Waiblingen, 2/21/2018 | Company press release
STIHL wins two eLearning awards for digital training projects
ANDREAS STIHL AG & Co. KG received two eLearning awards at the didacta exhibition on February 20, 2018. The company won the awards for two digital training projects, “STIHL AR Services”* in the Augmented Reality (AR) category and “STIHL Chainsaw Simulator” in the Virtual Reality (VR) category. The digital concepts for training and information are used by sales staff, dealers and product managers. Marbod Lemke, Head of International Training Services and Product Training at STIHL, emphasizes: “Paperless and virtual training materials are a milestone for STIHL. The STIHL digital training concept enables the user to learn more intensively and get closer to our products than ever before. Training success is more sustainable.” In presenting the award, the eLearning Journal explained why it chose these winners: “STIHL Training is synonymous with contemporary, innovative and future-proof learning. Consistent, language-neutral and modern design combined with intuitive control constitutes a genuine experience for the learner.” Both projects were developed in collaboration with the Stuttgart 3D Agency ALDINGER+WOLF.
Cutaway models in your pocket
The “STIHL AR Services”* winning project is based on AR technology: Graphics and illustrations are rendered within the real-world setting by means of a smartphone or tablet, and as such are viewed as an expansion of reality. The camera seeks out optical markers in the physical environment, after which a true-to-life STIHL power tool – the STIHL MS 500i for example, the world’s first chainsaw with electronic fuel injection – appears on the mobile device. Marbod Lemke explained: “This means that training materials are available for training all over the world before our power tools are actually launched on the market. We offer an interactive product experience not dependent on time or location, which digitalizes service and product training.”
Interactive experiences for sustainable learning
The STIHL “Chainsaw Simulator” makes it possible to conduct virtual tree felling training with a real chainsaw. This is a further development of last year’s award-winning “STIHL VR Explore”* project. By putting on the VR headset users enter a virtual forest, in which a huge variety of forestry work and associated techniques can be learned and practiced. Marbod Lemke explained: “The projected environment facilitates an interactive sawing experience. Training covers safe and correct working techniques as well as physical work processes. This makes the Chainsaw Simulator an ideal complement to ‘real’ training outdoors.” The eLearning Journal also welcomes the fact that the focus is on independent action: “We learn best when we actively occupy ourselves with the learning materials and go through them independently.”
Digitally into the future
The “STIHL Training goes digital” program, under which the three eLearning award winning projects are managed, is only one example of the digital products and services that STIHL wants to use to offer customers tangible added value. Another example is the MemoMeister software solution from startup Freiraum, in which STIHL holds a stake. MemoMeister is a communications and organization platform which helps skilled trades businesses handle their daily flood of operational information.
Note: The designation for applications marked with * was changed on February 10, 2021.
