Software AG has released a social distancing solution via its partners, including Dell Technologies and Tech Mahindra, to help companies navigate the complexities of virus spreading in the workplace. The solution is being piloted by food production facilities and process manufacturing plants “across Europe”, said the Darmstadt-based firm.
It said organisations can deploy the solution, based on smart badges, to help staff keep safe distances, record where distances are breached, and show authorities proof of compliance. The badges interact with beacons placed at cluster points throughout the workplace.
The data is processed through Software AG’s Cumulocity IoT platform, which is deployed as a white-label service by 20-odd mobile operators, including the likes of Deutsche Telekom in Germany, KPN in the Netherlands, A1 in Austria, Telstra in Australia, and NTT in Japan.
The solution, compliant with GDPR rules and other work privacy regulations, alerts wearers if they approach the limit of safe social distancing. The first intention is to change behaviour, the company said.
“If those employees spend more than 15 seconds inside of that virtual boundary, then an ‘incident’ is recorded. All wearers are anonymized, the solution registers proximity but not location, and only authorized personnel have access to the data,” it commented.
Software AG will initially work with Tech Mahindra and Dell Technologies to bring the product to market “around the world and across many industries”. Software AG said Tech Mahindra will focus on telco and manufacturing customers; Dell Technologies, via its Design Solutions portfolio (formerly OEM), will initially bring the solution to customers in Germany, before further expansion.
The solution can be deployed in a couple of days; beta tests in food production facilities and process manufacturing plants have reduced social-distancing breaches by more than 50 percent within their first weeks, claimed the Darmstadt-based firm.
Bernd Gross, chief technology officer at Software AG, said: “We need to get businesses and the economy back up and running. Over 40 percent of the workforce will work in controlled spaces, in close proximity to others and without mandatory personal protective equipment. We can help protect those people.”
A small family-run bakery in Leipzig — the Bäckerei & Konditorei Göbecke bakery — is the first to deploy the solution, as it goes back to work after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Owner Christine Göbecke commented: “Just like so many other businesses, the current situation is tough for us and holds many challenges. Thanks to the [this] solution, the safety of our workers is guaranteed and we can focus on getting to a point of normality in our production.”
