Insight
5 Signs Your Company Needs Indoor GPS Technology
Oct 2, 2025
You can’t manage what you can’t see
“Where did that go?”
That’s a phrase we all hear and say far too often at work.
When the right equipment can’t be found, projects stall. Newly delivered materials are sitting somewhere in the warehouse, but no one can pinpoint exactly where. Employees lose time searching, and managers feel frustrated watching efficiency slip away.
The root of the problem is this: we have no way to track the real-time location of assets indoors. GPS only works outdoors, and existing management systems can tell us where something should be, but not where it actually is right now.
This is the gap that Indoor Location Tracking Technology, often called indoor GPS, was designed to fill. If your company shows any of the five signs below, that means the time has come to adopt indoor GPS.
Sign 1. Employees begin their day by searching
Mornings on the manufacturing floor are always hectic. A large part of that busyness is not productive. Workers spend time trying to find the tools they need, managers are tracking down equipment, and logistics staff are checking where materials have been stored.
If one employee spends an average of 20 to 30 minutes a day searching, what happens in a facility with 100 people? That adds up to more than 8,000 hours every year lost purely to “looking for things.” That wasted time means wasted labor costs. Delays caused by all this searching also reduce productivity and can even lead to missed delivery deadlines.
Sign 2. The system says it's there, but it isn't
The ERP system shows that 100 items are stored in Zone A. When it’s time to ship them out, they can’t be found. After searching through the warehouse for a long time, you eventually discover they were mistakenly placed in Zone B. The system only shows the expected location of assets, meaning where they should be, not where they actually are.
Mismatches between the system and reality are common. These mismatches require regular physical audits, and in logistics centers, a full inventory count can take several days. During this time, normal inbound and outbound operations are often suspended or limited.
Sign 3. The space is large, but no one knows where anything is
Expanding facilities as the business grows is a positive step, but as the physical space expands, management becomes much more complex. In a small, single-floor site, a manager can walk around and check the situation directly. In a large, multi-level site, checking every space regularly is physically impossible.
In many cases, even knowing which floor a specific piece of equipment is on is difficult. Without indoor location data, someone must physically move through each floor to confirm. As a result, finding urgently needed equipment can take a long time, and critical time may be lost.
Sign 4. You can’t immediately find what you need in an emergency
In a manufacturing site, when a safety accident occurs, or in a hospital when an emergency patient arrives, the most critical factor is golden time. For a cardiac arrest patient, survival depends on a rapid response measured in seconds. At an industrial site, when a fire breaks out or chemicals are released, the speed at which the right emergency equipment is secured determines the scale of the damage.
The less frequently emergency equipment is used, the harder it becomes to know its exact location. Since the last inspection, someone may have moved it, or it may have been temporarily relocated to another floor or section. If finding a defibrillator or a fire extinguisher takes several minutes in an emergency, the result can be fatal.
Sign 5. There’s plenty of data, but no insight
Many companies collect and analyze large amounts of data such as production data, quality data, and energy data. One crucial type of data is often missing, and that is location data.
Information about when, where, and how far assets move is essential for understanding operational efficiency. In most companies, this data is not collected in a structured way. Many rely on work logs, handwritten notes, or in some cases, do not record it at all.
Location data becomes even more valuable when combined with other operational data. Linking location data with production data makes it possible to measure transfer times between processes and identify bottlenecks. Connecting equipment movement patterns with failure records allows practical preventive maintenance strategies, such as replacing parts early in areas where wear is heavier. Without location data, a critical part of data-driven decision-making is missing.
Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Small Signs
The five signs above do not exist independently. One problem connects to others, and as time goes on, they are likely to expand and become more complex. When employees spend time searching for assets, inventory accuracy decreases, space is used less efficiently, emergency response slows down, and the data needed for decision-making becomes insufficient.
If three or more of the five signs apply, the issue is likely more than operational inconvenience and indicates a structural problem. Inefficiencies caused by the lack of location data are not easy to notice at first, but when accumulated, they result in significant losses of both cost and time.
Solving this requires an accurate understanding of the current situation. The goal is not to introduce new technology for its own sake, but to address the actual problems our company is facing. You need to assess the types and quantities of assets that require tracking, the size and layout of the facility, and the specific issues being experienced in measurable terms. Based on this, you can work with a professional solution provider to select the right technology approach for your company and begin with a phased implementation plan.
Indoor Location Tracking Technology is already established as essential infrastructure in industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare, improving operational efficiency. Before small inconveniences grow into major losses, now is the time to start reviewing your options.
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