Ensure your competitive advantage with Real-time Location System (RTLS) indoor positioning technology

RTLS is used in manufacturing, healthcare, smart warehouses, hospitality, education and other industries to increase workflow efficiency, safety, route finding, inventory and asset management. It has been shown to have a significant return on investment (ROI).

What is RTLS technology?

Real-time location systems (RTLS) track and manage assets or people as they move through an indoor facility. RTLS can be considered as an indoor GPS because it can provide a similar level of location and movement data, both in detailed tracking histories and in real time.

Common RTLS Applications:

• Asset tracking
• Supply chain management
• Maintenance management
• Safety and compliance
• Tool tracking
• Employee tracking
• Customer tracking

Different technologies can be used for locating: RFID, BT, WiFi, etc. UWB technology has proven to be the most accurate and robust of these.

What is Ultra-wideband (UWB)?

Ultra-wideband (also known as UWB) is a short-range wireless communication protocol. It makes use of radio waves that enable devices to talk to each other. Sounds familiar? Yes, it’s comparable to Bluetooth but more precise, reliable and effective. UWB technology is ideally specced for accurate indoor localization where RTLS was upgraded to the next level. UWB has propelled the RTLS solutions to their current maturity levels.

How does UWB work?

Like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, UWB is a wireless communication protocol that uses radio waves. A UWB transmitter sends billions of radio pulses across a wide bandwidth and a UWB receiver then captures and translates the pulses into data. Just as bats use echolocation to detect their surroundings, UWB pulses can be used to detect distances between two transmitters. The shorter the pulse duration, the more accurate the distance measurement will be. UWB achieves real-time accuracy because it sends up to a billion pulses per second (roughly 1 per nanosecond).

The Benefits of UWB technology

UWB offers advantages with respect to data transfer rate, immunity to the multipath effect, security, precise localization (accuracy is up to 10cm), real time, low power consumption, no interference with other radio signals, noise resistance and simplicity of implementation.

RTLS Ultra-wideband use cases

• Warehouse positioning – Active location of people, machinery and equipment indoors, precise location in emergency situations to find unconscious people.
• Agriculture application – Know the location, well-being and health of cattle or crops.
• Secure building access – Doors that have been automatically opened in a secure area within a building as soon as you approach them.
• Asset Tracking – Boeing uses UWB tags to track more than 10,000 tools, carts and other items on its vast factory floors.
• Tracking Sports and Fitness – NFL already tracks players on a field for immediate playback animations with UWB transmitters on each shoulder pad.
• Indoor Navigation – Precise indoor navigation to a product on a shelf.
• Indoor safety & security – Insights on potential security vulnerabilities of operators, vehicles, visitors, manufacturing environment and shop floor equipment.
• Smart home – Audio speakers, lights and any other connected devices with UWB detection capabilities can follow users from room to room, for example, adjusting the volume of a speaker based on your location or switching the Netflix profile to your own.

Case studies of RTLS UWB

Volkswagen with the use of RTLS UWB shortened the forklift route by an average of 10%. At the same time, they discovered which parts of the warehouse were underused. By optimizing the warehouse, they also managed to increase space utilization by 20%. They achieved this by monitoring the current status and trajectories of vehicles (forklifts, AVG) and by analyzing the spaghetti diagram, they found hotspots where the bottlenecks occurred.

Bonduelle with the use of RTLS UWB system saw a 3% increase in warehouse efficiency. The pinpoint accuracy of the system drastically reduced the number of lost pallets and containers. The company now has a real-time view of where assets are located, saving time and money.

How can Priber help you implement UWB RTLS technology in your company?

First, we jointly assess the use case and discuss requirements.

In the next step we propose a project validated with a use case, estimate ROI and project plan.

Lastly, we utilize the UWB RTLS solution of our partner Pozyx and begin the installation, calibration, implementation, testing and optimization.

The digital future is happening now. Along with the need to digitize processes comes the need to track assets, people and vehicles. Precise positioning can save you plenty of time and money.

Schedule a demo with one of our positioning specialists and get a 1-on-1 consultation to discover how UWB RTLS technology can improve your business.

Contact us today!