Indoor positioning inmanufacturing environments - An investigation of system usage for Industry 4.0 applications

Abstract

AbstractThis study investigates how radio-based indoor positioning systems should be usedto generate user value. To do this, problems that indoor-positioning can solve andpotential system users must be found. The general approach is the design methoddesignthinking. This means that iterations are used to continuously increase understanding ofthe user and the problems. To gather qualitative data 27 interviews (14 unstructured& 13 semi-structured) were conducted. This data was then analyzed using the AffinityInterralationship method do identify problems that indoor positioning could solve inthe manufacturing industry. Quantitative data gathered from a positioning system ata manufacturing site was used for investigating possible system usages. Solution ideaswere evaluated with the identified main user and a focus group. Our analysis showsthat a radio-based indoor-positioning system can be used to solve problems withlackof dataandlow-qualitative data. It also identifies the production engineer as the main-user of such a system. User value is generated to this user by using the system toincrease safety and productivity; Supply data for manufacturing KPI calculations; andenable manufacturing process analysis. The study concludes that indoor-positioninghas many relevant areas of usage in manufacturing environments. However, solutionideas with the biggest impact are today limited to monitoring applications. We would,therefore, suggest further research regarding integration between systems used in themanufacturing environment and radio-based indoor positioning systems. This wouldenable controlling activities as well.