Asset location thanks to BLE!
How to know the real-time position of the containers inside the 2,000 sq.m. warehouse and production area?
Italdadi’s need consists in knowing the real-time position of the containers, and consequently their contents, inside the 2,000 sq.m. warehouse and production area: the quick and reliable information, free from the operators’ memory, is aimed at improving the location of the containers and reducing the time needed to move them.
In the past, the search for the bins was time-consuming, aggravated by the risk of human error: these inefficiencies had an unavoidable repercussion on production as well.
At a Glance
FINAL USER / COUNTRYItaldadi factory / Italy |
CHALLENGEAutomatic asset localization & tracking |
ANSWERBLE monitors bins in warehouse to know their position |
BENEFITSReal-time info about asset localization, costs cutting and smarter traceability |
INTEGRATOR & TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSCD Soluzioni ⇔ Global Tag |
Introduction: Italdadi factory
Italdadi, a Brescia-based company in North Italy, produces bolts and nuts, exported worldwide: rubber hose clamps, niplex, caps and ferrules, are some of the core items manifactured by this company.
Thanks to its production capability exceeding 10 million units per month, Italdadi distinguishes its products from a simple commodity: latest generation machinery and an advanced information system allow a real time monitoring of the manufacturing process, designed for flexibility and efficiency, meanwhile the warehouse handles more than 1000 containers including metal boxes and pallets.
The challenge: Italdadi’s needs
Italdadi’s need consists in knowing the real-time position of the containers, and consequently their contents, inside the 2,000 sq.m. warehouse and production area: the quick and reliable information, free from the operators’ memory, is aimed at improving the location of the containers and reducing the time needed to move them.
In the past, the search for the bins was time-consuming, aggravated by the risk of human error: these inefficiencies had an unavoidable repercussion on production as well.
BLE implementation process: from challenges to solution
The answer to such needs is the innovative, inexpensive yet practical Indoor Localization System (IPS), based on Bluetooth Low Energy wireless wireless technology and the result of the cooperation of CD Soluzioni, specialized in management IoT software, Global Tag which supplied the Beacons and BluEpyc, with the contribution of EchoBeacon and Gateway BLE.
The backbone of the Bluetooth Low Energy hardware infrastructure are the Gateways, fixed devices powered and connected to the company network via Ethernet, and the EchoBeacons, as repeaters (receiving data from the Beacons and transmitting it to the Gateway, thus ensuring a more granular monitoring of the area presided over by the EchoBeacon) they only need to be powered, which reduces installation costs: the Beacons, applied to the bins with extreme ease, send the radio signal (advertising interval) to the EchoBeacons and are the heart of the system, while the software has become the operating brain.
In more details on the individual components, the Beacons are attached to approximately 400/500 metal boxes stored in Italdadi’s warehouse and to approximately 100 boxes in the adjacent warehouse, ready to be shipped to suppliers.
Started in June 2019 with a proof of concept to evaluate the amount of components to install in the various areas of the company and test their performances, the project has evolved with the implementation, of 4 Gateways, 24 EchoBeacons and more than 500 Beacons applied to boxes and bins, starting from October.
In this phase of the project, the biggest challenge for the Bluetooth LE technology is to correctly place the EchoBeacon, to ensure 100% tracking coverage and at the same time avoid saturation of data traffic, all complicated by the limited warehouse space. Positioning the EchoBeacon in specific areas, the data transmission was compromised by electromagnetic interference, so the performances were not satisfactory: the objective of the PoC is to overcome such limits, identifying the best device positioning.
Specifically, the Beacons are set to optimize battery consumption and to provide quick positioning data: the choice has been made on a ping rate that would ensure a battery life of approximately 3 years.
The data flow in Italdadi starts from the Beacon placed on the box, arrives at the EchoBeacon which, through proper filters and calibrations, forwards it to the Gateway, which transmits the advertising packets to the “signal triangulation” software: after processing all the data, the CD Solutions system reports the Beacon location area, i.e. the box to which it is associated, back to the management system.
Benefits
The system’s key strengths can be summarized as follows:
- very reduced costs of Beacons mounted on the bins, with no reduction in performance, and easy installation,
- EchoBeacon doesn’t need to be connected to the company network, therefore simplifying and lowering installation costs, while enhancing detection accuracy
- software optimizes radio signals from the Bluetooth LE system and sends back to Italdadi the required information, i.e. the container’s stocking position.
All this results in a fast material traceability to be destined for production and the opportunity to share information that no longer depends on the operators’ memory and on their presence in the warehouse.
BLE technology details
The BLE architecture, projected and produced by BluEpyc, consists of:
- Disk Beacony on the bins with wall-mount accessory, provided by Global Tag,
- Industry EchoBeacons wall-mount,
- Gateways Industrial Ethernet.
BLE is so implemented in an unconventional way, like an active RFID, performing excellently and responding so to the projects requirements.
The Bluetooth LE architecture in Italdati testifies the Zone Method’s effectiveness in terms of localization and the importance of the cardinal device on which this system relies, the EchoBeacon, which functions as a link between the Beacons and the Gateway in order to gather more accurate data in a specific areapleased with the outcome of the project and in some circumstances, appreciate both the technology itself and the customizations implemented for our needs, as well as the absence of complaints or anything else from the subjects involved in the project.
The Beacon was the key element of the project, as it was essential to identify a solution that was easy to implement but strong enough to endure all the production processes, including the heat generated by the hot glowing bolts just manufactured. We therefore designed a silicone-type support that could endure and protect the tag from high temperatures, humidity and corrosive agents; in addition, the position identified on the box made it possible to preserve it from shocks resulting from the handling of forklift.
The NRG Suite is now able to support the entire production cycle in Italdadi, from the container’s in the warehouse to the processing of orders: integrating different operations, the Suite not only returns more information to the company, but has also increased its value.
We are very satisfied with the outcome achieved at an excellent value for money, we continued our constant commitment to innovation and improvement in the production process using the latest technology available. The system’s implementation, thanks to the work of the project team, had little impact on our daily work, allowing us to remain focused on our core business.
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