- Czech Republic-based company Sewio is HID’s latest acquisition as the its grows its portfolio of identification and RTLS technologies.
- Sewio will continue to operate as part of HID’s Internet of Things Services (IOTS) unit, offering work in progress, asset management and warehousing solutions.
Identity solutions technology company HID has acquired ultra-wideband (UWB) provider Sewio Networks to offer a new set of real-time location systems (RTLS) solutions for asset management and logistics.
With the acquisition announced earlier this month, the Brno, Czech Republic-based Sewio will operate as part of HID’s Internet of Things Services (IOTS) business unit.
The acquisition comes at a time in which the UWB RTLS market is becoming more mainstream. With UWB technology built into many smartphones and consumer devices, the technology is better understood by the public. In the meantime, UWB solutions in factories and warehouses are helping companies track the products that are being manufactured, as well as assets that are used in operations throughout facilities. Sewio commonly provides its technology to manufacturers and industrial companies, directly, or through solution provider partners.
Offering HID More Flexibility in Customer Solutions
With the acquisition, Sewio will be better able to serve the growing market for such RTLS solutions said Milan Simek, Sewio’s CEO.
“Our customers will benefit from global support and from the opportunity to deploy complex projects combining hi-tech technologies from the HID group,” said Simek, adding it will allow Sewio stay highly competitive and support its solution partners access new sales channels.
Already HID Global—a secure identity products company and independent subsidiary of access control firm Assa Abloy—offers a broad mix of technologies for RTLS. They include passive UHF RFID, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), active 433 MHz RFID, and GPS/LoRa technology. This latest acquisition will expand UWB ‘s presence in that RTLS portfolio, said Mark Robinton, HID’s VP IoT Services BU, Identification Technologies.
HID’s strategy is to have a wide variety of options, Robinton explained, “so we can be a trusted adviser to find the right technology that fits each customer’s problem.”
Growth Through Acquisition
The deal follows HID acquisitions of Atlanta-based Vizzia Technologies in the healthcare technologies market, Connexient for Bluetooth-based wayfinding and Guard RFID, which makes wander management and infant security solutions.
Now, Sewio’s UWB technology brings high precision and reliable real-time location calculation for vertical markets like automotive and warehousing, according to Robinton.
“This compliments our other location technologies and gives us a full portfolio from outdoor yard management down to the manufacturing line,” said Robinton. “We are excited to add the knowledge and capabilities of this team to the group.”
Sewio sales, engineering and management teams will become part of HID’s RTLS unit.
Czech-based UWB Solution for Manufacturing and Logistics
Sewio was launched in 2014 and by 2018, the company’s management decided to focus by heavily investing on small and medium-sized customers in the verticals of manufacturing and warehousing.
“It was the right decision as our UWB RTLS brings unique business value [to this sector] with its reliability and precision,” said Simek. The company operates mostly in Europe and the U.S. Additionally, it has a significant presence in South Korea, where its technology is in use at 17 factories on one automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) while still scaling to other companies.
Sewio’s common use cases in manufacturing center around management of material during work in progress (WIP). It also tracks utilization of material handling units, and people, for personnel safety.
“The main focus is in segments of tier one and tier two automotive, food industry, metal industry, and medical devices,” said Simek, with the company’s customers including Phillips, Arconic, Denso, Hyundai, Kia, Volvo and Scania.
Innovation Around Interoperability
Sewio engineers the RTLS technology in house. Three years ago, the company introduced a unique directional UWB antenna, intended to bring reliable and precise location tracking of tagged items in a harsh metal environment. Thanks to this innovation, said Simek, Sewio entered new markets like sheet metal producers.
Last year, Sewio introduced an interoperability module in its location engine known as RTLS Studio, the module was based on the Omlox standard. “This is another crucial step to encourage mass adoption of UWB RTLS products globally,” said Simek.
Sewio introduced a new cloud service named myRTLS, which offers software services to its partners and customers including supervision system, monitoring and business intelligence for manufacturers.
A Growing UWB Market
UWB RTLS has been gaining traction in recent years, Simek pointed out. “We see very aggressive adoption in the new field of UWB radars replacing infrared or motion sensors,” for example, he said. One use case is child breathing detection.
The number of UWB chip makers increased more than ten-fold within the last five years to serve the expanding market. This will likely push down the cost of the UWB technology over all, according to the two companies. “It is a very positive message for our customers,” said Simek.
With HID support, he added, Sewio will be offering large-scale deployments of thousands of devices ahead. “We expect the roll-out of such projects within the next year,” said Simek.
Future Expansion in Planning
Simek will continue in his role as Sewio’s CEO, and co-founder Lubomir Mraz continuous as CTO. Sewio brand will continue to be used, globally.
Robinton described Sewio’s team as experts in industrial tracking applications to support worldwide deployments and partners.
“Availability of their products and additional technical expertise [will] continue to round-out our portfolio as the most comprehensive across passive, active, and different precision needed for different problems,” said Robinton.