A company in the automotive sector manufactures very large vehicles in high volumes. During the early stages of production, these semi-finished vehicles are indistinguishable from one another. Due to the nature of the production process, these items are temporarily stored—often without proper tracking—in areas that can be hundreds of meters away from where they are eventually needed.

Challenge

The semi-finished products are stored both indoors and outdoors, making the use of GPS technologies unfeasible. An initial attempt to track items by assigning the responsibility to forklift drivers failed due to the excessive manual effort required to collect accurate location data. When an item went untracked, it would effectively exit the production process and only reappear once it was eventually identified—sometimes weeks later. This led to cascading delays and made it difficult to monitor production. The search process often involved covering large areas by bicycle or forklift.

Solution

To overcome these challenges, our solution partner Bit Tonic implemented a Quuppa solution—equivalent to AccuRTLS—using AoA (Angle-of-Arrival) technology. This cutting-edge solution enables real-time tracking with location accuracy down to a few tens of centimeters in real-world industrial environments.

Each semi-finished product was fitted with a BlueUp Forte+ tag compatible with Quuppa’s infrastructure, enabling traditional indoor tracking via ceiling-mounted antennas. For the expansive outdoor areas—spanning several square kilometers—a fully autonomous drone system was developed. The drone is capable of autonomous take-off, landing, and navigation along predefined flight paths covering typical storage zones. Equipped with an AoA antenna, it can locate tagged items with one-meter accuracy. In adverse weather conditions or when flying is not possible, a similar tracking device mounted on forklifts—combined with GPS—was used to detect nearby assets during normal operations.

Results

The customer now has real-time visibility into the location of his semi-finished products, without requiring workers to perform manual tracking. This streamlined system has significantly improved production efficiency and reduced delays.

The post Case Study: A Hybrid Tracking Solution for Automotive Manufacturing Efficiency appeared first on Quuppa.

Improving operational efficiency in a sorting center is always front of mind for managers, but it can often be challenging. At PostNord’s Hakkila terminal in Finland, for example, management faced challenges when trying to optimize the facility’s sorting processes.

The terminal had problems maintaining operational quality, due to site design, fluctuating volumes and changing management and processes. There was also a lack of oversight of resource use and process compliance, and an inability to measure performance.

“The terminal was fairly new but had become congested quickly due to the volumes coming in,” explains Christian Østergaard, PostNord’s lead visionary and senior group strategist. “They had just gone through their first peak, which management felt had been quite disorganized and inefficient, so they reached out to our team to see how we might help them address issues around productivity, throughput and efficiency.”

The timing couldn’t have been better for Østergaard and his colleagues as they had something new they wanted to trial: a digital thread sorting solution.

”WE WANTED TO BE ABLE TO MONITOR ALL OUR INTERNAL PROCESSES AND TO SEE WHERE OUR WORKERS WERE, TO SEE IF THE PROCESSES WERE OPTIMAL”

Christian Østergaard, PostNord

When looking to improve operational efficiency, the focus is often on working out which of the many sorter and process flow configurations is optimal for a specific facility. However, what is regularly overlooked is improving visibility across the site – of everything from execution flows and resource allocation through to movements and internal transportation.

Most managers won’t have access to such information, which means decisions are often based on personal experience or a ‘gut feeling’, and will differ from leader to leader. Being in constant operational mode also limits managers’ ability to think about these details, which is why PostNord wanted to trial this new solution, which would introduce more data-driven ways of working and just-in-time thinking.

Digital thread sorting solution

PostNord’s digital thread sorting solution creates a real-time representation of the entire sorting center across all assets and moving parts, thereby improving the understanding of process flows.

LEFT: The digital thread sorting solution uses a real-time location system to ensure workers are in the optimal place.

RIGHT: The solution enables PostNord staff to quickly identify areas of concern within the sorting machines

It is the result of several technology projects across the organization that Østergaard and his colleagues realized could be amalgamated and developed into an overarching sorting solution.

“The idea was to use computer vision together with a real-time location system (RTLS),” Østergaard explains. “Putting sensors in different places across the terminal would enable us to collect data in real time. We wanted to be able to monitor all our internal processes and to see where our workers were, to see if the processes were optimal or whether there was room for improvement.”

Digital thread benefits

• An operational efficiency gain of more than 25% in sorting operations
• A 32% increase in the number of parcels sorted per hour
• Percentage of sorting staff meeting KPIs has risen from 20% to 54%
• ROI of technology pilot was less than four months

Gaining trust

The rollout of the digital thread sorting solution took place in stages, working in close collaboration with the local management team.

“When you come in with a new technology, it’s important to gain the trust of the people who will use it. We had a list of the things we wanted to do but began by asking them if they had specific problems that they wanted us to look at,” Østergaard reports.

“They raised two areas of concern: an underperforming machine and making sure the first-in, first-out principle was being used when it came to storage. For the first issue, we were quickly able to establish functions that enabled staff to see what was going wrong in the process, so it could be resolved. For the second, we visualized things for them, so they could see what was happening. This built the trust and it then became a question of okay, how do we go ahead and roll out everything else?”

At each stage of the rollout, solutions were reviewed and tweaked if necessary. “It was a great collaboration, where there was the strategic team looking at how we can get the technology to work, our partner vendors, who were focused on making it work, and the local tech-savvy management, who were keen to use technology to improve efficiencies,” comments Ravi Kiran Kotty, digital transformation technology strategist at PostNord.

“They’d say, ‘Okay, we think we can be more efficient here’, and we’d sit down and come up with a solution. If the first iteration didn’t work exactly as they wanted, then we reconfigured it so that it was fit for their purpose.

“It was a slow evolution,” Kotty continues. “We went use case by use case. Once it was implemented, we would evaluate whether it added value before moving on to the next one. We’d identify an asset, try to generate data from it, then the value, before looking to add additional assets. There was no big bang, it was a progressive thing, which added value exponentially with every use case.”

”EVERYONE LIKES SIMPLICITY. THEY DON’T WANT A LOT OF DATA, JUST QUICK ANSWERS OR SIMPLIFIED GUIDANCE”

Ravi Kiran Kotty, PostNord

A collaborative partnership

After launching its new sorting facility in September 2022, PostNord faced challenges with productivity KPIs such as parcel throughput and production efficiency. The need for reliable tracking and monitoring led to the implementation of Quuppa’s RTLS technology. By tracking mobile devices and forklifts, PostNord gained real-time visibility of transportation movements and resource allocation, especially in critical areas like sorting machines and cross-docking zones. This visibility allowed for the identification of process inefficiencies, enabling optimization of workflows.

The collected KPIs and analytics are computed in near real time and provided directly to the relevant people within the facility, allowing PostNord to optimize work floor and sorting chute handling, monitor the number of trips between overflow chutes and improve the use of the cross-docking areas. These improvements have resulted in a more than 20% increase in efficiency and productivity.

The technology also enables data-driven decision-making, moving away from guesswork to fact-based planning. Real-time insights allowed better resource allocation and shift planning, improving operational processes and reducing internal lead times. This shift has helped PostNord to achieve higher delivery quality and improve parcel throughput.

By integrating the system into a digital twin model, PostNord has advanced toward its 2032 vision of touchless parcel handling, improving both operational efficiency and sustainability.

PostNord partnered with two key vendors on the development of the digital thread solution: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Quuppa. TCS helped the post build its computer vision models, while Finnish startup Quuppa provided high-precision indoor tracking technology.

Work on the project began back in May 2023, with the digital thread solution completed by the end of January 2024. The biggest integration of new technology into the terminal was the installation of Quuppa’s RTLS technology. This entailed a full site survey to assess what was needed in terms of physical infrastructure.

“The first part was installation, which took some time, but after that we were able to deliver new use cases every couple of weeks,” Kotty notes.

ABOVE: The solution provides a real-time overview of parcel volumes.

LEFT: A spaghetti diagram of internal transportation volume in the sorting terminal.

One of the first use cases was employing PostNord’s existing security camera system to monitor movements and processes, to identify areas of concern. “The good thing with computer vision is that if you already have the cameras, you just need to introduce an ‘intelligent filter’ that is trained in what to identify and measure,” says Østergaard.

Improving visibility

PostNord says the digital thread is helping to measure two key areas: productivity and internal transportation. Productivity is assessed in an anonymized way, examining processes and supporting functions using existing handheld devices.

“We don’t want to know who each worker is – we simply want to know where people are and what they are doing at any given time. We ‘Smurf’ them, because our system shows them as blue,” Østergaard chuckles.

This enables management to see whether the site or workflow is designed in a way that adds leakage. They can also evaluate different processes and identify any wasted productivity and the reason behind it.

In terms of internal transportation, visualization, control points, flow optimization and new data help PostNord achieve better use of assets like forklifts, employees and floor space.

Benefits to all

The digital thread benefits all levels of staff, from those on the shop floor through to shift leaders and process designers. The business case has already been proved at Hakkila, where the terminal has seen a more than 25% increase in operational efficiency in sorting, in addition to increased productivity, improved quality, the removal of bottlenecks and the establishment of performance measurement.

“We regularly check in with the Hakkila team and each time we speak they’ve consistently improved,” enthuses Kotty.

“That’s possible because we’ve created a ‘blue ocean’ of data; some that had never been looked at before,” Østergaard adds.

A standout use case at Hakkila has been the introduction of a simple traffic light system to communicate needs to terminal staff. PostNord has a staff turnover of 8% a month in this specific terminal, so it needed something straightforward and self-explanatory that everyone could understand straight away. It therefore introduced a visual tool where screens show areas of the facility as green (low attention), yellow (high attention) or red (critical) to let staff easily see where they’re needed. “If they see a red or yellow area on the screen, they know they can be useful there. This visualization enables them to make better use of themselves without the need for management to intervene,” continues Østergaard.

By giving staff continuous information on where they were most needed, the number of parcels they could handle per hour increased by almost 30%, notes Kotty. In addition, before the introduction of the traffic light tool, only 20% of those on the floor were able to meet the KPI targets PostNord had set – now 54% can. “They’re able to work more efficiently,” he enthuses.

ABOVE: A traffic light visual tool ensures the system is easy for new staff to understand

Modern image

The introduction of the digital thread has had a positive impact on the company’s image, with many employees saying that they regard PostNord as a modern employer.

“Many of our employees are gamers; they have a vacuum cleaner robot at home; they’re tech savvy and have an expectation that their employer will be too.

So it’s been very positive for the company’s brand,” explains Østergaard. “It’s also easier to teach people new functions.”

“Indeed, we always want to trust simplicity rules, and this project helped us validate that,” notes Kotty. “Everyone likes simplicity. They don’t want a lot of data, just quick answers or simplified guidance.

“The ROI is between three and four months, again validating this as a good approach to take. Of course, there are a couple of prerequisites: you need an organization that’s tech savvy, and people who are open to change and will support your implementation. But there are not many use cases where you can see productivity increases of this ratio, with this kind of payback.”

What lessons has POSTNORD learned?

• Tech-savvy local management and workers are key to implementing and adopting new technology in operations
• You can make use of lots of your existing infrastructure to gain new insights into how your processes are running
• Collaboration between all parties is essential
• Keep communication of data simple and straightforward

Next steps

Next steps The development of the digital thread is an important step toward hyper-automation of PostNord’s terminal operating execution model. The post says it’s been a perfect playing field for operations, innovation and IT to evaluate and implement the right changes and at the right time.

It plans to continue bringing many of its use cases together as part of the digital thread, including asset tracking, forecasting and digital twins.

Based on the success at Hakkila, PostNord is now rolling out the digital thread solution in Denmark. Once the first site has been successfully completed, the plan is to scale it to the country’s two largest terminals.

This Case Study was originally published on Parceland Postal Technology International

The post Case Study: Real-Time Visibility at PostNord appeared first on Quuppa.

Think of RTLS as the GPS of the industrial world, providing insights into the movement and location of equipment and assets, tracking everything from forklifts to shipping containers to consumer goods, indoors and outdoors. But instead of solely capturing asset coordinates, modern RTLS systems offer displays to communicate asset information in real time, showing where an asset has been and where it needs to go.

I’d like to explain more about data visualization with RTLS—and what problems can be overcome using it—with what I imagine is the next biggest trend in industrial logistics.

How To Visualize Data

While the visualization of location data in logistics is still in its early stages, digital displays tied to real-time information are already the norm in other vertical markets. Consider the recent adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) in retail spaces, particularly at grocery stores. Food products are marked with digital labels to accurately reflect the unit price, daily discounts and stock availability, along with other relevant product information.

With the advent of ESLs, we’ve seen a major shift away from paper toward digital price tags; generally, these displays are more sustainable and less resource-intensive to maintain and operate.

But what’s the relevance of these displays to manufacturing? Mostly, data visualization tools enhance industrial RTLS projects by providing instructions in an easily accessible format and improving process flow.

Such instruction can be achieved by attaching digital displays to transport units—whether it’s a box, roller cage or palette—to reveal dynamic real-time information on asset storage and movement. For example, if an employee takes a forklift of boxes to the wrong location in a warehouse or on a factory floor, the display on the forklift, or the display directly mounted on the boxes, will change the text in real time to say “wrong destination, take me to this location instead.”

A more simplified example of this is pick-to-light technology: If an employee comes close to something they should grab, the display blinks at them. Digital location displays don’t necessarily have to display text, they can also be scannable barcodes or QR-codes that are displayed and dynamically updated or have a blinking LED light.

Why Visualize Data

With this advanced RTLS system in place, employees on the operations floor receive immediate dynamic feedback on whether they’re executing the right process or completing the right task. This all brings direct benefits to process optimization, reducing search time and minimizing human errors. Overall, a display tag guides an employee’s immediate actions to improve process flow across a facility.

Digital displays can also be leveraged to improve inventory management. By using electronic tags and displays, manufacturing plants and warehouses can track goods at every stage of the production process, both on the backend postal applications, as well as directly from the facility floor. Digital displays provide real-time information on inventory levels, locations and movements, ensuring resources are used efficiently and reducing the need for overstocking and waste.

Data visualization may also play a crucial role in improving sustainability along the supply chain. By tracking the movement of goods in real time, logistics providers can identify opportunities to reduce waste and optimize resource usage. Moreover, digital displays also reduce paper waste and related inefficiencies. Instead of constantly changing paper tags as asset information changes, the tag remains the same but the information displayed on it transforms.

Challenges To Implementation

While RTLS coupled with digital displays offers significant benefits, their implementation isn’t without challenges. Understanding and addressing these concerns is essential for a successful deployment.

For one, implementing RTLS requires substantial investment in both technology and facility modernization. Many companies aspire to achieve digitization, Industry 4.0 standards, sustainability and reduced CO2 footprints. However, realizing these benefits necessitates upgrading infrastructure, which can be costly and time-consuming. Organizations need to carefully assess their readiness for such investments and plan for gradual integration to manage costs effectively.

Facilities also need to be prepared to analyze and leverage large amounts of data. RTLS generates vast amounts of data and insights into process flows, which can be overwhelming if not managed properly.

The key to leveraging this data is integrating it into existing processes and adapting performance metrics and reporting mechanisms accordingly. Organizations must establish robust data analysis frameworks and be prepared to act on the insights provided by RTLS. This requires a top-down mandate to drive change across the organization.

However, such mandates may not be well received. Introducing RTLS and digital displays in an industrial environment may meet resistance from employees who are accustomed to existing processes. Workers may feel that their knowledge and expertise are being undervalued. This mindset can create friction when new technologies are introduced.

However, it’s crucial to communicate that RTLS is not about replacing the workforce but enhancing their efficiency and streamlining their workflow.

Moving Forward

The integration of digital displays with RTLS is part of a wider global trend shifting away from static paper labels with outdated information to smart displays with dynamic information.

In logistics, that means asset information—be it product specs, expiration or shipping information—is clearly displayed with an asset anywhere in the facility. The goal is to optimize the process while minimizing unnecessary costs and efficiencies

In essence, this advancement enables the right information to be in the right place at the right time. That’s what RTLS is all about.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.

The post How To Visualize Data With RTLS appeared first on Quuppa.

Stavanger University Hospital is one of Norway’s largest hospitals, with over 7,500 employees. The hospital has put a special effort into developing health and healthcare in the fourth industrial revolution and into promoting data-driven decision-making and processes. The hospital provides healthcare and medical services as well as research to a population of more than 330,000 people.

Stavanger University Hospital is planning a new hospital with 120,000 square metres of indoor space.

Space Management Challenges in Healthcare

Hospitals are constantly facing hard-to-resolve space utilisation issues and need to know how the space and rooms are used. Generally, more space is needed, but there is rarely a surplus of space. The management of Stavanger University Hospital wanted to improve and optimise the use of space. By optimising the size of the facilities, the hospital can provide more efficient treatment to patients. However, this has brought challenges.

Efficient healthcare services require functional facilities and smart solutions. In hospital environments, valuable medical assets and equipment can sometimes be difficult to find because relevant tracking data is not readily available when needed.

The hospital management wanted to explore ways to promote data-driven decision-making, boost productivity and space maintenance, and track valuable assets and equipment usage using the IoT and information obtained through sensors.

IoT Revolution: Solutions for Hospital

Haltian’s Empathic Building Hospital Solution enables Stavanger University Hospital to optimise space utilisation in its facilities and buildings by combining various smart technologies such as location tracking, temperature control and equipment maintenance.

The solution collects information about space usage using IoT sensor devices in the hospital. Haltian created a digital twin of the hospital building with a 3D model. The pilot platform was up and running in just one week.

Stavanger University Hospital has the world’s first accurate real-time positioning system in the emergency area, powered by Quuppa. Equipment, employees and patients can be tracked using simple tags with an accuracy of less than 50 cm.

Quantifiable impact: Results of IoT Integration

The Haltian Empathic Building Hospital Solution with the hospital 3D digital twin offers several benefits to Stavanger University Hospital. The Quuppa system enables accurate, continuous and dynamic tracking.

• Improves space usage and control of rooms and helps plan new hospital facilities to meet the actual needs of departments, clinics, healthcare professionals and patients.
• Gives control of specific equipment. Medical staff can quickly identify and locate valuable devices when needed.
• Improves preparedness to focus on patients.
• Provides solutions to achieve huge savings and boost cost-efficiency.
• Provides new tools to improve occupational and patient safety.

This IoT development project is truly an expedition, and our ultimate goal is to get more out of our daily operations and improve patient care. The youth clinic can, for example, operate in just 14 rooms in the new hospital, compared to 29 rooms at the moment, by looking into the space usage data.
To make sure the new hospital facilities really work, we can even test the timetable and rotation of patients, nurses and doctors with the digital twin. We have the potential to save hundreds of millions of Norwegian crowns with this project.”

IT Director Cato Hemvik, Stavanger University Hospital

Future Strategies: Advancing Hospital Operations

As a next step, the management of Stavanger University Hospital wants to analyse the results of the pilot project and better understand how the data collected by the IoT sensors can be used in the daily operations of the hospital.

The post Stavanger University Hospital Transforms Patient Care with Haltian and Quuppa IoT Solutions appeared first on Quuppa.

The Finnish company Quuppa knows how important it is to have accurate and reliable asset location data. The company has developed a Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) solution that can track tags and Bluetooth® devices in real time with centimetre-level accuracy. Their solutions are used in manufacturing (including the aeronautics industry), retail, healthcare and many other sectors.

Actionable real-time location information holds immense potential for various industries. Take, for instance, the scenario where your local grocery store can immediately determine the number and whereabouts of active shopping carts. With such data on hand, the store can efficiently decide when to open additional checkouts to optimize throughput and increase overall customer experience. Similarly, in healthcare, asset tracking emerges as a vital tool for securely monitoring the whereabouts of equipment, mobile devices and even patients. This technology proves invaluable when it comes to solving safety issues, especially with infants and dementia patients prone to wandering.

Understanding how Quuppa Intelligent Locating System Works

Quuppa Locators receive signals from Bluetooth® tags, devices and sensors. Virtually any Bluetooth® device can be trackable. The Positioning Engine calculates the locations using advanced algorithms for accurate and reliable positioning in real time. For fast-moving objects, the system can update as frequently as 50 times per second. The use of standard JSON/RES – push/pull API enables seamless integration with end-user applications.

Quuppa’s Positioning Engine Platform – the OnLogic Helix 500

Quuppa has selected the OnLogic Helix 500 fanless industrial computer as the recommended hardware platform for their positioning engine. With its compact form factor and powerful processing, the HX500 delivers flexibility and reliability. The system also fulfills one of the company’s requirements: it must be rack-mountable to simplify installation.

OnLogic is an excellent growth partner. As our deployments scale, so does the demand for more powerful computers. We appreciate OnLogic’s continued commitment to developing and producing superior industrial computers that seamlessly align with our expanding needs.”

An Tran, Quuppa Product Manager

Scalable and seamless Quuppa tracking for indoors and outdoors

As companies grow and discover the versatility and potential of real-time locating systems, Quuppa is diligently expanding its capabilities and delivering customized solutions to meet evolving needs. For instance, Quuppa’s RTLS system seamlessly scales into hybrid environments, providing an integrated solution for tracking assets across multiple facilities and terrains, whether indoors or outdoors. Moreover, the ability to track Bluetooth® mobile devices enables tagless tracking, promising substantial cost savings.

Quuppa is constantly looking for new and imaginative applications for RTLS. The technology is not only used in manufacturing, retail and healthcare, the technology’s applications span a vast array of industries. Increasingly, location data is acknowledged as a valuable asset in sectors such as arts and entertainment, facilitating the tracking of priceless artwork, monitoring crowd capacity, and even providing unique navigational tools and immersive experiences for event attendees. Businesses are harnessing this technology in groundbreaking ways, ushering in an era of innovation and improved operational efficiency.

This article was originally published on www.onlogic.com.

The post Creating More Efficient Asset Tracking with OnLogic appeared first on Quuppa.

The landscape of RTLS is now undergoing a transformative journey, being driven by the pressing needs of diverse industries. We’re quickly realizing the solution is no longer a built-for-purpose RTLS (i.e. fully custom-tailored, including the infrastructure). Rather, RTLS users require scalable solutions that support multiple use cases while offering flexible integration and customization possibilities. This is pushing the future of the industry away from a siloed, fragmented approach towards one where compatibility and interoperability are key. I expect that’s the future of RTLS, one that’s scalable.

Let’s further delve into the key predictions shaping the evolution of RTLS in the coming year. 

Interoperability

As projects involving RTLS and Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) transition from proof-of-concept to large-scale implementations, companies across various sectors are seeking a more open and flexible system. In 2024, they’re pursuing options that will not only support different use cases but also offer versatility in infrastructure. 

The renewed search for flexibility is because customers often have multi-facility environments that require tracked assets to move between different types of sites, which necessitates compatible RTLS systems. For instance, an industrial customer with multiple facilities may be running platforms and technologies from different vendors, or they may be operating both indoors and outdoors. All that location data must somehow be collected and harmonized to ensure RTLS interoperability as the tracked asset moves around. 

To promote interoperability, system integrators should avoid vendor locking; this means refraining from embracing proprietary offerings that are not rooted in using standardized technology. This allows for open market competition, more secure availability of the product from multiple providers, and, in particular, it allows the end-customer to freely choose where to acquire some of the key components, whenever it is time to maintain, replace, or expand their platform.

Hence, in 2024, I imagine we will see increased adoption of RTLS systems where everything is integrated and scalable. The underlying goal is to seamlessly track and monitor goods in real time across different spaces with diverse service requirements.

Scalability

I further expect manufacturers and logistics operators will continue to shift to an RTLS system that enables seamless tracking by combining multiple technologies (GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc.) under the same infrastructure or platform. This is in contrast to other highly siloed forms of asset tracking that rely on a single asset tracking technology that’s often not scalable in different environments. 

For instance, GPS tracking is an already well-known technology for tracking, but it is fundamentally not scalable because it often can’t function indoors. In contrast, a small electronic device – aka tag – attached to the asset can broadcast its location through diverse technologies like Bluetooth® and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). This means a tag supports multiple technologies, allowing for seamless tracking both outdoors and indoors. This all is at the core of scalability: having a solution that scales across all types of facilities, buildings, and environments – a solution that can easily be built up depending on the operator’s needs. 

That means 2024 will be the year for looking at the scalability costs and potential. 

Digital displays

There is further room to build upon RTLS technologies in the coming year. We can look at Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) in grocery stores to see the possibilities, in which digital display units integrated into store shelving provide real-time electronic information about products. 

Why is this relevant in the context of RTLS? Digital displays can seamlessly complement RTLS by automatically displaying real-time information like product specifications, quantity, expiration dates, or information related to the process flow. Digital display dynamically updates the displayed information as assets move. In other words, ESL displays the relevant information about the product, while RTLS allows the product to be tracked.

Being able to track the location of assets while displaying the relevant information to the logistics operator is an incredibly useful tool. For example, the combination can display if the asset has arrived at the correct assembly line on time, or if the goods have now been delivered at the wrong location. This impacts both the efficiency of operations, as well as reduction of direct cost by reducing the search time and avoiding logistical errors. The combination of RTLS and display tags is at the core of the digitalization of the industrial environments.

Transport unit management

In the coming year, companies will turn to RTLS to monitor vehicle movements, locate warehouse equipment, optimize routes with data analytics, and enhance overall logistics coordination. Think about logistic hubs and sprawling warehouses with many types of transport vehicles, like forklifts and roller cages. Coordinating all these units can be a hassle and inefficient, which is why there is now a move to leverage RTLS to increase production efficiency and reduce costs. 

Interestingly enough, transport units used in intralogistics and cross-docking are a non-negligible operational cost; a unit can cost from tens to hundreds of dollars each. A midsize logistic company typically owns tens of thousands of such transport units, which are continuously circulating from the shipment to the destination point, indoors and outdoors across multiple facilities. A significant amount of such units are lost, misplaced, or unaccounted for every year. This is a significant cost to bear for any logistics or manufacturing company, negatively impacting their process optimization efforts.     

Final thoughts

As we gaze into the future of RTLS in 2024, it is evident that the trajectory of location technology is steering toward an era marked by adaptability, scalability, and seamless operation across multiple facilities. The strides made in 2023 laid the foundation for a new way forward, driven not by a one-size-fits-all approach but by the nuanced needs of diverse industries and use cases. 

The post Navigating Tomorrow: RTLS Trends and Projections for 2024 appeared first on Quuppa.

The occurrence of external emergencies with a large number of casualties is known in the medical field as a mass casualty incident (MCI). Whether in the form of train accidents, NBC emergencies, or in connection with terrorist attacks – a large number of injured people require special procedures that differ significantly from individual medicine due to the scarcity of resources. To ensure that staff is sufficiently qualified to act in such extreme situations, the special plans and procedures for such scenarios must be regularly trained.

In November 2023, Heidelberg University Hospital planned and carried out such a large-scale exercise in the new surgery building. The exercise aimed to find out how long it takes from the arrival of patients to actual treatment and what the process looks like in practice until then. The knowledge gained from the exercise will then be used to optimise processes throughout Europe.

Simulating a realistic emergency scenario

The exercise scenario: An explosion in a company building caused by heating repairs. Within two hours, 100 mostly seriously injured patients (impersonated by actors) arrived at Heidelberg University Hospital. With 140 employees of the hospital as well as forces from the fire brigade, the German Red Cross, disaster control, the German Armed Forces, and many more, the procedures in such a disaster scenario were rehearsed as realistically as possible.

From alerting all the necessary emergency services and medical staff to the coordination and documentation of procedures to the rapid and adequate care of patients – the MCI concept had to be put from paper into practice. To draw the right conclusions from the extremely realistic exercise and identify points in the process that could be improved, the stress level of the medical staff was to be measured using biosensors. On the other hand, the aim was to track and record the locations and routes of staff and “patients” in real time.

Innovative tracking technology for emergency exercises

To record and later analyse the positions and routes of the people involved in the exercise, Favendo equipped the UKHD’s New Surgery building with a Quuppa tracker infrastructure. From patient admission to the treatment and operating theatres, Q17 Locators were installed to track exactly where people were staying and/or moving and for how long, down to the sub-metre.

Patients were equipped with Quuppa tags for localisation before the exercise began. The same goes for the hospital staff. When the ambulances arrived in front of the hospital building, the tag IDs were scanned using smartphone cameras and the Favendo Tagger software. The preliminary triage status of the patients was also recorded here. Thanks to the web-based software, handling was very simple and did not require any additional hardware. Once inside the building, the positions of patients and staff were then recorded anonymously and in real-time so that the data could later be used for optimisation purposes.

Key findings and Process Improvements

The scan processes were used to record the time stamp of the patient’s arrival at the hospital. In retrospect, it can be reconstructed for each patient exactly how long it took from the accident to admission and then again to treatment. This allows conclusions to be drawn about the care situation of a hospital in emergencies.

In addition to the time stamps, all position data was also recorded during the exercise. As pure geodata, but also visually in the Quuppa Data Player. Thanks to the geolocalisation, those responsible were able to identify bottlenecks and unclear processes during the exercise.

The video format makes it possible to analyse routes and junctions on the hospital floor plan retrospectively. This can also be used to identify possible incorrect positioning of treatment areas or bottlenecks in patient care. In addition, the recorded movement data can be subsequently enriched with further recorded data (e.g. which tags belong to medical or nursing staff).

In addition to the position data, the data from the biosensors for the stress level is also included in the analysis. Conclusions about the group dynamics within the treatment teams are possible by combining both data. Thanks to real-time localisation, the MCI exercise not only enabled practical training of hand movements and procedures but also provided new insights.

For more information, visit favendo.com.

The post Personnel tracking during MCI training at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) appeared first on Quuppa.

With a bi-directional, persistent connection to all on-site edge devices, Quuppa Site Manager allows you to monitor the status of all your Quuppa Positioning Engines (*), actively manage configurations, and perform updates to your Quuppa systems remotely.

Simple and Efficient Asset Management

Quuppa Site Manager simplifies the management of your tracking infrastructure. It is designed for organisations that have multiple sites in different locations, or a single large site with multiple buildings and potentially different infrastructures. With Quuppa Site Manager, users can remotely monitor, update and make necessary changes to their sites without being physically present at each facility. This eliminates the hassle of implementing changes on-site or setting up secure remote connections to each site separately, and allows you to easily upgrade and downgrade Quuppa system components. Testing new software versions and pushing them into production becomes a streamlined process that improves overall system management efficiency.

Cloud-Based APIs for Enhanced Connectivity

Quuppa for Enterprise provides a modernised and secure way to connect to Quuppa APIs via Site Manager. Each Quuppa Positioning Engine (QPE) connected to Site Manager can be controlled through its own API endpoint, secured with API tokens generated and managed through the Site Manager user interface. This cloud-based approach ensures secure and reliable connectivity while providing seamless access to Quuppa APIs.

Dedicated Single-Tenant Cloud Architecture

Quuppa Site Manager is built on a dedicated single-tenant cloud architecture, creating a separate instance and database for each customer. This architecture offers several key advantages:

• Data Security: Each customer’s data is stored in an independent database, ensuring it remains separate and inaccessible to others outside the organisation.
• Reliability: Your system will run on a separate instance that is not affected by traffic from other systems and peak loads, ensuring the system stability and reliability.
• Scalability: Quuppa for Enterprise’s cloud-based architecture allows the client system to scale to multiple sites, adapting to the evolving needs of organisations.

Centralised Management and Version Control

A key advantage of Quuppa Site Manager is its ability to provide centralised asset management and version control for multiple sites. Users can easily perform system testing, troubleshoot, collect logs from different systems and configure tags from a single platform. This centralised approach streamlines operations, reduces complexity and enhances overall system control and security.

Mobile Deployment Tool for Simplified Installation

The Quuppa Site Manager introduces a Mobile Deployment tool, which facilitates the installation process of the Quuppa System. The Mobile Deployment tool allows people with little to no previous experience or understanding of the system to carry out the deployment of Locators using only a smartphone. This means that the person mounting the Locators can carry out the deployment process themselves without the need for extensive training or expertise. The Mobile Deployment tool offers also the possibility for several people to deploy separate Locators simultaneously, further increasing the installation efficiency of the installation. In addition, the project file is updated immediately once a Locator is deployed successfully.

Real-Life Use Cases of Quuppa Site Manager

With the Quuppa Site Manager tool, end customers can efficiently manage multiple sites from a single dashboard, streamlining the process of quickly tracking and locating assets across multiple facilities. In addition, end customers can rest assured that they will benefit from a secure integration with the Quuppa system, ensuring their data privacy and protection.

For system integrators and middleware providers, the Quuppa Site Manager provides centralised asset management between different customers. This enables improved support services, troubleshooting, tag configuration and system testing to meet each customer’s unique use cases.

Quuppa Site Manager is a comprehensive and powerful tool for managing and orchestrating RTLS systems at scale. With its centralised asset management capabilities, cloud-based connectivity and Mobile Deployment Tool, Quuppa Site Manager provides organisations with an efficient and streamlined solution for seamless multi-site management. Whether you’re an end customer looking for enterprise-level asset management and tracking, or a systems integrator requiring centralised control and support, Quuppa Site Manager is a solution that puts efficiency and scalability at your fingertips.

(*) Quuppa Positioning Engine (QPE) is the core software of the Quuppa Intelligent Locating System. It receives data from the Locators, runs it through advanced positioning algorithms and provides a standard JSON / REST – push / pull API that allows seamless integration with other systems. The system provides accurate and reliable positioning in real time, with updates as frequently as 50 times per second.

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If you’re unfamiliar with the process, cross-docking is a practice in logistics management that involves unloading incoming deliveries and loading the materials for outbound delivery. At these kinds of facilities, packages go in and out the door within a matter of hours. There are typically no storage racks nor any long-term storage infrastructure. The underlying idea is to efficiently sort and dispatch packages to provide faster delivery of goods from supplier to end customer. 

But the immensely spacious open floor plan, combined with an increasing amount of goods handled daily, can lead to more than a few degrees of chaos.

So how can goods most efficiently be transported from inbound to outbound delivery systems? More and more facilities are looking at real-time location systems (RTLS) to track operational flows inside the facility. A combination of RTLS and video monitoring can also provide a more complete picture of the facility and its fast-paced operations, reducing liabilities and process errors. 

The Missing Link

At these sorts of temporary holding facilities, you don’t have time to misplace a package: it has to be accounted for and its location known at all times. The sheer volume of goods, the speed of sorting, and the fact that all items are in motion within the facility cause major operational challenges. That requires a high level of workforce coordination to address and overcome. 

Because cross-docking warehouses typically do not contain designated storage areas for specific goods, packages are often transported directly to the outbound docks, where a truck or van is waiting for loading and can quickly take off for delivery. The goods are moved from inbound to outbound docks via transportation units, which can be everything from roller cages to pallets.

The process generally works like this: packages are unloaded off delivery trucks, brought to a sorting machine, sent down a chute, and divided into transportation units. Some cross-docking facilities utilize a distribution conveyor with chutes assigned to end destinations, but others may use forklifts to transport pallets of goods directly from inbound to outbound.

Without the ability to efficiently coordinate the workforce and available equipment (forklifts, pallet jacks, roller cages, etc.), the loading/unloading process can be delayed, which would then cause issues down the line. Cross-docking facilities move everything in bulk at lightning speed, and a single mistake or bottleneck is enough to ground operations to a halt. One stalled outbound delivery, and packages started to pile up. 

So in essence, a dedicated cross-docking facility must be designed to move inbound pallets from the receiving dock to outbound trucks without hiccups in between, monitoring every step of the sorting process. But that can’t be achieved without some sort of internal tracking mechanism. You need maximum optimization. 

Selecting and implementing RTLS 

There are numerous wireless RTLS systems available based on a variety of technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Any of these systems enable operators to monitor the movement of goods to varying degrees from the moment they arrive to when they are loaded onto outbound delivery vehicles. But how can the benefits of RTLS be realized in a facility where speed is crucial and adding time-consuming extra steps to the process is simply not feasible?

The venue, use cases and type of tracked items are leading factors that should shape your system selection. To choose an RTLS system right for you, assess your facility’s existing infrastructure, including the possibility to deploy new infrastructure power sources availability, and data network capabilities. Ensure that the specific site constraints can support the chosen RTLS technology. Typically the facility manager, with the help of technology vendors, should also conduct a thorough site survey to identify the characteristics that will impact realizing the target use cases; e.g. optimal locations for RTLS hardware components, optimal specs for the tags, type of mobile handset, , and what exactly should be supported for a successful system deployment and configuration. These steps help ensure proper coverage and accuracy, as well as optimize the overall solution price. 

Remember all systems have their pros and cons. You thereby need to identify specific goals and objectives when selecting an RTLS system for a cross-docking facility. Determine which areas need to be covered and what use cases you need to solve, such as monitoring inventory, tracking assets in the shopfloor, or optimizing yard management. Your answers will guide you through the selection and implementation processes. For instance, in congested and fast-paced cross-docking facilities, you’ll want a system capable of tracking a high volume of assets quickly and with high reliability. 

It’s worth noting RFID systems have limited range and accuracy outdoors due to interference from metal, water, or dense foliage. So this system wouldn’t be suitable for monitoring goods when they’re being offloaded from inbound trucks. Instead, consider opting for a hybrid system that can work from outdoors to indoors for seamless tracking. 

Alternatively, tagless RTLS is a less resource-intensive option where goods can be tracked via a barcode scanner or QR code rather than a physical tag. A handset scans the code of the goods to record the location at the time of the reading. This allows goods to be traced throughout the facility with less physical hardware, which can quickly add up in price while still providing valuable location information. 

Ultimately, when it comes to logistics, the more visibility you have, the better. And the less time you have to spend gathering that information and searching for resources, the better. Gone are the days of employees frantically running blind across ten thousand square foot facilities. We’re now looking for ways to develop a well-oiled logistics machine, and that can’t be done without real-time location systems.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.

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“In today’s fast-paced world of manufacturing and logistics, there is an ever-growing need for a seamless, efficient solution that can effortlessly track assets, whether they are indoors or outdoors. That’s why we’re excited to announce our new partnership with Sensolus. Their advanced GPS tracker combined with the Quuppa system is the answer to this pressing demand, revolutionising the way we monitor and manage assets.”

For over a decade, and with more than 250,000 connected assets in the field, Sensolus has made the Internet of Things (IoT) technology accessible to the industrial manufacturing, transport & logistics, and waste management industries. By relieving customers of the burden of complexity, this scalable tracking solution automatically translates location data into insights. 

With the clear need for high-precision tracking solutions in the market, many of our customers have been looking to complement the current Sensolus portfolio with third-party high-precision technology. After validating the different protocols and partners in the field, Sensolus has chosen the Quuppa Bluetooth®-based solution for indoor high precision.

“The indoor location tech space is very dense, and technologies like Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) are focused on very accurate (cm level) and real-time detection, which comes with important upfront investments for infrastructure and the electronic tags themselves. But with Quuppa, we piggyback on a cheaper BLE chipset while offering high location accuracy. This is exactly what our customers need – an affordable, reliable, and complementary solution that offers sub-meter accuracy for when it is really needed.”

Kristoff Van Rattinghe, co-founder and CEO of Sensolus

Full visibility on an industrial scale

Sensolus trackers operate without any additional infrastructure, making the solution ideal for industrial companies looking for a full visibility solution for their logistical flows.

In essence, by attaching a tracker to a load carrier, its location and condition are indicated on the cloud platform, which records the asset’s data as it moves between different zones of interest, for example, factories, subcontractors, warehouses, and customer sites.

All this data is then translated into meaningful insights to manage inventory scheduling, analyse logistical flows, detect retention of load carriers, organise reverse logistics, analyse anomalies and send alerts when payload conditions have changed (e.g. temperature) or when load carriers are in the wrong logistical flow.

Sensolus has delivered these actionable insights for more than 200 industrial customers in aerospace, automotive, construction, equipment leasing, waste and many more. 

Reliable and accurate Quuppa solution

While outdoor positioning is possible using the trackers alone, for further insights into the behaviour of their assets inside their own premises, customers look to Bluetooth beacons and Wi-Fi sniffing, which provides 10 to 25-meter position accuracy. These are affordable indoor solutions, but due to their intensive production processes, some companies need to achieve location accuracy of about 1 meter.

Quuppa’s Intelligent Locating System^TM is an established solution for such high-precision location tracking. Many companies have already successfully deployed this solution in key areas of interest and can track assets accurately thanks to specific Quuppa-compatible Bluetooth tags. 

The best of both worlds: marrying zone precision with high precision

Sensolus has implemented the Quuppa technology on its flagship NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) trackers. Because of this, customers can achieve full visibility everywhere (with zone precision) with the additional benefit of achieving a very high precision location in Quuppa-enabled areas. The asset locations remain known even when being transported to other sites, suppliers or customers, whether indoors or outdoors.

Before, such a combination was only possible by equipping assets with more than one tracker and required cumbersome integrations to combine both location data sources. With the combined Sensolus and Quuppa solution, seamless integration is available and accessible through a single online software platform.

As part of the partnership, the Quuppa-compatible Sensolus trackers are tested by Quuppa, confirming that they meet the Quuppa standards, allowing high precision detectability.

“The core DNA of Sensolus is solving engineering challenges for our industrial customers with our proven recipe of validation and reliability (our Sensolus quality label). The partnership with Quuppa is no different. It is complementary to our existing solution, it fits a clear requirement for our customers, and the technology has proven to be the best out there in terms of quality/price. We welcome the Quuppa tech stack and team in our solution. Welcome to the Sensolus family!”

Kristoff Van Rattinghe, co-founder and CEO of Sensolus

Balancing features with affordability

Sensolus has validated a variety of high-precision positioning technologies, for example, ultra-wideband (UWB), which provides an accuracy of up to 1 cm. However, this would be like using a “sledgehammer to hit a nut” when we consider the typical needs of our customers.

When taking cost into consideration, relying on a standard Bluetooth® protocol for indoor positioning, both for low accuracy with battery-powered Bluetooth® geo-beacons (i.e., 10 to 25 meters) and Quuppa for higher accuracy (i.e., sub 1 meter), Sensolus creates the opportunity to combine different technologies, each with its benefits and related costs, in a single solution.

This flexibility directly translates into the most effective and affordable solution for each customer.

Technology	GPS	Wi-Fi	Bluetooth® (geo-beacons)	Bluetooth® (Quuppa)	UWB
Outdoor
Indoor	–
Accuracy	5-10m	10-25m	10-25m	1-3m	10 cm
Battery use	Medium	Low	Low	Low	High
Infrastructure	–	–	Limited	Yes	Dense
Wiring	–	–	–	Yes	Dense
Installation	–	–	Self-install	Certified installer	Certified installer
Cost	Low	Low	Low	Medium	High

Conclusion  

This technology partnership empowers our customers, especially with high precision needs to improve the accuracy up to the sub-meter level. As the Quuppa solution natively integrates with the existing Sensolus solution, it is a complementary extension that can be added at any time. This flexibility ensures our customers have access to high-precision indoor positioning, further enriching their operational capabilities.

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The Benefits of Quuppa RTLS in the Aeronautics Industry

Quuppa RTLS offers a wide range of benefits for aeronautics enterprises involved in the design, manufacturing, and maintenance of commercial and military aircraft, engines, structures and electrical systems. The system provides precise real-time tracking of strategic equipment, valuable assets and tools in assembly lines, hangars, and warehouses, even in multi-site industrial environments. Let’s explore some key use cases where Quuppa RTLS is transforming the aeronautics industry and improving process efficiency.

Control of Production Processes

One of the primary use cases for Quuppa RTLS in the aeronautics industry is the control of production processes. With the ability to track parts and processes in real time, organisations can ensure efficient and streamlined production operations. This level of visibility allows for better resource allocation, reduced downtime, and improved overall productivity.

Locating Parts During the Production Process

In a complex manufacturing environment, locating specific parts during the production process can be a time-consuming task. Quuppa RTLS solves this problem by providing real-time tracking capabilities, allowing organisations to locate parts with precision. Whether on the assembly line or in a warehouse, the system ensures that the right parts are always in the right place, reducing errors and improving production efficiency.

Maintenance and Floor Management

Maintenance is a critical aspect of the aeronautics industry, and efficient floor and schedule management are essential for smooth operations. Quuppa RTLS helps organisations streamline maintenance processes by providing real-time location data. Maintenance personnel can quickly locate tools and equipment, reducing search time and improving overall efficiency. This level of visibility also enables effective scheduling and resource allocation, ensuring that maintenance tasks are carried out promptly.

Inventory Management of Large and Valuable Assets

In the aeronautics industry, inventory management of large and valuable assets is crucial. Quuppa RTLS offers a reliable solution for tracking and managing these assets with precision. By providing real-time location data, organisations can keep track of their assets, reducing the risk of loss or theft. This level of visibility also improves inventory accuracy and helps optimise asset utilisation.

Finding the Right Parts among Identical Components

In the aeronautics industry, parts and components can often be similar or identical, making it challenging to identify the right part for a specific aircraft or engine. Quuppa RTLS solves this problem by offering precise location tracking. Organisations can quickly locate the correct parts among identical components, eliminating errors and reducing assembly time. This level of accuracy ensures that the correct parts are used, improving overall quality and customer satisfaction.

Multi-Site Tracking and Multi-Accuracy for Diverse Environments

The design and manufacture of highly sophisticated aircraft and unique aeronautics parts require tracking solutions that can adapt to diverse environments. Quuppa RTLS offers a comprehensive range of tracking solutions covering indoor and outdoor settings with one integrated system. This flexibility allows aircraft parts, equipment, and components to be located in real time inside buildings, hangars, and warehouses. Moreover, the system can track assets during transport from assembly lines to warehouses, ensuring end-to-end visibility.

Quuppa’s system is easy to implement and offers flexibility in positioning accuracy, catering to the customer’s specific needs. Whether it requires presence detection or sub-meter accuracy, Quuppa RTLS provides the necessary scalability to meet diverse requirements. This level of flexibility and accuracy makes Quuppa an ideal choice for the aeronautics industry.

Why Quuppa for the Aeronautics Industry?

Quuppa RTLS stands out as a preferred choice for the aeronautics industry due to several key factors:

• High Accuracy and Reliability: Quuppa RTLS offers high accuracy and reliability, ensuring precise tracking of assets and equipment even in challenging industrial environments.
• Optimised Locator Coverage: The design of Quuppa Locators allows for more extensive coverage areas, reducing the number of Locators required, especially in environments with high ceilings.
• One System for Multiple Applications: Quuppa RTLS can be used for various applications, from production processes to tool tracking, providing a comprehensive solution for the aeronautics industry.
• Indoor and Outdoor Coverage: Quuppa’s integrated solution covers both indoor and outdoor areas, eliminating the need for multiple systems and ensuring seamless tracking across different environments.
• Flexibility and Scalability: Quuppa RTLS offers flexibility and scalability in positioning accuracy, allowing organisations to choose the level of accuracy required for their specific use cases.
• Long Battery Life: Quuppa’s tag battery life can last up to 10 years, reducing the cost of ownership and minimising the need for frequent tag replacements.
• Harsh Industrial Environment Performance: Quuppa’s Q35 Locators have a proven track record of performing exceptionally well in harsh industrial environments, ensuring reliability and accuracy even in challenging conditions.

Case Study: Airbus and Quuppa RTLS Integration

Airbus, one of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers, has recognised the potential of Quuppa RTLS and has integrated the technology into its facilities. The collaboration between Airbus and Quuppa began in 2016 when Quuppa’s technology was tested to identify logistic assets on Airbus’ shop floors. The successful results led to the integrating of Quuppa RTLS across multiple industrial sites in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. By leveraging Quuppa’s accurate tracking, analysis, and management capabilities, Airbus has improved efficiency, optimised resource allocation, and achieved a rapid return on investment.

Case Study: Safran Aircraft Engines and RTLS for Product Flow Optimisation

Safran Aircraft Engines, a renowned aircraft engine manufacturer, has also embraced Quuppa RTLS to enhance their operations. By utilising Orange Business Services’ intelligent tracking solutions powered by Quuppa, Safran Aircraft Engines’ employees can easily find the tools they need for their daily tasks. With two of Safran’s industrial sites in France equipped with Quuppa’s real-time locating system, professionals at the manufacturing facility can locate tools on the assembly lines through a simple and intuitive user interface. This implementation has significantly improved the product flow, saving time and energy while ensuring seamless operations.

Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) have revolutionised the aeronautics industry by providing accurate and reliable tracking solutions. Quuppa RTLS, with its high accuracy and reliability, offers a comprehensive range of benefits for organisations involved in the design, manufacturing, and maintenance of aircraft and related components. From controlling production processes to optimising maintenance and inventory management, Quuppa RTLS enables organisations to improve efficiency, reduce errors, and achieve a quick return on investment. With successful integrations at leading companies like Airbus and Safran Aircraft Engines, Quuppa RTLS has proven its effectiveness in transforming operations in the aeronautics industry. Embracing this technology is a step towards a more efficient and productive future in the aviation sector.

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The versatility of real-time locating systems (RTLS) and location-based services (LBS) is remarkable. They can be used to monitor crowd capacity at entertainment venues, tag and track priceless artworks in museums, and monitor inventory in manufacturing and logistics. The power of this technology is really only now being fully realised.

As RTLS applications expand, so does a massive network of assets and devices equipped with positioning technology. This is happening in offices, logistics hubs, hospitals, factories, sports arenas, and anywhere else you can think of. Such smart positioning systems – and the software and hardware that go with them – can come in many different forms. But as applications for RTLS become more complex and diverse, they also require more flexible solutions. Unfortunately, current approaches are often siloed and lead to significant fragmentation.

Often the same asset needs to be positioned and located both indoors and outdoors. So it no longer works to consider indoor and outdoor positioning as separate entities in their own environments. Instead, we are entering the era of Hybrid RTLS, where an object can be moved seamlessly between facilities and environments.

The RTLS Solutions of Today

Each form of asset tracking depends on the operating environment and overall objectives. There are three primary RTLS solutions, that I’ll explain and then share how they can be incorporated into a complete ecosystem.

Infraless RTLS

Infraless RTLS stands for Infrastructure-less Real-Time Locating System. It is a technology that tracks and locates objects in real time without relying on any specific local physical infrastructure.

When operating outdoors, Infraless RTLS is an ideal system: installing permanent locating hardware is only particularly feasible under a roof or in a building. However, Infraless RTLS can also be used indoors in environments where presence/absence detection is sufficient – when you don’t need to know the exact coordinates of the asset but simply want to know if it’s there effectively making use of existing communications infrastructure. Typically, Infraless RTLS systems attach tags to assets that communicate via wireless channels such as Bluetooth® Low Energy and GPS.

Tagless RTLS

Tagless RTLS refers to a locating system that allows objects to be tracked without the need to attach traditional active tags to the asset. Instead, assets are equipped with small, flexible and very low-cost (passive, battery-free) devices such as stickers with printed barcode, QR code or RFID antennae.

Similar to Infraless RTLS, the location of the asset is linked to the location and timestamp of when the handheld mobile device or reader (phone, tablet or scanner) reads the information from the sticker. If you need to track a large number of assets, tagless RTLS may be the best option for you. Tags can be expensive, and the costs add up quickly. The idea here is that companies want to know where objects are without over-investing in technology.

Unlimited RTLS

Unlimited RTLS refers to a Real-Time Locating System that provides reliable, continuous and real-time seamless asset tracking capabilities without practical limitations on the number of objects, accuracy and latency, effectively allowing many different use cases to run simultaneously in the same environment. It aims to overcome the scalability limitations often associated with traditional RTLS solutions and uses asset tags and dedicated infrastructure.

While Infraless and Tagless RTLS can be seen as specific solution types to optimise investment costs, Unlimited RTLS is designed to achieve full visibility of the monitoring environment, suitable for the most demanding requirements and supporting multiple use cases in parallel. In my experience, projects and solutions tend to move to Unlimited RTLS over time, even if they originally started with milder constraints suitable for either Infraless or Tagless RTLS.  

How to Develop an Ecosystem

When developing an RTLS solution, first determine your use cases and then consider how many use cases you need to fulfil to achieve your ROI (return on investment). Are you primarily concerned with streamlining logistics and tracking goods? Are you looking for monitoring? What about improved delivery options? Process optimisation?

Once you have pinpointed your use cases and the scale required, you can determine which RTLS options you need to implement and where. It’s best to identify one or two main use cases, build an ecosystem from there and gain access to the different components of your solution: tags, stickers, tracking infrastructure, scanners, etc. By thinking like an ecosystem, we can overcome the risk of fragmentation and ensure that all parts of your solutions inherently work together.

To develop such a functional positioning ecosystem, asset tracking should involve different systems along a supply chain. That’s why Hybrid RTLS is the way forward, combining locating technologies in different environments.

Such continuous and seamless tracking can be achieved by implementing multiple types of solutions across different environments so that an asset can be moved and easily located through different positioning mechanisms. For example, an operations manager can track an asset as it moves from their logistics hub  (Unlimited RTLS) to a partner’s truck (Tagless RTLS) to a customer’s doorstep (Infraless RTLS). Any bottlenecks can be identified, analysed and mitigated at any point in the process – whether indoors or outside the building.

There is no one-size-fits-all with RTLS: instead, a colourful patchwork of integrated systems is required. Bridging all the gaps in RTLS, however, does not depend solely on a single player or the end customer. It requires collaboration between different companies using RTLS technologies to integrate with their partners or even competitors. Now is the time to join forces and ensure seamless monitoring for end-to-end solutions, no matter the obstacle.

Did you know?

Quuppa is the leading RTLS platform for indoor positioning.
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This article was originally published in Forbes.com

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