{"id":347001,"date":"2020-06-09T06:04:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-09T13:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&#038;p=347001"},"modified":"2025-08-08T05:29:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:29:32","slug":"indoor-asset-monitoring","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/indoor-asset-monitoring","title":{"rendered":"NextTech: A Digital Twin Aids Planning in the New Workplace"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1001,282912,411722],"tags":[17662,1661,483792,396382,336732],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-347001","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial","category-facilities","category-nexttech-features","tag-3d","tag-asset-management","tag-nexttech","tag-real-time-operations","tag-smart-workplace","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"For business leaders, indoor intelligence means knowing where crucial assets are, leading to a safer, smarter, more efficient workplace. ","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A nurse urgently needs to locate a defibrillator to restore a patient\u2019s heartbeat. A warehouse manager must quickly move a pallet to the correct loading dock. A facility manager is tasked with optimizing a workspace for social distancing.\r\n\r\nCircumstances like these point to why demand is peaking for real-time, location-aware asset management systems, and why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/what-is-a-smart-workplace\/\">smart workplaces<\/a> are fast becoming a priority for businesses across industries."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"<strong>Article snapshot:<\/strong> Companies are facing a challenge in bringing employees back to all kinds of workspaces, and a NextTech digital twin technology is bringing safety and efficiency to the fore.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As companies begin to emerge from COVID-19-imposed shutdowns and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/reopening-the-workplace\/\">employees return to the workplace<\/a>, managers will be more attuned to indoor space\u2014and to monitoring its dynamics.\r\n\r\nAn indoor asset management system remembers the patterns and movements of people and objects through space, and can identify patterns of activity. By studying these rhythms, decision-makers gain important insight into how spaces and resources are used, how practices like social distancing are working, and what safety and efficiency improvements managers might make.\r\n<h3><strong>Visualizing the Workplace in 3D<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nReal-time asset management gives administrators and executives indoor location awareness by creating a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/digital-twin\/overview\">digital twin<\/a> of the workplace on an interactive smart map. Using this NextTech capability, powered by a geographic information system (GIS), operations leaders can monitor any asset in real-time\u2014whether it\u2019s a hospital bed, a fire extinguisher, or an IT technician\u2014and get it where it needs to be. The result is a safer, smarter, more efficient operation.\r\n\r\nThe kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/location-intelligence\">location intelligence<\/a> we rely on to navigate our driving and outdoor walking routes has taken time to move indoors. Decades of government funding for satellites sparked the mapping of large landmasses, but until recently, technology could not offer the same level of real-time accuracy and wayfinding inside an office building.\r\n\r\nBut now, thanks to Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, 3D modeling, and GIS technology\u2014all components of a digital twin\u2014corporate facility managers and administrators can clearly see information about indoor assets. The digital twin supports better decisions and helps facilitate new practices like workplace social distancing.\r\n\r\nFor businesses, the breakthroughs in real-time asset management translate into greater efficiency and productivity. For example, a health system <a href=\"https:\/\/indoo.rs\/challenges-in-healthcare-asset-tracking\/\">in northern Illinois<\/a> calculated that time wasted by staff searching for assets in a 395-bed facility cost $4,000 a day. A smart map of the building would supply the needed information instantly.\r\n\r\nThis capability also improves the customer experience. A wayfinding app <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/waze-for-work-navigation-apps-come-to-the-office-11578398400\">at a large corporate campus<\/a> could allow a new visitor to navigate labyrinthine hallways as expertly as a veteran employee\u2014and avoid straying into areas with strict capacity rules or other restrictions. This not only makes an easier time for the visitor, it also means staff members are no longer interrupted for directions or exposed to unnecessary risk."},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","image":346961,"text":"According to one tech company\u2019s estimate, the time employees spent trying to find their way around campus translated into $400,000 a year in lost productivity\u2014just one cost of poor indoor location intelligence.","author_name":"","author_profession_organization":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<h3><strong>The Potential for Smart Hospitals<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe NextTech demonstration below shows how assets on a hospital campus could be visualized in real time. Through GIS-based digital twin technology, the viewer sees multiple buildings of a large healthcare center, including floors, entrances, stairwells, and other details. Security guards appear in red as they make their rounds or hold a position. Equipment like an IV pump, wheelchair, or mobile X-ray machine is color coded for fast visual identification and can be seen as it moves through the facility. A security or operations director can zoom in to an area of interest or click a button to reveal a specific floor or isolate assets."},{"acf_fc_layout":"youtube","youtube_video_url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sceq7VvISLM"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"&nbsp;\r\n\r\nFor a hospital facility administrator, this real-time holistic view is invaluable in allocating assets and making quick decisions. For instance, when a visitor with reduced mobility and a patient leaving surgery both require wheelchairs, the digital twin reveals the closest available chairs. When a nurse ends his or her shift, any equipment under their responsibility can be tracked by the incoming shift, without an IV pump or mobile X-ray getting lost or misplaced. And in the event of a fire, flood, or other natural disaster, multiple users could rely on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-indoors\/health\/5-ways-indoor-maps-will-make-your-hospital-smarter\">the hospital smart map<\/a> to gauge which patients or staff members are at risk, and the nearby resources they may need to stay safe. In settings like these, a real-time asset management system can help save lives in addition to time and money.\r\n<h3><strong>Indoor Positioning\u2019s Broad Applications<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe same technology could be employed by a college campus, shopping mall, warehouse, or supermarket. The assets could be employee security badges, high-value lab equipment, or packaged goods. Whatever the resources or infrastructure, a smart workplace helps assets and individuals get where they\u2019re most needed.\r\n\r\nIn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/landing-page\/corporate-programs\/2019\/indoor-mapping-ebook\">optimizing real-time operations<\/a> and strategizing for the next five years, a digital twin of the workplace supplies business leaders with the indoor location intelligence needed to promote safety and efficiency."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Digital Twin Tech Creates Real-Time Asset Awareness Indoors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As workplaces reopen, new digital twin technology is bringing real-time awareness to indoor spaces and helping managers manage new practices.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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