How digitalization becomes a successful problem solver in manufacturing industry

Digitalizing production processes or entire factories is a big task and the wrong approach often leads to an endless story without satisfactory results. For this reason, all necessary requirements and goals should be defined before starting an RTLS project. In this blog post, we will show you how real-time location technologies become problem solvers in Industry 4.0 and lead to a completely digitalized manufacturing – from inbound logistics to distribution management.

Don’ts: How digitalization in manufacturing will fail

To ensure that RTLS projects in manufacturing are not doomed to failure from the outset, there are a few points that need to be considered.

The first and most important point to internalize is: The use of digital technology will not solve all existing problems, or transform your company overnight. Pain points and optimization potentials need to be worked out and tested in the POC before the RTLS infrastructure is installed. In addition, your IT department should be involved in the entire digitalization process.

Second, you should focus on a solution that can solve most of your problems. That’s why Favendo is increasingly focusing on expanding its partner network with Actility, Quuppa, Kathrein Solutions or DeCurtis. This way, different tracking technologies can be combined to provide the best possible solution for each use case and meet different requirements with just one (hybrid) solution.

The first step is to define exactly which problems are to be eliminated by implementing an RTLS solution and what result is to be achieved at the end of the entire digitalization process. Once this has been done, all subsequent steps are easy to identify and can be worked through one by one. This step-by-step approach also gives you a certain degree of security and keeps the risk as low as possible, as financial success or internal support can always be checked in between the steps.

Digital Production as a result

Digitalization in manufacturing with the help of an RTLS solution provides end-to-end visibility across the entire production process in the form of automated steps, monitoring and optimization of delivery, utilization and routes, and tracking of load carriers and assets – all without additional effort.

Identify gaps and time wasters in production lines

Favendo’s RTLS solution automatically identifies and tracks the location of employees and assets such as workpieces on production lines or on the factory floor, as well as mobile inventory in facility management. RTLS systems can enhance maintenance management systems with indoor and outdoor positioning and work without constraints in complex environments.

Digitalization in manufacturing as a security feature

People tracking with RTLS comes into play as a security feature. Combined with geofencing and zone alerting, on-site people tracking provides a security feature for both companies and visitors. On the one hand, RTLS reduces the risk of workplace accidents, but it can also be used for infection control, proximity detection and contact tracking.

The three levels of digitalization

When it comes to digitalization of manufacturing, there are a total of 3 levels to invest in:

• Sensors to generate the digital data,
• Infrastructure to process the data and
• Software to use the data and improve processes

A standardized JSON/REST push/pull API built into Favendo’s Commander Location Engine allows companies to publish location data directly to additional CRM or ERP systems. Consistent interpretation of data, leading to improved operations and better asset utilization, results in enormous cost savings in the long-term.

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