How RTLS Vendors Are Helping to Combat COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has transformed the way we live. Factories, offices, shops, and other workspaces have been forced to close, which has had an enormous economic impact, while governments around the world are now shifting their attention toward easing lockdown restrictions in a safe manner, enabling people to return to work and relative normality while reducing the risk of further outbreaks. Real-Time Location System (RTLS) vendors across the globe have the ability to provide a number of solutions that can help ease this transition, helping to enable workplace social distancing enforcement, contact tracing, hygiene compliance, and access control, while at the same time combining these offerings with the wider asset tracking and operational efficiency gains that RTLS solutions can provide.

There is likely to be a considerable impact on RTLS deployment growth in 2020 due to shutdowns and physical restrictions in terms of being able to deploy and configure on site. However, most RTLS vendors are heavily promoting their solutions’ abilities to combat COVID-19, with use cases including social distancing enforcement, contact tracing, access control, and helping reopen facilities by addressing governmental regulations, improving worker safety, and building employee confidence in returning to work. RTLS can also help enable the reconfiguration of work processes to minimize contact or lead to greater automation of processes where human factory floor presence has traditionally been required. A number of solutions have been proposed, ranging from shorter-term rollouts that can take advantage of existing infrastructure and equipment to longer-term deployments that may require additional infrastructure but can also bring about additional improvements to operations as companies desperately seek to make up for any losses in production caused by the COVID-19 shutdowns. These often require a combination of technologies depending on the infrastructure and accuracy required.

Some of the more interesting and notable RTLS solutions highlighting the different approaches to addressing COVID-19 include the following:

KINEXON has recently launched its SafeZone solution, the core component of which is its SafeTag, a wrist-worn Ultra-Wideband (UWB) device that enables visual warnings if the distance between workers falls below a certain threshold. The solution can provide either basic real-time contact warnings, whereby visual and audible warning signals are emitted, or an extended version that provides software that can record data on critical contact events and enable contact tracing, helping to minimize the number of employees that need to be isolated following an infection. The solution claims an accuracy of less than 4 inches, with distance measured once per second. Setup time is one day with no additional infrastructure required. 

Zebra launched its MotionWorks Proximity solution, which is leveraging the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) capabilities of existing mobile computers to detect proximity events and report them back over Wi-Fi, meaning no additional infrastructure is required. The solution includes both an on-device application and log sense data that is sent to the cloud, enabling a view of current and historical proximity events. In the event of an exposure, the solution can create a contact trace report that allows companies to determine potentially impacted employees and take necessary action. 

Quarion’s CONTAQTRACE solution provides tags, anchors, and alert beacons for compliance and reopening, which can be expanded to other RTLS applications. A typical 100,000ft2 deployment can be installed within three to four weeks and can provide texts, email alerts, and pre-formatted reports to identify close and proximate contact incidents, as well as areas and equipment that were contacted by infected personnel. The solution can also direct janitorial resources to higher traffic areas and ensure that cleaning and maintenance resources are completing tasks. The company is also promoting that its solution can then be expanded to other areas of the business beyond its pandemic-related applications to maximize Return on Investment (ROI) and benefit from additional operational efficiencies.

Quuppa’s highly accurate BLE technology is being leveraged within a number of applications through various partnerships to help tackle COVID-19. ThinkIn’s Location Intelligence solution has added new features in the form of social distancing enforcement and contact tracing to help support the reopening of manufacturing environments, offering both a traditional, infrastructure-based RTLS solution and wearable devices that detect proximity. In the longer term, these solutions can be leveraged to adapt to different business needs including asset tracking, workflow digitization, and process optimization. Similarly, Ubisense’s contact tracing technology, once implemented within a facility, can be later extended to provide ongoing evaluation, monitoring, and improvement of entire operations, providing efficiencies post-COVID-19 and beyond.

While lockdowns and shutdowns of facilities are likely to inhibit the rollout of RTLS solutions throughout 2020, many RTLS vendors view this as the initial point of entry for wider RTLS applications that will lead to the growing acceptance and deployment of the technology.  While these solutions can help solve initial COVID-19-related challenges, once this impact diminishes and life returns to relative normality, there will be other advantages that the location infrastructure can enable, starting with safety applications and expanding to other areas of the business to help drive much-needed improvements in efficiency.

Ultimately, many of these vendors are reporting a massive surge in interest in the short term, but also expect it will lead to wider digitization and automation in the long term. COVID-19 is being viewed as entry point to wider discussions thanks to regulatory necessity, and solution providers are confident longer-term partnerships can be built from these initial deployments. Companies that can offer the best balance between helping businesses reopen in the short term and providing a longer-term infrastructure solution that can help production environments become more efficient than ever before will become extremely compelling. This will also help to enable a much greater ROI and ensure businesses get back on their feet and are better equipped to deal with any additional outbreaks in the future.

ABI Research will continue to track the impact of COVID-19 as part of our Location Technologies service, as well the impact it will have on technology choices and the emergence of new use cases and approaches to industrial RTLS.