2000 employees move tonnes of different types of cargo in a huge warehouse to aircrafts 365 days a year. Users of this virtual reality experience can safely practice driving a forklift in VR while HEAT collects valuable data.
IAG Cargo’s freight hub in Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, Ascentis handles over 500,000 tonnes of cargo every year. From lion cubs to daffodils, gold bars to flu vaccines, there’s not much they haven’t handled there. It is as long as 6 football pitches & has over 2000 employees, so it is difficult for individuals to understand how it all works.
2000 employees move tonnes of different types of cargo in a huge warehouse onto aircraft 365 days a year. There isn’t available time to show each employee, new or old – around the warehouse, what their colleagues do or how they do it.
The challenge was to create a safe, memorable & efficient way to onboard and upskill employees in IAG Cargo’s Ascentis freight handling centre in Heathrow using VR technology.
Recreate Ascentis in virtual reality. This VR experience shows both new and existing staff how a piece of freight moves through the Ascentis facility. There are interactive stops throughout the experience providing information, training and safety awareness.
Users can safely practice driving a forklift in VR, or prepare cargo for an aircraft, so that they are better prepared and informed when they do it for real.
Using the HEAT platform, IAG Cargo have been able to identify and measure the key factors affecting their KPIs. Using this insight, IAG Cargo are able to help their people perform better, more safely and in a more memorable way. Overall, the employee onboarding, engagement & efficiency has improved.
Testing Results:
of users said they have learned something new since working with VRAI
Employees understanding of the operation has increased from an average of 5/10, to 8/10
Tour timings reduced from 90 minutes to 15 minutes
“Since working with VRAI to create a virtual tour of our Ascentis warehouse, 94% of users said they have learned something new (compared to the physical tour) and their understanding of the operation has increased from an average of 5/10, to 8/10. Moreover, we have managed to reduce tour timings from 90 minutes to 15 minutes. The experience has also inspired colleagues to explore how virtual reality could be used in other parts of our business.”
Carly Morris – Head of Innovation at IAG Cargo
