BACKGROUND
ILR Industries is a leader in providing companies with innovative and cost-efficient alternatives to manufacturing plastics products. For more than 20 years, ILR has helped clients transform basic product ideas (from development, engineering, and prototyping through to tooling, manufacturing, and packaging) to distribute to customers across North America.
CHALLENGE
Based in Hamilton, Ontario, ILR Industries was facing the same challenges that many businesses around the world are having to overcome during the COVID-19 pandemic: how to keep workers safe and business up and running.
Within its 100,000-square-foot facility, more than 40 factory workers worked in close proximity. The heightened tension among employees afraid of getting sick while at work added to the overall stress the pandemic was causing everyone.
SOLUTION
Being aware of employee safety and business sustainability, ILR Industries was looking for a solution to tackle the emerging situation. The company decided to use TRACE Sensors, a scalable solution with high-accuracy monitoring. This solution combines Quuppa’s indoor positioning technology and ThinkIN’s location intelligence software and is managed by i-Virtualize’s experienced professional and support services. TRACE Sensors are non-invasive, using tags that only gather location data while the worker is in the facility.
For ILR Industries, 24 Quuppa ceiling-mounted Locators were installed, covering roughly 50,000 square feet of employee workspace. These Locators are connected via Bluetooth® to employee tags so that the system can alert employees when they are too close to one another so they can maintain proper physical distancing. The solution also gathers data about asset and material locations, workflows, and productivity which is displayed in rich visual analytics on an easy-to-navigate dashboard. This information can also be used for contact tracing if an outbreak occurs. The contact tracing data is only accessed when an illness is reported. Affected personnel can then be identified, as well as specific areas that require decontamination.
RESULTS
The solution not only enabled workers within the plant to stay safe but also enabled the business to increase productivity and enhance efficiency with revised workflows. This was especially impactful since the shop runs 24/7. With their employees feeling safer coming to work, employees were able to engage with one another at a safe distance, creating a happier workplace. In addition, this solution can help the company save on healthcare costs since employees are less likely to pass on common illnesses.
NEXT STEPS
The initial results have ILR optimistic about its future. The company is looking to expand its uses for TRACE Sensors solutions by tagging, tracking, and tracing their assets and equipment to further enhance productivity