Last week, we were in TRUMPF’s headquarters in Ditzingen, Germany for the TRUMPF RTLS TechDay 2024, gathering with partners and a select group of the most relevant names in the industry.

It was an information-packed one-day event where the general sentiment embodied the industry’s confidence in RTLS and omlox’s standardization efforts which enabled the technology’s unbelievable state of the art.

We showcased our symbiotic collaboration with TRUMPF, integrating their Coriva real-time locating solution through standardized omlox interfaces and providing some real metrics and KPIs from the event.

TRUMPF, Fraunhofer, T-Systems, STMicroelectronics and omlox were in charge of presentations and shared their insights

Here are OUR key takeaways from the presentations:

1) Perfect time to make RTLS a reality. Companies are looking forward to reaping the fruits of digital manufacturing and there is a growing interest in implementation to propel shop floors into the future.

2) For the ones dreaming about autonomization and AI: collecting and working on location data TODAY is important, so that you can achieve the Digital Twin faster. The current paradigm is that of Digital Shadow: changes to the physical object change its digital representation. The Digital Twin is a system where data flows both ways,  changes to the physical object change its digital representation and vice-versa.

3) Smart factories were projected with salivating benefits for the manufacturing industry. An entire sector is under pressure with high costs and low profit margins, but those could be met with solutions that have the potential for significant enhancements on productivity, quality, cost, lead times, flexibility, adaptability, plant availability and maintenance efficiency, savings in energy consumption, environmental impact and employee engagement.

4) RTLS is considered one of the pillars for the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). Industrial management depends on the quality and granularity of the data obtained, with location being one of the main adders of value and context. 

5) The RTLS success factors, accounting for the level of maturity of the technology and the industry’s experience in UWB and in industrial deployments, require 3 key steps: 1) deployment – its optimization and the removal of entry barriers is crucial to a fast return on investment; 2) densification – interoperability to foster competition and proximity with consumer technology for optimal price erosion; 3) duplication – the creation and stimulation of a world wide RTLS ecosystem.

6) There is a general consensus on the importance of standardization through omlox: guaranteeing RTLS interoperability and facilitating digital solutions to industry’s real challenges.

WHERE IS is a RTLS software platform developed by Wavecom that allows knowledge of everything happening at all times on the shop floor.  It was developed based on experience and knowledge from numerous industrial use cases to present relevant data in a way that matters to the industry, delivering unlimited business value on top of the RTLS infrastructure.