Industrial Indoor Localization: Improvement of Logistics Processes Using Location Based Services

The function of logistics is to move objects from place A to place B Therefore it is an important task to determine the position of objects along the supply chain. Up to now, different technologies for indoor localization have been developed. During this technological evolution, two important aspects have been left behind, the communication between the systems and the central management of the data provided. Within the research project ‘Industrial Indoor Localization’, an open source software standard for environment modeling called ‘Reference Architecture Indoor Localization’ (RAIL) has been designed and tested. This protocol enables Location Based Services to allow querying location and object information quickly. Within the scope of the project, four services are being developed and exemplary described in this paper. At the beginning, a location-dependent order allocation algorithm for order picking is presented. This algorithm reduces the waiting time in narrow-aisle warehouses through forecasting. Secondly, an order orchestration service based on location data for picking control is evaluated. Furthermore, a functional area recognition to support picking and a service for finding points of interest is demonstrated, which includes navigation based on a routing algorithm. Using indoor localization, these services improve the intralogistical processes. These include increasing picking performance or reducing order throughput time by eliminating the need to scan the barcode. Finally, these services increase work safety, due to consideration of functional areas, and improve the transparency of the location of points of interest.