Indoor & Outdoor Asset Tracking Case Study

Wheelchair Tracking (Airline A)

Improving passenger mobility services with real-time wheelchair location tracking within airport passenger terminals.

Client Overview

Background

A major international airline wanted to improve passenger mobility services by keeping track of wheelchairs around various airports.

Challenges

Locating wheelchairs needed to assist mobility impaired passengers and providing accurate indoor location and usage updates in multi-level passenger terminals.

Impact

All wheelchairs are now tracked (over 600 across 13 airports). Staff have improved efficiency by ensuring assets are where they need to be in advance. Incidents of passengers waiting for wheelchairs have dropped. Customer satisfaction increased.

The Problem

Aircraft Turnaround Time (TAT) is a critical KPI for airlines, ground crew and airline staff. Efficient, high-quality services for passenger boarding and disembarking is essential. For mobility-impaired passengers, this means having the right resources (wheelchairs) in the right place at the right time.

Passenger Services

Despite having hundreds of wheelchairs scattered around the airport, Passenger Services were having a range issues:

  • Flight schedules at risk of delay due to difficulties finding passenger mobility assets.
  • Passengers put at risk where resources are not available or inappropriate equipment is being used, creating health and safety issues, injury liability and poor customer service.
  • The airline wished to avoid negative publicity where passengers may have had to “drag” themselves off flights as happened to other airlines in other markets. [AirCanada, Jetstar]
  • Inability to locate specific types of specialty wheelchairs at any given moment? Need visibility and awareness of asset location, down to which gate and floor is the asset located?
  • Staff unable to find available assets quickly? Need mobile visibility of resources and availability.
  • Uncertainty around when wheelchairs are already in use or moved from the last known location? Need updates when assets are moving and then at rest and available again.
  • Limited visibility of which wheelchairs might need maintenance or are faulty and need repair. Leading to assets lying broken or unusable for extended periods and putting further stress on already limited resources.

  • Uncertainty about the location or current use of wheelchairs.
  • Incomplete knowledge of maintenance or calibration history, or how to report issues.
  • Lack of awareness or completeness of wheelchair asset inventory.
  • Extensive paperwork and manual processes.
  • Difficulty keeping on-top of, and up-to-date with issues and maintenance requirements.

Blackhawk worked closely with the airline to understand the status quo. The range of wheelchairs requiring tracking was identified and catalogued. The operational environment, including the arrival and departure terminals, gate lounges, storage areas, maintenance areas, parking and public spaces were identified and studied. This “discovery” phase identified a variety of technical requirements which ultimately defined the solution provided:

  1. Wheelchairs come in a range of different models, including specialized powered and lifting chairs.
    1. Some are used to move passengers across the terminal to the flight gate.
    2. Some are narrow and are used onboard the aircraft, in the aisle, to move the passenger to their seat (there are limited numbers of this model).
    3. Various models have different wheel sizes, load (weight) limits. Some are push chairs and others are electrically powered.
  2. The various locations where wheelchairs can be found or left behind by passengers or staff meant that a multi-faceted, battery-powered device was required.
    1. Chairs could be left in the carpark (open air and parking structures) so outdoor, GPS-type positioning was required.
    2. Chairs could be anywhere inside the terminal so indoor tracking was also necessary.
    3. The terminals where often on two levels (arrivals and departures) so normal GPS co-ordinates were insufficient. Position data needed to identify what floor the wheelchair was on.
  3. The status or availability of the chair, as well as the appropriate properties or the chair needed to be available to airline staff on their mobiles
    1. Asset condition and status needed to be clear and up-to-date:
      1. Available
      2. In Use
      3. Under Maintenance
      4. Needs Repair
    2. Movement needed to be detected to indicate when an asset was in use and being moved to another location. Subsequently, when the asset became stationary again, the asset status needed to switch back to “Available” automatically.
  4. Reliable identification of the asset was needed, as was a means of digital managing the asset and requesting maintenance or reporting faults.
    1. QR codes were added to chairs to make it easier for staff to identify the asset and report issues with their mobile.
    2. If an asset is reported as faulty or in need of repair, the asset status automatically updates to “Needs Repair” and creates a digital work order for the maintenance team.
  5. While the service the wheelchairs perform is essential, the dollar value of the wheelchairs is modest. Therefore, the solution needed to be cost effective to deploy and maintain over time.
    1. An affordable and reliable tracking device was needed.
    2. An affordable and reliable installation process was required.
    3. 4G/5G cellular communications was considered too expensive so a more cost-effective network option was needed.
    4. Battery management and Total Cost of Ownership needed to be low maintenance, low effort and low cost.

The Solution

The airline rolled out the solution over 600 wheelchairs across 13 airports:

  • Installation was completed in three weeks using a combination of managed Blackhawk services and training for airline staff to self-manage installations.
  • As part of the solution, a device installation and management app was provided for trained airline technicians to self-manage their devices.
  • The overall system was added as an expansion to their airline’s existing telematics and asset tracking system – a white-label SaaS platform called CAMPUS (Central Asset Management Platform for Unified Services) provided by Blackhawk.io.
  • This meant the airline is now able to “see everything in one system”.
  • It also proved easy to roll out and establish with airline ground staff and flight staff as the airline was already familiar with the deployment and training for the mobile app and system access.

The Sigfox network was selected based on coverage and cost. Working with our Sigfox partner Thinxtra, their network provides lower ongoing cost vs cellular and availability in and around the various airport properties.

A Sigfox-enabled battery-powered device was selected (IE10). It provides excellent battery performance, hybrid LBS (Location-Based Services) location methods, Bluetooth connectivity, movement detection, a rugged durable housing in a small form factor and a range of installation options.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons were deployed to provide a low-cost location network which could be detected based on signal proximity to the tracking device. BLE Beacons were deployed at a variety of key locations and then named so the closest beacon to the tracking device automatically identified the closest location. The beacons are small, easy to install, provide excellent long-term battery life (low maintenance) and low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

The IE10 tracking device is installed via a custom, 3D-printed bracket mounting on the wheel of the chair.

  • This makes it quick and easy to install the devices without specialised tools.
  • This installation method provides a robust and reliable platform as well as cost effective and aesthetically appealing look as the device effectively becomes part of the chair, looking like it was factory-fitted.
  • The mounting method also provides anti-tamper benefits by making it difficult to remove without the appropriate tools.

wheelchair tracking device installation

Passenger Mobility staff and other personnel within the airline have been provided with a branded mobile application. This allows staff to search for and locate available assets quickly. The app also makes it easy for staff to report faults via digital forms. This in turn flows into automated process such as asset status is now automatically flagged as unavailable and notifications are sent to maintenance technicians who can also then easily locate chairs needing maintenance or repair.

The airline can now see reporting on asset utilisation, distribution, maintenance and other KPI’s. Automation of workflows also makes efficient asset management much easier as well as reducing double handling of paperwork and making data visible to all key stakeholder is real-time.

The system is now used by a range of users and departments across the airline:

  • Passenger Services – use the system to find assets quickly and report problems.
  • Maintenance – use the system to manage maintenance requirements and receive repair jobs digitally.
  • Asset Manager – uses the system to understand inventory and distribute resources more efficiently based on utilization data.
  • Management / C-Level – can view KPI and performance data showing increased service levels, utilisation and maintenance efficiency (assets are down for maintenance for less time).

Results, Benefits & ROI

Improved visibility of asset location

Time to locate wheelchairs improved from an average of 3 minutes to under a minute.

Reduction in passenger wait time

Incidents of passengers waiting for wheelchairs have sharply dropped.

Increase in customer satisfaction

Mobility impaired customer satisfaction has improved.

Improved utilization

Asset are now distributed more efficiently to reduce under-utilized resources and have them available where they are needed most.

Improved aircraft turnaround time

Reduced delays for boarding and disembarking leading to more efficient turnaround and on time performance (fewer delays).

Enhanced maintenance

Maintenance is now managed digitally and broken wheelchairs that once sat idle for weeks are now repaired within hours or a few days, leading to improved utilization.

Streamlined operations

Reduced paperwork and manual processes through automated tracking and updates.

Happier, empowered staff

Passenger Mobility staff are reporting that they feel more efficient and empowered and able to do their jobs more effectively.

Increased awareness and visibility

Management are now able to understand wheelchair utilization in real-time and are constantly up-to-date on asset condition and maintenance requirements.

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