smart-glasses solution across three priority use cases: live remote video diagnosis, AR-guided lubrication routines and AR-guided daily maintenance controls, giving technicians real-time access to expert guidance, technical specifications, maintenance instructions and expected operating ranges directly in the production environment.

Grupo BIMBO

Grupo Bimbo is the world’s largest baking company and a relevant player in snacks. With operations across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, it combines a broad portfolio of leading brands with a strong commitment to innovation, nutrition and sustainability.

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Challenge framing

Current Situation

Grupo Bimbo currently uses sensors to detect machine anomalies and support preventive maintenance. However, detecting an anomaly does not eliminate the need to physically inspect, maintain or repair equipment, perform lubrication routines or complete daily operational checks.

When specialized expertise is not available on site, maintenance teams must coordinate with internal specialists or external suppliers through calls, messaging tools and the manual sharing of photos, videos or technical information. In some cases, specialist travel to the plant may still be required.

This can contribute to machinery downtime, slower response and resolution times, dependency on scarce expert resources, difficulties communicating technical details remotely and unnecessary specialist travel.

Maintenance activities also rely on technical documentation, standard procedures, lubrication plans and daily control checklists that are not currently delivered as contextual, hands-free AR guidance during the intervention itself.

Desired Situation

Grupo Bimbo wants to create a maintenance-support model in which plant technicians can receive real-time remote expert assistance through VR, AR and smart glasses while working directly on industrial equipment.

A remote specialist should be able to see the technician’s field of view in real time and support live videodiagnosis, allowing maintenance issues to be assessed and resolved without requiring the expert to be physically present whenever possible.

The solution should also support:

  • AR-guided lubrication routines, showing the technician the relevant lubrication points, lubricant type and required sequence.
  • AR-guided daily maintenance controls, indicating where measurements such as water, air, pressure or temperature should be taken and displaying the expected levels or acceptable ranges.
  • Contextual access to technical information, including specifications, procedures, manuals and maintenance instructions while the technician performs the task.

The initial objective is to validate the solution through a pilot at the Guadalajara plant, demonstrating operational and technical feasibility, improving access to specialized expertise, reducing unnecessary travel and downtime, and assessing its potential to scale to additional plants, assets and maintenance processes.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders

Internal stakeholders
Maintenance leadership and plant maintenance teams, plant operations, Engineering, Business Technology, Health & Safety, Cybersecurity / IT Security, plant management and other operational leaders involved in maintenance processes.

External stakeholders
External maintenance specialists and suppliers providing specialized technical expertise, as well as startups and technology providers supporting the pilot.

Primary users
Plant maintenance teams and technicians at the Guadalajara plant who require real-time support while performing maintenance activities in production environments.
Secondary users and beneficiaries include maintenance specialists, engineering teams, production teams, plant managers and operational leaders who would benefit from faster issue resolution, reduced travel and more consistent access to specialized technical knowledge.

 

Possible solutions

Possible Solutions

  • Smart-glasses solutions for hands-free industrial maintenance assistance.
  • Remote expert-assistance and live video diagnosis platforms.
  • Industrial augmented-reality maintenance solutions.
  • AR-guided lubrication and preventive-maintenance workflows.
  • AR-guided inspection and daily control solutions.
  • Contextual visualization of equipment specifications, procedures and operating ranges.
  • Secure collaboration solutions connecting plant technicians with internal specialists and external suppliers.
  • Industrial VR/AR platforms integrating technical documentation and maintenance knowledge.
  • Device and headset management solutions suitable for production environments.
  • Solutions capable of connecting AR/VR maintenance workflows with asset, maintenance or preventive anomaly-detection data.

Technical Requirements

  • Support for real-time remote assistance through VR/AR devices or smart glasses.
  • Ability to securely share the technician’s field of view with a remote specialist for live videodiagnosis.
  • Hands-free or low-friction interaction suitable for maintenance activities in industrial environments.
  • Visualization of technical specifications, maintenance instructions and contextual information during interventions.
  • AR guidance for lubrication routines, including lubrication points, lubricant types and sequence.
  • AR guidance for daily maintenance controls, including measurement locations and expected values or acceptable ranges for variables such as water, air, pressure and temperature.
  • Ability to work with relevant technical information such as equipment manuals, maintenance procedures, lubrication plans, control checklists, asset information, incident history, maintenance tickets, photos, videos and expert knowledge.
  • Potential integration with maintenance-management systems, asset and equipment databases, technical-document repositories, collaboration tools, identity and access management, and mobile or headset device-management platforms.
  • Secure communication with both internal specialists and approved external suppliers.
  • Role-based access and protection of technical information.
  • Compliance with Grupo Bimbo cybersecurity, privacy, access-control, device-management and industrial-safety requirements.
  • Consideration of connectivity and safe device use within the plant production environment.
  • Compatibility, where relevant, with existing preventive anomaly-detection capabilities and sensor data.
  • Pilot-ready maturity, preferably with previous experience in industrial or manufacturing environments.
  • A credible path from the Guadalajara pilot to broader deployment across additional plants, assets or maintenance processes.
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