Potentials of Bluetooth Low Energy Beacons for order tracing in single and small batch production.

The quality of production planning and control in production companies largely depends on the accuracy of the database regarding the status quo of the production process, as well as the time required for each production step. Especially in single and small batch production, it is difficult to create a reliable database due to the large product spectrum and the variation in the production process. For this reason, this paper examines the potential of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacons to create a low-cost real-time locating system (RTLS). In comparison to other existing RTLS solutions like RFID, BLE stands out through very low hardware costs and a high compatibility to almost every mobile device. Through a signal strength based approach in combination with probabilistic neural networks, the RTLS has been able to achieve a positioning accuracy with a mean absolute error of up to 0,74 m in an industry-like environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]