Augmented Reality (AR) applications within the scope of digital transformation in manufacturing: Evaluation of different Augmented Reality (AR) investment scenarios in a manufacturing business

Nowadays, companies are improving their processes, reducing their costs and increasing their quality by using technological developments in their implementations. Incorporating rapidly developing technologies into production practices helps businesses gain competitive advantage. The issue of digitalization in production is the digitalization of data, doing business in a digital environment and a radical structural reform of organizations through digital transformation. Augmented Reality (AR) technology, which is listed among the digital transformation technologies in production, is a way to enrich information by adding a virtual view to the real environment view and is used in areas such as quality applications, material preparation and industrial training in assembly processes in businesses. In this study, an application is made to evaluate different augmented reality (AR) investment scenarios in a manufacturing company. With the use of AR technology, a contribution is made to the assembly line literature. In practice, in assembly line, tasks with varying completion times are assigned using AR technology. In the models established for the purpose of minimizing the cycle time, it is aimed to reveal improvements that can be achieved from the current situation of the assembly line with the use of AR technology. The models designed in the study are applied in the automotive industry, in a production company that produces automobile headlights. In the study, the situations of shortening the cycle time and increasing the production amount by using AR technology in the production facility are presented in terms of different scenarios, and a recommendation is developed on the AR technology that should be included in the assembly line. Keywords: Augmented Reality, Digital Transformation in Production, Use of AR Technology in Assembly Line, Industrial Training