Manufacturing
WIP Tracking: Real-time tracking of work-in-progress (WIP) reduces production bottlenecks and ensures smooth workflows.
Quality Control: Continuous visibility helps identify quality issues early, preventing defects and rework.
Automated Systems Integration: Automates transactions between Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), ERP, and WMS, streamlining operations.
Raw Material Tracking: Tracks raw materials in real time, ensuring availability and preventing machine downtimes.
Equipment Utilization: Monitors tool and equipment usage, improving maintenance schedules and reducing idle times.
Warehouses
Real-Time Inventory Tracking: Minimizes stockouts by providing continuous visibility into inventory levels and locations.
Order Picking Accuracy: Increases picking speed and accuracy by pinpointing item locations in real time.
Automated Replenishment: Automates restocking processes, ensuring high-demand items are always available.
Shelf Space Optimization: Tracks inventory movement and optimizes shelf space based on demand.
Vehicle & Equipment Tracking: Monitors forklifts, AGVs, and other assets to reduce idle times and improve safety.
Healthcare
Medical Equipment Availability: Real-time tracking ensures critical equipment like ventilators and infusion pumps are always accessible.
Patient Tracking: Monitors patient flow and optimizes bed allocation to reduce bottlenecks and improve care delivery.
Compliance and Safety: Ensures medical equipment is sanitized and maintained according to health and safety regulations.
Temperature-Sensitive Storage: Monitors temperature-sensitive medications to ensure they stay within required storage conditions.
Workflow Optimization: Enhances hospital workflow efficiency by reducing delays, improving patient throughput, and enhancing overall care quality.
Key features for manufacturing facilities are important. First, they need high location accuracy. This can be achieved using technologies like UWB or BLE. Second, real-time tracking and alerts are essential. Third, using durable RTLS tags is critical for harsh environments. Lastly, it is important that these systems can work well with existing MES or ERP systems. This helps to optimize workflows and make the best use of valuable assets.
Yes, RTLS asset tracking has options that can be customized to fit different industry needs. It is scalable, meaning the system can be adjusted for specific purposes. With advanced technologies, it offers flexibility and customization to ensure it works well for your requirements.
The cost of asset trackers varies widely based on the technology used, features, and the intended use case. For example:
RFID Tags: These are relatively low-cost options, typically ranging from $0.10 to $5 per tag, but require a reader infrastructure that can add to the cost.
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Trackers: They range from $5 to $50 per device depending on battery life, durability, and other features like environmental monitoring.
Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Trackers: UWB tags offer higher accuracy and cost $20 to $100 per unit. They are commonly used in precision-based industries.
GPS Trackers – These are for outdoor tracking, and their price varies, from $30 to more than $200, according to whether it supports features such as geofencing and cellular connectivity.
The overall cost of deploying a tracking system includes not just the tags but also infrastructure (e.g., readers, gateways, and antennas), software, and maintenance. When selecting an asset tracking solution, consider both initial costs and the long-term ROI based on the operational improvements achieved.
Real-time asset tracking makes use of sophisticated technologies to constantly track and log the whereabouts and status of physical assets in real-time. It basically includes:
Tags or Sensors: These are fitted to the assets, transmitting information on the location, status, or movement of an asset.
Network Infrastructure: Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), RFID, Wi-Fi, or GPS technologies enable tags to communicate with a central system.
Tracking Software: It offers a graphical user interface to view, track, and monitor the location of assets along with its associated data.
Real-time tracking equips organizations with instant information, which leads to proactive decision-making. For instance, it prevents production delay in manufacturing by locating missing tools at an instant, improves warehouse inventory management, and facilitates patient care in healthcare by tracing critical medical equipment.
Both RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems) are utilized for asset tracking, though they serve different purposes and work in different ways:
Technology:
RFID uses electromagnetic fields to detect tags within a defined range. A passive RFID tag receives power from the reader, while an active RFID tag contains its own power source.
RTLS is a more comprehensive system that may involve the combination of one or more technologies, including UWB, BLE, or Wi-Fi, in order to deliver constant, real-time tracking of an asset’s location.
Tracking Ability:
RFID normally gives location data only when a tag is scanned by a reader and, therefore, is only good for point-in-time identification.
RTLS offers constant tracking with sub-meter accuracy and real-time location updates without manual scanning.
Application Scenarios:
RFIDs are also used because they are relatively inexpensive and easy to install, hence used in inventory management, retail item tagging, and access control.
RTLS is suitable for environments such as hospitals, manufacturing plants, and large warehouses that require real-time visibility of assets and their movement.
Infrastructure Complexity:
RFID systems are required to have strategically placed readers for scanning tags.
RTLS involves a network of anchors, gateways, or sensors for real-time location triangulation, which makes it more complex but offers greater capabilities.
The choice between RFID and RTLS depends on the specific needs, such as the level of location accuracy, scalability, and real-time visibility required for your operations.