Indoor GPS for Material Handling and Warehousing

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1 Indoor GPS for Material Handling and Warehousing This white paper outlines a number of Real-Time Location System applications in material handling and warehousing operations. Significant improvement in overall safety and productivity is possible through increased visibility into asset, vehicle and employee location. A low-cost, scalable method of implementing location awareness is presented Redpoint Positioning Corp., Boston, MA, USA

2 Introduction Companies must adapt to increased labor costs, material management, downtime, onsite safety/productivity concerns and a competitive landscape with diminishing margins. These initiatives reflect the move to best-of-breed warehouse management systems and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) - which provide visibility into operations and enables significant automation of processes. In material handling and warehousing operations, indoor location reduces unnecessary movement, unnecessary transportation, lost inventory, waiting and down times. Moreover, integrated RTLS makes warehouse management, manufacturing execution systems and enterprise resource platforms more effective. In short, indoor location improves processes across all major functional areas of material handling and logistics. The role of big data-large data sets that are analyzed to reveal patterns, trends and insights-is taking on greater importance for companies as they look to optimize the supply chain, increase end-to-end visibility and drive efficiency for their customers. Big data enabled through RTLS allows those within the supply chain to identify and correct inefficiencies, run what-if scenarios, and improve the way they respond to disruptions and mitigate risk. Data-driven decision making is essential to the future success in material handling. Providers are capturing on-board data from forklifts, and trailers in the yard, as well as information through transportation and warehouse management systems. However, simply capturing data is not beneficial. It is how that information is analyzed and used that creates value data generates insights and insights drive action. To compete in today s ever-changing material handling and logistics industry companies must be able to effectively use location intelligence tools. Summary Redpoint Positioning is a leading provider of real-time vehicle, operator and inventory tracking within the warehousing industry. Redpoint indoor location has been designed specifically for warehousing applications with a scalable, low-cost infrastructure that is easy to install and maintain. Our high fidelity indoor location is enabling collision avoidance, lift usage and traffic monitoring, route optimization, and productivity measures for fleets world-wide. Leveraging the Redpoint wireless network, integrated sensors such as RFID readers, impact detectors, and temperature monitors provide unprecedented connectivity. Redpoint gives an unprecedented advantage to material handlers and warehousing operations within an increasingly competitive landscape while improving safety and reducing operating expenses Redpoint Positioning Inc., Boston, MA, USA 1

3 Challenges in Material Handling and Warehousing Material handling is ubiquitous within every plant, warehouse and distribution center at all times. It entails providing the right amount of the right materials, in the right condition, at the right place, at the right time, in the right position, for the right cost and using the right method. To achieve these objectives, material handling companies face various challenges. LABOR COSTS The cost of material handling contributes significantly to the total cost of manufacturing. In the modern era of competition, this has acquired greater importance due to growing need for reducing the manufacturing cost. The importance of material handling function is greater in those industries where the ratio of handling cost to the processing cost is large. Today, material handling is considered one of the most potentially lucrative areas for cost reduction. Almost every item of physical commerce is transported on a conveyor or lift truck or other type of material handling equipment in manufacturing plants, warehouses, and retail stores. Operators use material handling equipment to transport various goods in a variety of industrial settings including moving construction materials around building sites or moving goods onto ships. There is a shortfall of skilled labor to perform manual material handling. High labor wages (in part due to low availability of labor) and medical costs add to skyrocketing costs of labor. Forklift operators compose in excess of 70% of the operational costs for a typical warehouse. Thus, to reduce labor costs implies increasing warehouse productivity. The key is operational insight into the performance of individual drivers and increasing their forklift utilization rate, in other word more pallets transferred per unit time. To measure productivity improvements, benchmarked labor standards are required. Most material handling facilities lack the tools to gain a detailed understanding of how much work can be done in a period of time. It is difficult to plan labor by day, shift, job, and zone. For true benchmarks, real-time visibility into operations is needed to observe work in progress such as speed, location, status of forklifts (loaded, unloaded), drivers, and inventory. Operators themselves can also see the expected time for a specific task and how they compare to their peers Redpoint Positioning Inc., Boston, MA, USA 2

4 WORKER SAFETY The material handling industry relies on forklifts to improve productivity and reduce the need for excessive manual handling of goods and objects by employees. However, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, there are approximately 100 fatalities and 20,000 serious injuries each year in the United States as a result of forklift accidents. Almost 80% of these accidents involve a pedestrian. These accidents cause substantial property damage, disrupt business operations, and result in worker compensation claims, costing companies millions of dollars in losses. Specifically, the average cost to a company for a single forklift accident is $184,000 in medical expenses, lost productivity, legal liability fees, and OSHA compliance costs. To mitigate these risks, many companies have installed collision detection systems based on accelerometers intended to compensate for driver errors and reduce costs associated with accidents. Shortfalls of these systems include expense, complexity of operation, susceptibility to industrial environment, and worker non-compliance. Furthermore, these systems are reactive in that they only record accidents and collisions, after the safety incident. A system that monitors collisions is of limited value as the goal is to prevent accidents. Redpoint not only provides collision avoidance of lifts, but also monitors the presence of workers to mitigate pedestrian accidents. CHANGING DRIVER BEHAVIOR It is clear that preventing accidents should be the focus of most companies as opposed to detecting them. Most forklift accidents are due to human error. Various factors such as training, visibility, distractions, speed, fatigue and erratic driving patterns can contribute to accidents. Thus, a method for monitoring driving behavior is an important piece of any proactive safety monitoring plan. A driver who knows his every turn is being monitored is less likely to make or repeat mistakes. The goal is to monitor unsafe behavior and address issues before they turn into injuries. Knowing which drivers are involved in the most incidents and identifying high risk areas with the cold-chain facility is essential to creating a safer working environment. Poor workplace design, including pedestrian and traffic lanes can be the cause of many problems. By recording traffic patterns, industrial and safety engineers can continuously improve the safety environment of the workplace. By fostering timely corrective action, Real-Time Location Systems reinforce safe operations and improved driving habits Redpoint Positioning Inc., Boston, MA, USA 3

5 Redpoint Positioning Differentiators Vehicle Centric Location - 52 Hertz Update Rate - Navigation Mode 1. 65,000 Tag Capacity - Cloud Based Software for Scalability Zero Latency - for safety Two-Way Radio for Sensor Integration No Calibration - Plug and Play Installation 4. True Wireless Solution for Low Cost of Maintenance About Redpoint Positioning Redpoint Positioning is a global leader in Real-Time Location Systems with a growing portfolio of indoor positioning solutions. Our platform leverages a fusion of Ultrawideband, Bluetooth, and IMUs to provide precision location for material handling, industrial IoT, construction, and other verticals that require high fidelity location awareness. Redpoint Positioning was formed specifically to address limitations in the Real-Time Location System market with respect to cost, installation, scalability, and interoperability Redpoint Positioning Inc., Boston, MA, USA 4

6 Warehousing Integrator Program Redpoint partners with material handling and warehousing providers as well as mobility experts who service these industries. Our location solution integrates with forklift speed control, telematics suites, Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), and mobility equipment such as RFID readers. Redpoint provides the hardware, software, open-source APIs and technical support to make you successful. We rely on our partners to tailor these tools to give end-customers the solutions they need. Why Partner with Redpoint? A unique RTLS architecture giving your team a competitive advantage Comprehensive training to provide the best solutions to your customers Redpoint helps build a go-to-market strategy differentiating you from competitors in the marketplace Marketing materials and use cases to support your go-to-market strategy Easy-to-use demos kits for proof-of-concepts at customer sites Product roadmaps so you can plan customer implementations Access to a world-class team of RTLS product developers and innovators If you are a solution-focused company with systems integration expertise, software configuration and development competencies, partner with Redpoint to deliver the very best in real-time tracking solutions. To learn more about the Redpoint Integrator program and request an application contact: Redpoint Positioning 100 N Washington Street Boston, MA Phone: +1 (857) info@redpointpositioning.com 2018 Redpoint Positioning Inc., Boston, MA, USA 5