Case Study: Implementation of RealTrac Zonal Positioning for Work Permit and Personnel Control
Initial situation and tasks
The plant needed strict control of employee access to certain production zones.
- The work permit system was paper-based, which created a risk of errors and delays.
- There was no quick way to check whether a specific employee was in an authorized zone under the issued permit.
- There were no centralized statistics on movements and time spent in zones.
"We knew that a person without the proper permit could enter the workshop, and we only found out after the fact," said the head of occupational health and safety.
The task was to automate zone access control based on electronic work permits and personnel tracking with BLE tags.
Solution
The plant implemented a BLE-based RealTrac system that made it possible to:
- automatically record an employee's entry to and exit from a controlled zone;
- match BLE tag data with the valid electronic work permit;
- notify the dispatcher of violations in real time;
- keep a digital log of the time each employee spends in the zones.
Key solution components
PROD TAG 100 BLE tags and cards
Integrated with the access control system and issued to employees.
PROD POINT 520 access points
Receive BLE signals and transmit data to the system.
RealTrac Software platform
Integrated with the work permit management system.
Implementation stages
1. Site survey
Identifying the zones that require strict control.
2. Integration development
Connecting the RealTrac platform to the existing electronic work permit system.
3. Pilot project
In one of the workshops: verifying that entries and exits are recorded correctly.
4. Scaling up
Rolling out the solution across the entire plant.
"After the pilot we got a clear picture of who is where and when. Paperwork dropped sharply," said the plant's IT director.
Results and benefits
- 100% automation of zone access control.
- Time spent on issuing permits and on entry checks reduced by 40%.
- No more cases of employees in a zone without a valid permit.
- Reports for every worker and zone for any period.
"Now the dispatcher sees in the system that an employee is in the boiler shop under permit No. 458. Everything is clear and transparent," says the plant's chief dispatcher.
Conclusion
The RealTrac BLE zonal positioning system with PROD TAG 100 cards and PROD POINT 520 access points became a key tool for digitalizing the work permit process. The solution not only improved discipline and safety but also significantly reduced the administrative workload.