May 26, 2021When you think of asset and staff tracking in real time, what comes to mind? Perhaps duress buttons, locators, GPS—what about cow bells? Seriously, cow bells were one of the original asset-tracking systems. Cow runs away, you're looking for it, cow gives away its location by the ring of the bell. Simple.
Needless to say, things have changed in the Information Age. Real-time locating systems (RTLS) are vital tools for improving staff safety, business efficiency and logistics. And, yes, some high-tech RTLS solutions still track cows. RTLS solutions have changed a lot throughout the years, and the journey is pretty fascinating. What's on the bleeding edge of asset and staff tracking could propel new growth of industries from healthcare to corrections.
Early Technology and Ancient Times
The earliest uses for RTLS solutions were livestock tracking, and for good reason. For about the first 10,000 years of human history, once cattle were domesticated from their ancient wild ancestors, cattle symbolized wealth, offered protein-rich food sources, and were used for plowing and other agricultural purposes too. Suffice it to say, it was important to keep track of this very literal representation of financial stability.
There's evidence of pottery cowbells in use as early as 4,000 years ago, then a gradual shift to iron and other metal devices. While bells are still in use, adorning animals in many cultures, RTLS solutions using GPS or other positioning technologies are now widely used in agriculture, allowing farmers and ranchers clearer and more immediate visibility into their herds' movements, behaviors and more.
RTLS Goes Global: Military Might
The U.S. military started using radar—short for "radio detection and ranging"—during World War II as an RTLS method for tracking enemy planes and ships. Radar works by emitting short electromagnetic waves, which then bounce back to the radar receiver and can be used to determine how close or far away an object is.
After Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Scottish-born Robert Watson-Watt, who's heralded as the developer of modern radar, advised the U.S. military on a much-needed air strategy. For obvious reasons, having the power to scan the skies and anticipate an airborne attack was top-of-mind for the United States. Great Britain used the same technology to help detect Germany's Luftwaffe aircraft as they flew and dropped bombs over London and the surrounding areas.
Like many major technological advances throughout the course of human history, radar and similar methodologies were being developed by numerous nations simultaneously, including Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan and Italy. Watson-Watt's technology, dubbed "radar" by the U.S. Navy in 1940, was the most technologically advanced—and it helped turn the tide of the war.
Product Tracking and the Rise of Massive Warehousing
With the advent of modern big-box stores—think Walmart, Costco and Ikea—and multinational logistics channels, RTLS technology became an incredibly important tool for asset tracking, efficient shipping and more. Let's zoom in on Walmart and its pioneering asset-tracking techniques.
After humble beginnings in Arkansas in 1962, Walmart grew to become the largest retailer in the United State by 1990. By 1999, it was the largest employer in the world. And while Amazon and similar companies have now taken top spots for total company value, Walmart paved the way in offering a massive selection of goods in its stores across the world. But how did the company do it? Supply chain management—aided by innovative asset-tracking technology.
Walmart pioneered new types of cross-docking and supply chain management, but arguably its most groundbreaking RTLS innovation was in combining radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology with universal product codes (UPCs). This allowed the retail giant to quickly turn over its inventory, reduce costs associated with lost, stolen or misplaced goods, and locate a product on any shelf across its vast network of warehouses and stores.
Staff Duress and Facility Safety
But enough about products—let's talk people. Specifically in hospitals, corrections facilities and mental health facilities, RTLS technology can be used to prioritize the safety of staff members, as well as that of those in their charge. It can get pretty complicated in a sprawling facility, but basically, indoor RTLS technology can be used to track a person or an asset, such as an expensive piece of medical equipment, down to the room they're in. Facility-based RTLS works through an interaction between signals sent out from transmitter tags on people or physical assets and strategically placed locators that convey the data to the staff tasked with tracking movement within the facility.
Usually, RTLS for staff safety or efficiency uses radio frequency beacons such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or custom signals for locating, sometimes triangulating over multiple receivers. These solutions should all be crafted for the environments they're set to operate in to maximize signal propagation and speed—when seconds matter for personal safety, no delay is acceptable. Uusing hospitals as examples, those that upgrade to an effective RTLS solution report huge increases in workplace safety, as well as big cost savings.
On the Horizon: Staff Efficiency, Advanced Technologies
At this point, it seems clear that staff duress and tracking should be a standard operating procedure in environments that call for it—especially in high-intensity, fast-moving environments such as corrections facilities, mental health facilities or healthcare facilities. The technology is such a powerful tool for safety that it feels like an operational necessity.
That's why I believe the next evolution of RTLS is its role as an efficiency tool. We're already seeing this in healthcare. By tagging high-value, high-demand assets like fluoroscopes, wheelchairs, ventilators and portable ultrasound devices, nurses and other employees can efficiently and accurately find them when they need them, thereby improving patient care.
The industry is discussing how to use this tracking technology to track patients' journey through a health facility, to improve how quickly they receive care. Nurses and other care providers will have greater control over the care environment, and overall satisfaction with health services should increase provided we tackle the privacy issues. Today's technology is primed for this kind of evolution—especially tech that solves for challenges posed by complex physical environments. With all the advances happening in the RTLS space, we are sure to see solutions that go beyond just providing "more cowbell."
Isaac Davenport, Ph.D., is Actall's chief technology officer. In this role, he supports Actall in recruiting, project management, technology strategy, system design, debugging, employee development, vendor management and occasionally connector specification. Isaac has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from CU and has worked on dozens of product-development programs. He has run small companies and has worked as a hardware, firmware, and software design engineer and technical management consultant for large businesses.
