Managing globally distributed medical plants and devices is a complex operational challenge. Ensuring service continuity, rapid intervention, and compliance with procedures is essential.
>In the technical and medical gas sector, this challenge is faced every day by SOL Group, a company with nearly a century of history and a consolidated presence in 33 countries. A group that has always invested in innovation to ensure the highest level of service.
>Maintenance of industrial plants and medical devices is evolving thanks to augmented reality, overcoming the limitations of traditional approaches, and SOL is a concrete example of this shift.
SOL Group, a European leader in technical and medical gases
Founded in 1927 in Italy, the SOL Group is today a global organization operating in four main areas:
- Technical and medical gases: production, applied research, and commercialization of gases for industrial and healthcare use
- Home care: support for chronic and post-hospital patients directly at their homes
- Biotechnologies: research and development applied to life sciences
With over 7,600 employees across 33 countries, the group serves more than 50,000 industrial customers, 700 major medical clients, and over 870,000 patients. Such a widespread presence implies a network of plants and medical devices distributed across continents, many located in remote or hard-to-reach areas. Ensuring the efficient and safe operation of these systems requires appropriate tools.
SOL’s priorities: operator training and maintenance of plants and medical devices
One of SOL’s main needs is to make training more efficient for operators working on medical devices and complex systems. In addition, the company aims to optimize technical intervention management on remote sites, reducing the need for travel while ensuring fast response times even in the most critical situations. Relying on paper manuals or non-standardized procedures increases the risk of errors in contexts where precision is non-negotiable. And waiting for a physical expert to arrive every time a malfunction occurs on a peripheral system means increasing costs, delays, and operational risks.
The goal was therefore clear: reduce intervention times, cut travel-related costs, and at the same time ensure the quality and compliance of every operation.
B View and B Step supporting field activities
Brochesia’s software B View and B Step have been adopted by SOL on Moziware Cimo smart glasses, enabling operators to work hands-free.
By wearing smart glasses, operators receive instructions and support directly in their field of view, without needing to hold any device or consult paper documents. Brochesia’s software enhances these digital tools to bring augmented reality directly into the field, transforming the maintenance of industrial plants and medical devices into a guided, safe, and fully documented process.
Benefits for SOL Group
The adoption of Brochesia solutions for the maintenance of medical plants and devices, as well as for remote operator training, is delivering tangible results across multiple areas:
- Increased field operator safety:
Operators work hands-free with integrated visual instructions. They no longer need to consult paper manuals or mobile devices during operations. This reduces distractions and improves focus in critical environments. - Automated and certified reporting:
The system collects data through a guided workflow. At the end of each intervention, it automatically generates complete documentation. This ensures traceability and compliance without adding administrative workload for operators. - Optimized response times and improved intervention efficiency:
Operators can receive immediate remote support without waiting for an expert to arrive on site. This reduces downtime and improves responsiveness, even in remote or hard-to-access locations. - Reduced need for on-site technical interventions:
Thanks to the structured guidance of B Step and the visual support of B View, many interventions no longer require the physical presence of a specialized technician. On-site operators can perform tasks independently while still receiving remote supervision.
A scalable project
The results achieved have generated interest well beyond the initial scope of the project. Internal presentations of the case received highly positive feedback, leading SOL Group to plan the rollout of the solution across its international branches and to explore the possibility of turning assistance with B View and B Step into a value-added service to offer its customers. This reflects the strong confidence gained in the technology and its potential.
The SOL case demonstrates that augmented reality applied to industrial plant maintenance is not a future technology: it is a concrete operational tool capable of making a real difference today in highly complex sectors such as medical gases and critical infrastructure. Operator training, remote technical assistance, procedure standardization, and automated reporting: four real-world challenges addressed by one integrated solution.
Contact us to discover how B View and B Step can transform your maintenance and technical support operations.
