Do you want to locate and monitor materials and equipment that are permanently in one place, such as a building site, company premises or in a warehouse? Then the TAG.BLE (bluetooth) is the best option. The tag is ultra-small and can be easily attached. Location is determined automatically via signal recognition by gateways and smartphones within range; no manual operation or scanning is required. An integrated QR code offers the possibility to add all kinds of actions. In this use case the TAG.BLE is used for the management of industrial ladders.
During the preparation of the transport of cooling elements, things went wrong at Baltimore. All-Connects established a 'dialogue' between the finished goods and the forklift trucks.
Baltimore Aircoil Company (BAC) manufactures evaporative cooling towers and thermal storage solutions. The American company is part of the Amsted Industries group. Baltimore employs more than 2,000 people in facilities worldwide. Approximately 340 employees are active in the Belgian branch in Heist-op-den-Berg, which is also the European headquarters of BAC.
Because there were frequent problems in locating the correct finished products on the site, Baltimore looked for a solution to track them.
Ward Lemmens (Production Engineer) explains:
"We produce (sections of) cooling towers, which are assembled on site. On a typical day, there are about 150 of these sections on our site, ready to be transported to the customer. Often, it is quite a job to find the right elements. That's why we looked at how we could get a better overview of the finished products to greatly reduce the search work."
Baltimore devised a system to divide the warehouse into zones. The location of the cooling towers was recorded in a table, but it was not always possible to keep it up to date. Moreover, the available surface is quite limited and in peak periods elements had to be moved.
This experiment showed that automation was necessary. The first requested providers proposed to provide the 150 or so elements with a GPS tracker. Efficient, but with a (too) high price tag.
When Baltimore finally consulted All-Connects, a better alternative was soon on the table. The special thing about this track & trace solution is that it never leaves the Baltimore site. Each element that rolls off the production line is given a Bluetooth tracker. The eight forklift trucks are in turn equipped with a GPS tracker and a Bluetooth gateway.
"The system is ingenious in its simplicity. Every movement of the cooling tower activates the Bluetooth tracker and communicates with the tracker on the forklift truck. Thus, the exact location of the element on the site is always known. When loading the truck, the tracker is removed and reused for the next element," says Ward Lemmens.
Since it is a cloud-based solution, Baltimore carried out a data security risk assessment. The system was then tested on site. A few adjustments were necessary, as the application is slightly different from the standard product of All-Connects.
Ward looks back on the collaboration with satisfaction:
"We do not yet have concrete data to calculate the time and efficiency gains, but the employees involved clearly notice that everything is running better. We are also very enthusiastic about the possibility to link photos of cooling towers loaded on trucks to the system. That saves us a lot of unnecessary discussions afterwards. In short, All-Connects has certainly lived up to our expectations!"
Locating assets
A GPS + Bluetooth gateway was placed in the forklift trucks. A BLE (Bluetooth) tracker was attached to the cooling elements, which 'wakes up' when movement is detected and starts communicating with the BLE gateway of the forklift truck.
The CHECK.connects platform - powered by All-Connects - that can be used via desktop, and mobile app.
How do you remotely manage the maintenance and cleaning of dozens of warehouses spread throughout the port? How do you ensure that reports of dangerous situations in and around the depots can be quickly passed on and followed up? That is the question Katoen Natie wanted an answer to, and in their search they arrived at the Check.connects software of All-Connects.
Katoen Natie develops and delivers smarter logistics and engineering solutions, tailored to the specific situation of each customer. The company operates 150 port terminals, logistics terminals and on-site terminals for the loading and unloading of general cargo, breakbulk, cars and forest products. They employ 10,000 people. Their customers are mainly shipping companies specialising in petrochemicals, specialty chemicals and consumer goods.
In order to steer this enormous logistical operation in the right direction, Katoen Natie built gigantic platforms: these are logistical 'hubs' on the customer's site, in or behind large ports, in industrial centres or close to large consumers. These platforms have a large land area with approximately 50% covered warehouse space.
The maintenance and cleaning of these hubs, scattered in and around the port, proved to be a huge logistical challenge. In addition, there was no efficient system for quickly reporting unsafe situations, such as incorrectly placed equipment, waste left lying around, dangerous situations, etc. Employees reported this via e-mail, whatsapp, mobile phone, or verbally ... Employees would pass on reports via e-mail, whatsapp, mobile phone or verbally ... and they would be resolved, but not reported. and they were resolved, but because the reports were not recorded, it was impossible to check whether and when a reported problem had been resolved and where possible bottlenecks formed.
Katoen Natie now uses the CHECK.connects management application to manage the maintenance staff & to pass on urgent notifications from the various platform locations in a 'smart' way .
The facility manager creates the checklists on the management platform with a list of tasks to be performed for the daily cleaning in the different locations. The cleaning employee opens this checklist in the CHECK.connects app on his smartphone and starts his job. When he finishes his tasks, he checks in the app if he indeed performed all tasks. The system then asks if everything was OK. If the answer is negative, an error report is opened and the employee can indicate the possible problems, and possibly add a picture as proof. This report can be consulted by the facility manager, who can take the necessary actions and assign follow-up tasks.
Our QR code application turned out to be ideal for the requested functionality: Everyone, both an in-house employee and an external port worker who does not have access to the management application, can scan a QR code - linked to a device or room - with their own smartphone and open a 'guest page' on the CHECK app, without login details or compulsory registration. Via a handy form with targeted, relevant questions, the person can quickly pass on a report, and even add a photo to illustrate a defect, damage or unhygienic situation, for example. The responsible facility manager receives an instant notification and can immediately launch a follow-up task. All notifications are registered in a handy overview, which can be used to map out possible danger areas or frequently recurring problem situations. For Matthias De Smedt, general manager commodities at Katoen Natie, the new working method has already proved its worth:
"The combination of the app and the QR codes in our warehouses throughout the port represents more than just a digitalisation of our housekeeping. The most important asset is that all employees and visitors can report a housekeeping or safety problem in a structured way, without technical limitations. In this way we involve everyone in our 'continuous improvement' philosophy to make our warehouses a safer and better place to work and store goods."
Check.connects, powered by All-Connects, was selected to participate in the NEW WORK project of THE BEACON SMART HUB in Antwerp. The building on the isle will be opened up as an experimental living lab to test new technologies, which contribute positively to health, well-being and productivity on the work floor.
The technology is tested for user acceptance, and answers the following questions:
1|how will employees deal with this technology?
2|how can efficiency be increased by using this technology?
3|how do we ensure that the applied technology has a lasting impact?
The Check.connects technology is used to locate company assets, monitor their use and optimise reservation planning. For the Beacon, we were asked to deploy the system to monitor facility tasks in the various office spaces. Because the building is constantly being used by different people, it was not easy to provide a good service and to ensure that everything was always in perfect order at the workplace, in the coffee corner and in the washrooms. That's why they wanted an easy way to report when something needed to be refilled - such as toilet soap, cleaning product, coffee beans, etc.
Ideal for the requested functionality was our QR code application: Anyone can scan a QR code, linked to a device or room, with their own smartphone and open a 'guest page' on the CHECK app (without login details or compulsory registration). Via a handy form with targeted, relevant questions, the user can quickly pass on a report, and even add a photo to illustrate a defect, damage or unhygienic situation, for example. THE BEACON's office manager receives an instant notification and can immediately launch a follow-up task.
Want to know how it works in practice? Then be sure to check out the video below in which our Account & Project Manager David De Wilde explains how it works.
Create schedules and manage maintenance with TAG.QR-NFC. This tool automatically sends the created planning and notifies at the right time when maintenance has to take place.
A business park typically includes the parking lot(s), the meeting rooms, the sanitary and technical areas, the warehouse, the stock area for office materials, ... in short, the entire surface area that belongs to a business. This solution is suitable for various purposes on a company site. Therefore, in this use case we will discuss a large company that has the above spaces/areas.
There are many different types of spaces on a company site, both indoors and outdoors. Some assets in these areas require regular maintenance, such as lifts. Other assets need to be scheduled for use, such as a meeting room, or it is important to know the contents of a room, such as a stockroom. Checking everything physically and following it up manually takes up an enormous amount of time.
Because a wide range of assets are involved, the TAG.QR-NFC offered the most suitable solution. By scanning the TAG.QR-NFC, anyone can create notifications, reserve rooms and pass on empty dispensers.
Each identified asset was equipped with a unique TAG.QR-NFC. The tags were linked on the online platform with a clear description. The person responsible within the company only receives the notifications that are addressed to him. The platform sends an automatic message with the desired planning for the execution of a certain task/maintenance. Thanks to a handy feature, limited access can be granted to other colleagues - for example, to plan/reserve the meeting room. The handy overview is also useful to monitor the stock of office materials and to order/resupply where necessary.
Would you like to know more about the ultra-compact TAG.BLE for digital management of your indoor equipment?
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Would you like to discover together with our experts how you can monitor and manage your company's equipment at any time? Request a demo now to discover all the features.
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