Case Study: Merck eliminates geographic barriers and saves $3.6M in travel with Apprentice's Remote Assist

Harnessing Tech to Eliminate Distance in a Virtual World at Merck

Merck faced the sudden disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and needed a way to keep shop-floor personnel and scientists collaborating and resolving equipment issues without travel. The vendor Apprentice provided its Remote Assist smartglasses platform to enable hands-free, real-time video and audio support so experts could guide on-site workers from anywhere in the world.

Apprentice accelerated a global rollout of Remote Assist, scaling to more than 70 sites on six continents, establishing Merck’s Extended Reality Ecosystem and crushing 21 months of planned scope into under nine months. The initiative saved $3.6 million in travel costs, nearly 54,000 hours of employee travel, and helped earn Merck a 2021 CIO 100 Award, demonstrating measurable operational and financial impact.

Merck

Dave Williams

Chief Information and Digital Officer