Drop-in replacement for end-of-life AeroScout tracking systems
Don Horne
WISER Systems, a developer of innovative ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless location and tracking systems, recently began offering a direct, plug-in replacement system for industrial AeroScout solutions. AeroScout has designated its industrial real-time location systems (RTLS) as end-of-life (EOL), discontinuing support and updates for these solutions and creating a significant market need.
WISER’s replacement solution offers scalable real-time location for industrial settings. It reports location and positioning histories with high levels of accuracy, delivering in-the-moment visibility for manufacturers, warehousing organizations, energy companies, and similar organizations.
To prove out the solution, WISER conducted a trial implementation with a world-leader in heavy equipment manufacturing. This organization previously used AeroScout Industrial RTLS as part of a customized work-in-progress tracking system that monitored the manufacturing progress of their equipment. Equipment being manufactured would move from one zone to another as elements were added to it. Having AeroScout tags attached to the equipment allowed the manufacturer to trigger parts deliveries and other events based on when the equipment reached each stage of the process.
Implementation of AeroScout’s solution required the company to make a significant investment in middleware connecting AeroScout-gathered data to the company’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. As such, the EOL designation of AeroScout Industrial RTLS threatened to overturn a large and expensive project for this manufacturer and to slow down key processes significantly.
This manufacturer replaced its AeroScout hardware with components of WISER’s UWB Locator system. WISER also created a small script to ensure that the WISER Locator’s data output mirrored the methods the manufacturer required. This enabled the manufacturer to use the WISER Locator as a direct, plug-in replacement at a minimal cost. It also paired with the manufacturer’s barcode system and preserved existing work processes, further simplifying the replacement. Following the successful pilot, WISER and this manufacturer have now begun plans for a full installation.
“Over the past few years, we’ve worked with many organizations that began their RTLS journey with AeroScout Industrial systems,” said WISER CEO Dr. Elaine Rideout. “Many of these companies were simply looking for something newer or more reliable. Now that AeroScout Industrial is being discontinued and unsupported, replacing these systems has become a critical need. WISER offers the best plug-in replacement on the market today. We’re very gratified by the response both from our customers and partners. They’re delighted to find out they can still use the systems they built out around AeroScout with the simple (and easy) switch to the WISER system.”
AeroScout Industrial was designed to power location-based services for many types of industrial settings using WiFi networks as the system’s core infrastructure. AeroScout, a subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker, has been recognized as an early pioneer and leader in asset visibility solutions.
