Bluetooth is transforming medical, security, print management, manufacturing, warehousing, and more. Could your industry be next?
By John Tepley, CEO, EMS Integrators
Bluetooth® has come a long way from its humble beginnings in hands-free headsets and photo-swapping. Today, it’s a wireless digital thread that connects billions of devices, shaping the fabric of our modern lives.
With the launch of Bluetooth 5, built on the power-efficient Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard, the technology has achieved unmatched ubiquity. In 2023 alone, over five billion Bluetooth-enabled devices were deployed globally. By 2028, experts predict there will be as many Bluetooth devices as there are people on Earth.
Bluetooth 5 is the most capable and flexible version of Bluetooth to date, offering a host of advanced features like indoor navigation, asset tracking, location-based services, and secure authentication. Paired with its near-universal presence in modern smartphones, tablets, and other devices, Bluetooth is uniquely positioned to unlock a vast array of innovative use cases across a wide range of industries.
From small talk to heavy lifting: Bluetooth goes industrial
The great thing about Bluetooth? Most of the hardware, software, and wireless infrastructure is already installed, making it an easy and fast solution for industrial challenges. This means that there’s unlikely to be a simpler, faster, or more cost-effective wireless alternative if Bluetooth can be used.
This has turned Bluetooth from a consumer wireless technology into a powerful solution for industrial applications as well. One whose low-power design makes it particularly well-suited for the Internet of Things (IoT).
This blog will explore four industrial applications where Bluetooth is already delivering concrete benefits – reducing costs, improving efficiencies, boosting security and safety, and enhancing the quality of end-user experience. In some cases, these benefits require little more than a smartphone app to unlock.
Whether your industry is already leveraging Bluetooth’s potential or not, one thing is clear: Bluetooth is at the forefront of the next wave of industrial transformation. In the examples that follow, you may see the ideal solution to your industrial challenge too.
Medical: No lost assets or appointments
The medical field has been slow to embrace new technology, mainly due to concerns about patient welfare and data privacy. This caution has often delayed hospitals from unlocking the large-scale efficiencies that emerging technologies can deliver.
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, threw unnecessary caution to the wind. In its early stages, hospitals were forced to adapt rapidly to remain operational, while adhering to strict social distancing protocols. The need to minimize in-person appointments and patient contact drove a significant shift toward remote, wireless, contactless tech, devices, and monitoring.
If there’s one positive legacy of COVID-19, it’s that it broke down the medical industry’s longstanding resistance to embracing new technology.
Two major challenges hospitals face are misplaced equipment and missed appointments. On top of that, strict regulations like HIPAA privacy rules in the United States add another layer of complexity.
Equipment hide and seek? Not with Bluetooth
In the US alone, it's estimated that between 10% to 20% of a hospital’s mobile assets are lost or stolen during their useful life, with each item costing approximately $3,000.
For a mid-sized hospital with $10 million in movable equipment, estimates suggest potential losses ranging from $1 million to $2 million over the equipment's lifespan. Additionally, hospitals may purchase 20 to 50% more equipment than necessary to compensate for these losses, further escalating costs.
Beyond the direct financial impact, the time healthcare professionals spend searching for misplaced equipment is substantial. Nurses can spend up to 23 days a year looking for misplaced equipment, time that could otherwise be dedicated to patient care.
Bluetooth’s asset tracking feature tackles these challenges head-on, ensuring critical medical devices can be located quickly and efficiently. In operation, this capability requires only a small, battery-powered Bluetooth tag to be attached to essential equipment, plus a series of and strategically placed Bluetooth locationing beacons throughout the building. Once in place, assets can be instantly pinpointed using a simple smartphone app, streamlining operations and saving valuable time.
The cost of implementing such a system is minimal compared to the substantial cost savings it delivers – savings that grow exponentially with the size of the hospital, the number of assets being tracked, and how soon this capability is implemented.
Missing patients, missed appointments, missed revenue
In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service (NHS) reported that in 2021/2022, around 7.5 million hospital appointments were missed, with each missed appointment costing approximately US$150. This resulted in a staggering total loss of nearly $1.2 billion for the year. Similarly, NHS England noted that in 2021/2022, about 6.4% of outpatient appointments were missed, equating to around 7.8 million missed appointments annually.
Navigating hospital environments can be a significant challenge for patients and visitors, contributing to missed or delayed appointments. Hospitals often feature complex, maze-like layouts with inadequate signage and limited pre-visit guidance, leaving many individuals disoriented and stressed. According to research, wayfinding issues cost hospitals substantial resources, including up to 4,500 staff hours annually spent assisting lost individuals.
These inefficiencies disrupt workflows, delay patient care, and heighten stress levels, ultimately impacting patient satisfaction and safety. Implementing a smart wayfinding system – such as combining clear signage with digital navigation tools – can create a seamless experience for all, while reducing missed appointments and improving overall hospital efficiency.
Bluetooth guides the way to far fewer no-shows
Bluetooth indoor navigation ensures patients can easily find their way, helping them arrive at appointments on time. In the US, these systems also support inclusivity by integrating Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant features that ensure accessibility for visually impaired users. This makes healthcare facilities more welcoming for all.
Unlike outdoor navigation, which requires line-of-sight satellite signals, indoor navigation faces the challenge of operating within buildings where satellite signals cannot penetrate. This is where Bluetooth technology comes into its own.
By strategically placing Bluetooth locationing beacons – the same ones used for asset tracking, mentioned above – and integrating them with a single smartphone app, hospitals can efficiently guide patients to their destinations, even in the largest and most complex campuses.
This results in fewer missed or late appointments, leading to substantial financial savings across the healthcare system. Also, a seamless and stress-free navigation experience only serves to enhance overall patient satisfaction.
Security: moving beyond keys and cards
Access control systems are integral to modern building security. While adoption rates vary across different sectors and regions, a 2024 report highlights that nearly half of organizations (48%) have access control or badge scanning systems in place to monitor building usage throughout the day.
While physical IDs remain prevalent in the access control industry, the same report notes that mobile access credentials and digital IDs are quickly gaining ground. These advancements fall into two categories: touchless/contactless solutions and mobile access. However, touchless systems that rely on any kind of physical ID still present challenges.
Physical IDs, like access cards, are easily lost, duplicated, shared, or damaged, posing security risks and operational inefficiencies. Additionally, these IDs typically lack the capability to track user movements within a building after granting access, limiting their effectiveness in ensuring comprehensive security.
Keyless and clueless? Not with Bluetooth
Bluetooth mobile access is a modern, easy way to keep buildings secure. By leveraging the smartphones that everyone already owns, organizations can establish a secure, contactless entrance system through a single app. Beyond the entry reader, no additional hardware is required. A Bluetooth access system can also be seamlessly phased in alongside existing systems, allowing for a smooth and gradual transition over time.
Bluetooth systems also provide enhanced location tracking, granting building operators greater visibility of who is entering and exiting a facility and where they are located. Such a capability is invaluable during emergencies and building evacuations. It allows first responders to quickly identify and locate missing individuals without risking their own lives in lengthy, time-consuming searches.
The use of a Bluetooth-based app for access control means users benefit from a frictionless access experience without the need for additional physical IDs. Organizations reduce costs associated with issuing, replacing, and managing physical credentials. Also, real-time location tracking improves accountability, emergency response, and overall security for building occupants.
Manufacturing and warehousing: easy authentication and tracking
Misplaced tools and inefficient workflows can disrupt industrial operations significantly – at best causing delays, and at worst bringing the entire operation to a grinding halt.
In the US manufacturing sector, workers spend an estimated 2.5 hours per week searching for misplaced tools and components. With approximately 12.5 million manufacturing workers in the US as of 2023, this equates to 1.625 billion hours of lost productivity annually. (A study by Pathfindr cited similar figures for the UK manufacturing sector, which can be reasonably extrapolated to US.)
In the U.S. manufacturing sector, workers can spend a significant portion of their time searching for misplaced tools, leading to substantial productivity losses. For instance, some reports suggest that workers may spend up to 47% of their time locating tools, which can severely impact efficiency and increase labor costs.
Additionally, a study highlighted that workers might spend up to 90 minutes each day searching for tools, amounting to 18,000 hours per year for a company with 50 employees.
These figures underscore the critical need for effective tool management systems in manufacturing to enhance productivity and reduce time wasted on locating misplaced equipment. At an average hourly wage of $25, this lost productivity results in an estimated $36.7 billion in financial loss each year.
One of Bluetooth’s newest features is channel sounding enabling centimeter-level location accuracy. For manufacturing and warehousing, this innovation ensures pinpoint precision when tracking tools, equipment, or staff, dramatically reducing time wasted searching for misplaced items. By achieving such accuracy, businesses can unlock greater productivity, streamline workflows, and minimize costly disruptions.
Let automation take the wheel, before the wheels fall off
Beyond tool tracking, factories and warehouses stand to benefit enormously from automating user authentication for workstations and heavy equipment, such as forklift trucks.
Restricting machinery operation to authorized and trained personnel significantly reduces the risk of accidents and equipment misuse. This leads to fewer incidents, minimized downtime, and substantial cost savings by preventing costly repairs and workplace injuries.
Automated authentication also streamlines access to workstations and equipment, reducing the time spent logging in or setting up machines. Workers are instead left to focus on their core tasks, boosting efficiency on the factory floor.
Finally, automated systems can maintain detailed logs of equipment usage. This data can ensure adherence to safety regulations and internal policies, preventing unauthorized use and potential liabilities.
Bluetooth blows away factory and warehouse blues
Given the substantial cost, efficiency, and safety benefits of tool tracking and automated user authentication, how can factories and warehouses deploy these capabilities to make operations run more smoothly?
Bluetooth offers a straightforward solution, using smartphones and wearable devices – like watches – along with strategically placed locationing beacons. Any physical asset that needs to be tracked or authorized for use, requires only a small, battery-powered Bluetooth tag or reader to then be attached.
This conveniently and securely eliminates the need for physical keys or badges. Wearable Bluetooth devices offer real-time location tracking and authentication for staff as well, ensuring accountability and improving safety. In emergencies, this is a critical capability because it allows managers or first responders to quickly locate all employees.
The net result? Fewer operational delays, optimized workflows, a safer more productive work environment.
Print management: making sharing seamless
Last but not least, one final application that stands to benefit enormously from Bluetooth is shared printing environments.
Printer management has long been a vital component of business operations, enabling organizations to reduce costs, protect sensitive data, and improve the user experience. By implementing user authentication for printer access, companies can ensure that only authorized individuals print or retrieve documents, preventing unauthorized personal use of resources like ink and paper, which are both costly and heavily consumed.
This is particularly important in environments such as large offices and busy student campuses, where printers are central to daily operations, requiring efficient management that avoids unnecessary inconvenience for end users or site managers.
In sensitive environments such as legal, accounting, or medical offices, the stakes are even higher. Without proper authentication measures, sensitive documents may be accessed or printed by unauthorized personnel, increasing the risk of information leaks. A 2023 study revealed that 61% of organizations experienced data losses due to unsecured printing practices, with an average cost of £743,000 (approximately $1 million) per breach.
The traditional solution is a physical, plastic access card, which comes with its own set of issues. These cards are easily lost, stolen, duplicated, or damaged, leading to security vulnerabilities and additional replacement costs.
Bluetooth technology offers a modern alternative to old school plastic cards, by enabling users to access printers securely with their smartphones. Devices which they already carry, eliminating the need for additional access cards. This streamlines the print process for end users while maintaining robust security.
By integrating Bluetooth app-based solutions, organizations can further transform shared printing environments – saving money, enhancing data security, and improving operational efficiency. These solutions can also be phased in gradually alongside existing card-based systems, making the transition seamless.
Bluetooth your business today: It's just one easy EMSi step away
Bluetooth has transformed far beyond its early role as a simple cable replacement. Today, it stands as the backbone of wireless innovation, the connective tissue linking an ever-growing array of devices across diverse industries.
From real-time equipment tracking and patient navigation in hospitals, to access control and occupancy monitoring in buildings, to asset tracking and automated authentication in manufacturing and warehousing, to streamlined printer management. Bluetooth is a powerful force driving efficiency, bolstering security, enhancing convenience, and enabling safer, smarter business operations.
Built into every modern smartphone, tablet, and computer, Bluetooth’s accessibility is unmatched. When combined with ongoing advancements in Bluetooth’s security, feature range, and power consumption, this wireless technology remains the most cost-effective and fastest time-to-market platform for addressing a diverse range of industry challenges.
At EMS Integrators (EMSi), we simplify the integration of Bluetooth into your operations. Through our partnership with the world’s leading Bluetooth chip company, Nordic Semiconductor, we’ve developed solutions that leverage Nordic’s industry-leading Bluetooth Systems-on-Chip (SoCs), including the nRF52 Series (nRF52840, nRF52832, nRF52810), the nRF53 Series (nRF5340), and soon, the cutting-edge nRF54 Series. Additionally, our single BLU App consolidates Bluetooth’s core functionalities – authentication, navigation, and tracking – into one versatile platform, making it easier for businesses to unlock Bluetooth’s full potential.
If you see the potential for Bluetooth to revolutionize your industry or solution offering, why not partner with EMSi to turn your vision into reality?
EMSi provides tailored, globally certified hardware modules and app-based software solutions that can be seamlessly customized and integrated into your application or product. Let us help you transform your product or application with Bluetooth today. Contact us now to learn more.