Software AG helps smart employees return to work safely

Software AG has launched an employee social distancing solution.

This uses smart badges to alert the wearer if they approach the limit of safe social distancing.

The first intention is to change behaviour. If employees spend more than 15 seconds inside of a virtual boundary, then an ‘incident’ is recorded. All wearers are anonymised, the solution registers proximity but not location, and only authorised personnel have access to the data.

Bernd Gross, CTO at Software AG, comments: “We are all faced with a very difficult situation: we must protect our employees. But we also need to get businesses and the economy back up and running. How do we do one without compromising the other?”

He adds: “Over 40% 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. We’ve combined our experience in the Industrial Internet of Things with the industry knowledge of our partners to help organisations implement these safeguards quickly.”

Beta tests of the solution have taken place in food production facilities and process manufacturing plants. The Göbecke bakery in Germany is one of the first companies to trial the solution.

Owner Christine Göbecke says: “Just like so many other businesses, the current situation is tough for us and holds many challenges. But thanks to the smart social distancing solution, the safety of our workers is guaranteed and we can focus on getting to a point of normality in our production.”

Software AG will initially work with partners including Tech Mahindra and Dell Technologies to bring the product to customers around the world and across various industries.