WIP, Pallet & Container Flow

RTLS · MI-RTLS-03

Ten tracking labels on pallets, two proximity gateways at stations, and a flow board that timestamps every move, shows dwell time per station and exposes the bottleneck in real time.

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• ₹1,23,000pilot BOM · hardware only
• 6 – 8 daysto a live pilot
• Advancedintegration level
• 3validated providers

Why the bottleneck only shows up at month end

The problem

Batches travel between stations with a paper traveller. Where a pallet is, how long it has waited and where the queue is building are only known by walking the floor; the bottleneck shows up in the month-end report, not on the day it happened.

• No live view of where WIP is or how long it has waited
• Bottlenecks and starved stations are found after the fact
• Travellers are lost, unreadable or not updated
• Outbound containers leave with no departure timestamp

The solution

Thin adhesive tracking labels (LoRaWAN or BLE) go on ten pallets; proximity gateways at three stations detect arrival and departure automatically. A flow board shows every pallet's current station, dwell time and a live queue per station, with a dwell-time alert when a batch waits too long. One container tracker pilots outbound visibility.

• Automatic arrival and departure timestamps per station
• Dwell time per station and a live queue view
• Alerts when a batch exceeds its allowed wait
• Lead time per batch, measured end to end

Validated service providers

Validated by TwoElectrons and ranked by validation score: verified credentials, completed jobs on the platform and client ratings.

1. Sample Provider G — Bengaluru · BLE / UWB positioning · ★ 4.8 · 10 jobs
2. Sample Provider H — Gurugram · Warehouse & yard tracking · ★ 4.6 · 7 jobs
3. Sample Provider I — Hyderabad · Workforce RTLS · ★ 4.5 · 6 jobs

Provider listings are samples pending live registrations.

Pilot BOM and cost

Reference hardware to run the pilot. Unit costs are indicative Indian market prices for the component class.

POC BOM cost only — hardware for a pilot. Installation, integration and provider services are quoted separately. Request for Quote

How station-level flow tracking works

1. Label. Stick tracking labels on ten pallets or WIP bins.
2. Detect. Mount proximity gateways at three stations.
3. Flow. The board timestamps every move automatically.
4. Fix. Review dwell times and act on the station with the queue.

Pilot architecture

10× Tracking labels + container tracker (adhesive · LoRaWAN / BLE) → 2× Proximity gateways (station-level detection) → Flow platform (timestamps · dwell · queue) → Flow board (per station · alerts)

Station-level detection: a gateway at each station registers arrival and departure. One outbound container tracker extends visibility beyond the gate.

Business case: dwell time, lead time, bottlenecks

Ranges are typical figures reported for this class of solution; your pilot establishes the numbers for your plant.

• 10 – 25% lead-time reduction (typical once dwell is visible)
• Live queue per station (versus month-end analysis)
• Minutes to a dwell-time alert (when a batch waits too long)
• 6 – 8 days to a live pilot (ten pallets, three stations)

Who this is for: Production planning and operations, Industrial and lean engineering, Auto components and assembly, Electronics and appliance manufacturing, Job shops with high mix, Any flow with WIP waiting between stations.

Illustrative case study

Illustrative scenario · not a client reference

A gear-manufacturing line with heat treatment as a shared resource in Rajkot (illustrative)

Set-up. Labels on ten WIP bins between turning, heat treatment and grinding; gateways at the three stations; flow board on the planning office screen; one tracker on an outbound container.

What happened. Bins waited an average of 14 hours before heat treatment against a planned 4, because batches were held to fill the furnace. A smaller-batch rule for two urgent part numbers cut their lead time by about a third; the plant labelled all 80 bins after the pilot.

• Pilot budget: ₹123,400 hardware
• Dwell before HT: 14 h vs. 4 h planned
• Lead-time cut (urgent parts): ~33%

FAQ

Labels or reusable tags?

Both work. Adhesive labels suit disposable pallets and cartons; reusable BLE tags suit bins and racks that circulate. The pilot uses labels for simplicity.

How many stations can it cover?

One gateway per station; the pilot uses three. Larger lines add gateways at each station or use zone-level coverage.

Can it replace the paper traveller entirely?

In a scale-up phase, yes: station arrival can trigger the work order in the MES, and the traveller becomes a screen at the station.

What does the ₹1,23,400 cover?

Ten labels, two proximity gateways and one container tracker on a free-tier flow dashboard. Installation, MES integration and provider services are quoted after a Request for Quote.