A needle in a haystack – with an RTLS solution
In recent years, supplying logistics units (boxes, crates, pallets etc.) with barcode or RFID identifiers and tracking them continuously in the supply chain using these identifiers have become indispensable in every branch of logistics. There is an increasing demand for the automation of logistics processes where we attempt to fully automate the moving and tracking of the units. More and more of our partners switch from our solely barcode based solutions to our combined, barcode and RFID-based solutions.
Our aim is to achieve the continuous tracking of indoor movement and routes (RTLS solutions) which exceeds the tracking of units passing through established tracking points and gates. RTLS (Real Time Location System) solutions may bring about a breakthrough in the automation of material movement with which we can overcome limits previously considered impenetrable. While the application of RFID technology provided a solution for the monitoring of larger areas (zones) in a warehouse, RTLS location systems can potentially allow for a smaller-scale distinction, with 1-meter accuracy.
But how does an RTLS system work in practice?
Take an automotive supplier with a production hall as large as several thousand sqms, with cumbersome paper-based tracking. Production has been going on like this for years but now the time has come to aid the manufacturing/internal logistics processes with an automatic unit tracking system. The aim is clear: achieve controlled operations based on real time automatic data collection which will provide data accessible to everyone. And all this in a manner that will allow complete, process-level tracking, where the administrative burden of automated data collection “of course” is minimized.
This task is implemented on the basis our LOG4Pro production logistics system which includes an integrated RTLS location system. The LOG4Pro production logistics system developed by our company offers a solution to every need! With its help, the internal logistical processes and workplace operations may potentially be monitored at individual product level; by continuously monitoring the flow of raw materials, the level of supplies in production can be significantly reduced; it complies with the generally used quality assurance and traceability requirements; increased efficiency thanks to automated identification, control and image processing; providing data for higher level systems to prepare/make the appropriate decisions; web based advanced IT architecture.
Controlled material movement achieved with the LOG4Pro system minimizes unnecessary work. This allows accurate stock control and provides data for statistics-based process analysis and optimization due to the continuous, automated data collection, without increasing administrative costs. Knowing accurate stock levels is essential for cost-effective stock management. By monitoring the production processes, more effective manufacturing processes, more accurate production plans can be created.
This is indeed Industry 4.0
What we can already see based on the requests we received that there is and there will be a huge demand in production logistics for indoor real-time positioning (RTLS)! The technology is expected to enter the manufacturing environment first as companies can achieve significant savings by optimizing manufacturing processes and quality assurance if they know exactly where a product is on the production line or where the necessary tools and raw materials are located in a hall/site which in some cases can be as large as several thousand square meters.