6 Reasons why Ultra-wideband (UWB) Positioning Technology is Best for Smart Factories
The Smart Factory — a digitized and connected manufacturing facility — is the next logical step in the evolution of manufacturing. The technology is expected to yield the following impressive benefits for early adopters:
- increase the volume of production by 7 times
- accelerate just-in-time delivery by 13 times
- Rationalize inventory and capital expenses (CAPEX) by 12 times.
In fact, here’s the comparison of the gains provided by the current manufacturing technologies since 1990 and in the next five years thanks to Smart Factory.
The potential benefits are significant, so managers of production facilities around the world are investing in smart manufacturing. The global smart factory market is projected to increase by almost 12 percent between 2017 and 2026 to reach $378 billion.
Since smart factories collect appreciable amounts of tracking data from automated processes and machines, they are looking for tracking solutions for non-automated processes and humans.
The systems based on Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology are the preferred choice rather than more traditional solutions based on RFID or Wi-Fi.
UWB is defined as an ultra-low power communication technology for sending large amounts of data over a wide radio spectrum. But what does it mean for industrial businesses in terms of gaining the insights needed to achieve smart manufacturing?
Reason 1: Superior Accuracy
UWB’s high-bandwidth, low-frequency signal can pass through a wide variety of obstacles, including walls. The accuracy of 30 centimeters can be achieved, which is much more accurate compared to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi systems, and therefore, more useful for factory managers who need accurate positions of moving assets.
For plant managers, having such an accurate solution is important because a weaker accuracy produces an erroneous picture; for example, employees could be shown as walking on equipment while moving units could appear as moving through the walls.
Another way in which UWB delivers accurate positioning data is a high refresh rate. A location tag of our own UWB indoor positioning system, for example, can send location information for the tracked items up to 5 times per second.
This ensures accurate routing data for moving units in spaghetti diagrams, including forklifts that can reach speeds up to 10 kilometers per hour.
Reason 2: The Ability to Work in a Dynamic, Crowded, and Harsh Environment
In an industrial environment such as a factory floor, a tracking signal can be blocked by an abundance of large metallic objects, machines, or people.
Compared to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-based systems, UWB is less susceptible to interference by metallic and other materials, which makes it a suitable option for asset tracking in production sites.
Moreover, UWB is also an effective tracking option for facilities with heavy employee and fleet traffic.
Reason 3: Low Power Consumption
Location tags used by UWB-based indoor location systems can function for prolonged periods of time thanks to low power consumption. For example, Indoorway location tags can collect data for up to two years without recharge. For businesses, this translates into lower maintenance costs for indoor tracking.
Reason 4: Minimum Radio Interference
The UWB signal has less power than typical background noise and spreads evenly across a wide spectrum, which allows it to exist in harmony with other radio signals, including those emitted by smartphones, Wi-Fi systems, and Bluetooth devices.
This means that a UWB-based indoor location system is suitable for use in multi-room spaces such as production facilities and hospitals where cell phones and other equipment that generates radio signals are present.
Reason 5: Scalability
A UWB-based indoor location system can track hundreds of tags in one facility, which makes it suitable for industrial spaces of various sizes.
A high user density is not a problem to localization of specific assets since the user can differentiate one tracked asset and view the data for it using a visual dashboard.
Thus, growing businesses that utilize UWB systems can expand them to include more assets and cover more area without the need for reinstallation.
Reason 6: Short Deployment Time
It’s possible to install the infrastructure for a UWB-based location tracking system without having to pause operations within reasonable timeframes.
For example, our experience showed that covering about 1,500 square meters with location tags and hubs as well as setting the Analytical Dashboard takes about 8 hours to complete.
Conclusion
Unsurprisingly, managers of industrial businesses recognize UWB technology as a suitable tool for making the transition to smart manufacturing.
The abovementioned reasons provide a reasonable foundation for considering a UWB-based indoor location system as a tool for providing that much-needed asset and inventory visibility.
If you would like to find out more about the features of a UWB-based indoor tracking system and how can it support Smart Factory processes, feel free to contact us directly or visit our website, Indoorway.com.
