Around Renner Otto, we like to say “A good idea can change the world”.  It can certainly change the trajectory of an inventor or a business. To highlight the power of ideas, we Spotlight Permco, a family-run Manufacturing business that has taken a way to improve training and reduce overhead and developed a whole new chapter in its six-decade story. In the process, they have created some unexpected partnerships in education to see benefits extend beyond the business.

Like many recent innovations, Permco’s advancement started as a solution to a challenge posed by the early days of the COVID-19 virus, when face-to-face contact either wasn’t possible or led to difficult-to-manage contact tracing. Long had the person-to-person training model for assembly been sufficient for this leading manufacturer of high-pressure hydraulic gear, pumps, and motors. However, in unprecedented times, solving for its absence, Permco has developed a virtual reality (VR)-enabled solution that provides the user with a tech-enabled experience that not only reduces the time, manpower, and other costs of skills-building but also offers a new way to learn a trade that is testable and might be more familiar and comfortable for younger users.

The virtual reality system allows the user to assemble a device in a virtual workspace while providing steps and highlighting tools and locations within the virtual environment. In addition to the movement and processing components, a haptic glove can be used to detect errors and surface finishes during assembly.

Permco was aided in its development by a partnership with Kent State University’s R1 designation research labs which added sensory monitoring and measurement. As the product has developed, they are continuing the partnership to research the training environment effects on the user. To do this, the participants learn the assembly skill while having various vital signs, like brainwave activity and heartbeat, measured to show stress and understanding. This valuable feedback has the potential for benefits far beyond the company's workbenches.

The University is not the only educational outlet to take notice. The company has partnered with trade schools to introduce this aspect of hydraulic manufacturing to students who may not have previously considered occupations in the trade. The VR-based and game-like learning atmosphere has to potential to feel very comfortable to many of today’s youth who have used tech-enabled learning devices most of their life and offering them the opportunity to see where their own cognitive skills might match up with the demands and rewards of the job.

As Permco scales its invention across industries, Renner Otto has been honored to be part of securing protections for their innovations. We are excited to see where this new technology takes not only the company but the greater benefits that it creates in manufacturing, education and beyond.