References and use cases: Favendo RTLS in operation

Background

Minera Antucoya is part of Antofagasta Minerals, Chile’s leading private mining group, which was founded in Antofagasta, the copper mining capital of the world. The Antucoya mine was opened in 2009, went productive in 2017 and is expected to produce 85,000 tons of copper cathodes per year. The raw material for copper production is oxide ore mined in open pits. About 40% of the world’s copper deposits are located on Chilean territory. Copper production is thus at the center of and the driving force behind the economy of the Andean country. In 2012, one third of the world’s copper production came from Chile. Copper exports account for more than half of all export revenues. 

Challenge

In order to optimize the productivity and utilization of machines and employees in opencast/mining, the data obtained on the “last mile” of the production process is needed above all. The problem here is that in opencast/mining, the work orders were previously passed on to the employees in writing/manually. Accordingly, much was lost in the documentation and it was virtually impossible to apply BI or AI programs to it. Additional difficulty: the environment, which by its nature is highly ferrous and electromagnetic.

Solution

Favendo’s partner IGO has therefore developed the IGAT platform, which digitizes the production steps of this very last mile and enables real-time measurement of productivity and displays it in a “Productivity Dashboard”. When it comes to tracking machines, assets and workers, Favendo’s solution and hardware come into play. Favendo’s Relay Compact tracks the position of asset tagged equipment, vehicles and workers in defined zones and passes this data to IGO via the Commander Location Engine and People Locator.

Results

The digitization of the last mile and the elimination of paperwork lead to a daily time saving of about one hour per technician. Productivity thus increased by 14 percent for a 7-hour shift, while at the same time maintenance and repair costs fell by 18 percent.

APPLIED FAVENDO PRODUCTS:

Relay Compact, Commander Location Engine, People Locator

Background
The Volkswagen Group is a German automotive group and ranks ninth in the Fortune Global 500. Volkswagen has opened an IT city in Wolfsburg, Germany. More than 1,500 IT experts are to ensure the complete digitalization of VW vehicles from the new Innovation Campus.

Challenge

The IT-City, which is designed for agile work and covers around 55,000 square metres, has work stations for project teams, meeting points, networked conference rooms as well as retreat spaces for concentrated work, and also provides 1,000 parking spaces. However, even the new building complex is not enough to bring together all Volkswagen IT specialists under one roof in Wolfsburg. The route from the main facility to the new complex and within the IT City was a challenge for the international experts. This meant waiting and searching times every day, which in addition to time loss were a considerable stress factor.

Solution

To optimize wayfinding in and around Volkswagen’s digital center, Favendo was commissioned in December 2018 to supply hardware and software to ensure seamless indoor & outdoor navigation via a mobile application. In a first step, designed to last two years, a main building was initially equipped with the necessary hardware to enable convenient mobile wayfinding. The branded Favendo whitelabel app, which helps employees and guests to easily orientate and navigate in the complex, positions itself in the interior via about 500 BLE beacons and outside via GPS.

The app is available for download to Volkswagen employees and visitors. A proximity function provides the users  with additional information on selected points of interest.

The resulting data is processed by the Commander Location Engine on Volkswagen servers as part of an on-premises solution. The solution complies with the data security guidelines of the Volkswagen Group. The app meets all CI requirements.

Results

The requirements set by Volkswagen were met 100 percent: The travelling times were significantly reduced. In total, the IT City project eliminated travel times of 40 minutes several times a day for Volkswagen’s computer experts.

APPLIED PRODUCTS: 500 approved BLE-Beacons | Commander Location Engine | Favendo White-label-App

Background
The Audi used car :plus center in Munich is part of VGRD GmbH (Volkswagen Group Retail Germany) with over 100 car dealerships. The Audizentrum at the Munich/Echingen location offers more than 700 premium used cars on an area of 14,000 square meters.

Challenge

700 vehicles on 14,000 square meters not only mean a large selection of used premium vehicles, but also a great deal of time spent on finding the individual vehicles. The operators wanted to make it easier for the 120 employees and customers to find individual vehicles.

Solution

Favendo developed an integrated tracking and navigation system. In order to make it easier for employees and customers to find their desired vehicles, the vehicles were equipped with beacons. 200 additional beacons were installed on the outdoor area. For the infrastructure, Favendo developed the Audi :plus app for iOS and Android, which enabled the desired functions thanks to the Favendo SDK. Additionally, the app had an augmented reality function. Favendo provided software, hardware and the administration backend.

Results

The requirements set were fulfilled 100 percent: Search times were significantly reduced. Customers could and can navigate to the selected vehicle in the Audi used car :plus Centre Munich. The function has now been incorporated into the parent company’s Get your Audi app: “In addition, you can also conveniently navigate through the innovative interior navigation system in the “Used Cars: plus Munich Center” (Eching) directly to the Audi of your dreams.

APPLIED PRODUCTS: 800 approved BLE-Beacons | Commander Location Engine | Favendo White-label-App

Background
With approximately 23,500 employees worldwide and offices in 45 countries, MSC Cruises is the fourth largest cruise company in the world. In spring 2017 the private cruise company presented the digital innovation program #MSCforMe at the ITB Berlin. For three years, MSC Cruises had been working together with behavioral researchers, digital and technology experts to focus even more on the needs of its guests with the help of state-of-the-art consumer technology.

Challenge

The core element of the #MSCForMe program is a mobile positioning function for passengers on the ships. The location of the guests allows a comfortable indoor navigation. With the help of this feature the passengers on the ships can orientate themselves stress-free and very fast. In addition, MSC had the problem that children kept getting lost on the large ships. This circumstance means unwanted stress for the parents seeking recreation and is also associated with a high additional workload for the personnel, who were kept from their actual duties by the search for the “lost” children. MSC explicitly requested a solution to this problem as well.

The special technical challenge was on the one hand the way the ships were built of 100 Percent Steel and on the other hand the fact that the solution had to be absolutely self-sufficient at sea and with a large number of children to be monitored.

Solution

Favendo developed an integrated mobile tracking and navigation system that allows passengers to orient themselves on the ships with the help of an app. In addition, Favendo developed a KidsFinder, which enables parents who have booked this service to view the live location of their children in their App and to be navigated to them.

Favendo equipped the ships with a BLE infrastructure consisting of several thousand beacons each. Children receive a special wristband at check-in, if desired, which communicates with the infrastructure. The Commander SDK, which enables seamless mobile indoor navigation, was integrated into the existing MSCForMe app.

Results

The requirements set were fulfilled 100 percent. By now, Favendo has already equipped eight ships of the cruise line. The Kidfinder service is one of the most sought-after services in the MSCForMe program. Other services such as a Friends and Family locator are based on the positioning function of Favendo.

APPLIED PRODUCTS: Approved BLE-Beacons | Commander Location Engine | Commander Verwaltungs-Backend | Commander SDK

Background
Hammerson plc is a UK property and investment company operating 58 of the most innovative shopping centres in the UK, Ireland and France. Its turnover in 2018 was more than 345 million euros.

Challenge

Hammerson took up the challenge of online and omnichannel trade at an early stage. Already in 2015 the aim was to arouse desire in all shopping centres to encourage customers to visit more often and stay longer. To achieve this, it was important to ensure that the service offered was both personal and efficient. Therefore, investments were made in the latest technologies to provide a pleasant state-of-the-art shopping experience. The aim: to use this technology to improve the in-store shopping experience.

Solution

Favendo supplied and installed a beacon infrastructure and created an integrated system solution for 19 Hammerson shopping centers, including indoor navigation and proximity messaging solutions. The system includes a third-party CMS interface – which supplies external websites with content – and an interface to an external data analysis provider.

We implemented the shopping apps for each individual shopping center as a white label solution. This meant that the implementation time was only 12 months. Favendo also provided maintenance and system care services.

Results

“Thanks to Favendo, we are in a unique position to provide a digital customer experience and customer service that no one else has at this point. This is a huge benefit to the value of the company and the adoption has been phenomenal” – SOPHIE ROSS – Director of Strategy & Business Transformation, Hammerson.

The Plus app was first tested at Les Terrasses du Port in Marseille in 2015. In the same year Plus climbed into the top 10 lifestyle apps for France. No major changes in functionality were required before the roll-out in the other centers. By October of that year, 70,000 customers had already downloaded the Plus app, and well over half of them subsequently registered.

APPLIED PRODUCTS: Approved BLE-Beacons | Commander Location Engine | Commander Verwaltungs-Backend | Commander SDK