What is the meaning of employee geolocation ?

By breaking down the keyword employee geolocation into smaller parts, we can conclude that it has to do with land, location, and employees. So, in InnerWeb, we are dealing with information about the location of employees within the plant area. This can be compared to in-plant video surveillance with the difference that in the case of a camera we have one data stream in the form of an image and we can display it in a window on the monitor. Geolocation of employees and objects gives us hundreds or even thousands of data streams that are collected in one place.

In the case of monitoring, the collected data is transformed into information by viewing the recordings and drawing conclusions from the observations. This can be done in person, or with the help of advanced software that analyzes the images. This requires spending valuable time or money. With geolocation, there is no such need. The data are processed automatically already at the stage of their collection, which allows you to have access to a huge amount of information in real time, such as:

• The current location of the employee in question
• Current location of the equipment / object in motion
• Total working time per location
• The time spent by the employee on the move
• Printout or preview of employee / group movement over time
• Information on Current Risks to which the employee is exposed at the given location

Geolocation therefore enables the generation of:

• Automated Employee Risk Assessment Card
• Notification of entry into a dangerous area
• Alerts on hazardous events (including pre-fire protection)
• Map of the industrial plant with the “living tissue” in the form of employees
• Location of employees for the purposes of evacuation / fire department
• Reduction in the number of telephone calls
• Gains resulting from the efficient coordination of work
• Benefits from quick access to location information
• Savings from the analysis of production processes including employees
• Efficient management of external companies and visitors
• Higher level of security for employees and the production plant
• Report on potential witnesses in case of an accident

In fact, the list of information and possible reports that can be generated using geolocation data is endless. This is completely new knowledge and an area for analysis in many aspects of the organisation, from Health and Safety, Logistics, Purchasing, Maintenance, Production, Technical, Managers, to Cards, PR and presentations for Investors.

The most valuable values emerge at the bottom of a company’s organizational structure – among its employees. They know how far away is the person they are looking for. Instead of making a phone call, it’s better to walk up and get things done right away. If you need to find specialist equipment, an injection mould, a forklift, a ladder, a tool cart or other tools – just use the list of equipment locations. There’s information about the equipment’s last position, as well as a scanner that will track down the item you’re looking for. There is a possibility that the employee will receive a notification. You just need to meet one of the conditions, which was to trigger an ALARM in case such a situation arises. This way you can get a notification that the boss or manager is on the shop floor. Notification that a person no longer uses the equipment and it is free, or that our partner has already returned to the place of work. Access to information in real time through geolocation is the most powerful tool at work.

This tool is currently available in the Internet of Things market in Industry 4.0

This information should be accessible from both the mobile app and any computer.

Much of the information is available “on the spot” and those requiring printouts can be accessed from a computer at work or outside of work. Storing geolocation data is very economical because the stored data takes up much less space compared to high quality surveillance cameras.

The difference remains with the company and the service that makes the geolocation available to employees.

If the solution offers many possibilities and is not limited to indicating the space in which the employee or the object is, then it is perfect. Solutions that don’t require the employee to wear something more or change their current habits are preferred. If it only requires replacing e.g. owned passive cards with active ones or installing an application in a mobile device, such a solution will be accepted much warmer than the ones which will require carrying additional inconvenient electronic devices.

The best geolocation solution for people and objects on the market today is BLE technology, which requires the installation of a dense network of iBeacons. Such an installation has a huge potential for development. IT systems can be built on its basis. It is used for: electronic work permits, work planning, work acceptance, system failure reporting, machine and equipment documentation storage, etc. Such a network is based on high system reliability. Damage to BLE beacons does not significantly affect the operation of the system, only its accuracy.

It is worth looking at the InnerWeb® service. The company of the same name is a leader in the global geolocation and e-Permitting market specializing in dense networks of iBeacons. It is a Polish innovation with its headquarters in the capital city of Podbeskidzie.