I’ve written previously about deployment of Zebra Technologies real-time locating systems (RTLS) solutions in the critical flight-line operations of the aerospace and defense industries, but aerospace and defense applications go well beyond the flight-line. For example, Zebra’s RTLS solutions were incorporated by Robins Air Force Base in Georgia to provide real-time asset visibility in a broad range of scenarios, including:
- Automatic Data Processing Equipment, or ADPE, is tagged and tracked through the base’s procurement store to increase efficiency and improve timeliness of support.
- WhereTag RFID tags are deployed in the base’s Gyro Repair Facility maintenance shop to help technicians and managers track components throughout the workflow.
- Tools and testing equipment are fitted with WhereTags to reduce time required to locate tools and to prevent loss of these critical assets.
The WhereNet RTLS system deployed at Robins AFB covers approximately three square miles of service infrastructure, while tracking tens of thousands of individual assets. Computer Sciences Corporation, the primary contractor for the installation, selected Zebra’s WhereNet ISO/IEC RTLS technology as providing the longest-range tracking capability across the variety of environments presented by the Robins AFB application. WhereNet systems have an established record of success in mission-critical, 24/7/30 service in extensive, complex and hazardous settings, and offer the convenience and cost-effectiveness of using ANSI 371 and ISO 24730 open-source protocols – no third-party royalties or license fees are required.
Zebra Technologies’ WhereNet solutions were also deployed to enhance efficiency and reduce costs at the Tobyhanna Army Depot’s (Pennsylvania) Research and Analysis Division, which has primary responsibility for the periodic refurbishing required for the complex radar antenna systems serviced by the site. Via WhereNet, technicians induct every assembly, subassembly, component and part received by the facility into its workflow tracking system while evaluating what repairs are required for each. WhereTags are attached and tracked wirelessly by WhereLAN locating sensors and WherePort devices, which trigger a tag signal as items enter specific work areas.
WhereNet allows the Tobyhanna Depot’s technicians and managers to view and track work progress in real time to achieve efficiencies that simply cannot be realized through lesser systems. WhereNet not only tracks the site’s works in progress, but also tracks the 5,500 items of calibrated diagnostic equipment that its teams use daily.
Even more impressive is that WhereNet was so successful in the Tobyhanna installation that it yielded a proven return of investment in less than a year and continues to dramatically expedite site processes and reduce operating costs.
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