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Warehousing & logistics

Track pallets and forklifts live, and plan your warehouse on facts

Noccela follows pallets from arrival to departure and every forklift in between, with accuracy up to 10 cm. Use the data for FIFO, utilisation, heatmaps and layout changes you can measure.

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Forklifts and pallets in a logistics terminal

Why warehouses lose time and money

The three problems behind the DB Schenker project in Lieto are common to most terminals and distribution centres.

  1. Layout changes by trial and error

    Without route data, every new layout is a guess, and nobody can show afterwards whether it was better than the old one.

  2. A large floor, few supervisors

    A busy terminal is active everywhere at once. The few people responsible for it cannot see where pallets wait and where vehicles queue.

  3. Idle time and empty driving

    You cannot cut the cost of forklifts and pallet trucks without knowing when they stand idle and when they drive without a load.

What you can do with precise location

All of it runs on the same base stations (UWB anchors), tags and Location Intelligence Platform.

Pallets from arrival to departure

Attach a tag when a pallet arrives and remove it at loading. Pallets in the arrival, storage and departure areas are counted remotely, at any moment.

Forklift and pallet-truck utilisation

Tell forklifts, pallet trucks and pallet trailers apart, and compare time driven loaded, empty and idle, by vehicle type.

FIFO and dwell time

A pallet’s tracking time equals its time in the warehouse. See which pallets break first-in, first-out or wait longer than their service level allows.

Heatmaps and congestion

Every route is recorded with travel time, distance, idle time and idle position. Heatmaps show busy aisles, crossings and queues.

Layout changes you can measure

Try a new layout and judge it with one simple KPI: the time pallets spend in the warehouse.

Gates and geofences

Arrival and departure gates become geofences. A tag that leaves the premises beeps, so tags are not carried away with the goods.

How much accuracy do you need?

Pallet counts per area need less accuracy than marked walkways or stacked goods. Base-station density follows the need, area by area.

Accuracy classes and the warehouse jobs they serve
AccuracyQuestion it answersTypical uses
Zone (a few metres) Which area is the pallet in?Counts in arrival, storage and departure areas; dwell time; gates
Sub-metre Which lane or floor slot, which vehicle?Floor storage, FIFO by lane, vehicle utilisation and routes
Up to 10 cm Up to 10 cm with Noccela Which side of a line, which level of a stack?Marked walkways and crossings, stacked goods, exact positions in floor storage

How it works

From tag to WMS

Tags on pallets and vehicles send short UWB pulses. Base stations measure them, the positioning engine computes positions, and the platform turns them into counts, alerts and data for your systems.

  1. Step 1 Tags Badges and asset tags send short UWB pulses
  2. Step 2 Base stations Measure the radio signals and calibrate themselves
  3. Step 3 Positioning engine Computes positions in the cloud or on your premises
  4. Step 4 Location Intelligence Platform Maps, dashboards, alerts and workflows
  5. Step 5 APIs Real-time stream, HTTP API and webhooks
  6. Step 6 Your systems WMS, MES, ERP, BI, safety and sports apps

Products for warehouses

Indoor base stations, tags for pallets and vehicles, and warning lights for crossings.

Noccela Beacon 3 base station in black and white with its mounting plate

Beacon 3

Compact PoE base station for indoor sites, installed like a security camera.

Details
Noccela Smart Tag, a small black asset tag

Smart Tag

Small asset tag for tools, carts, pallets and equipment.

Details
Noccela Industrial Tag with a transparent IP65 housing and magnetic feet

Industrial Tag

IP65 tag for vehicles, machines and harsh conditions.

Details
Noccela Signalling Flash controller box with a red signal light

Signalling Flash

Location-triggered light and tone for zone warnings and andon status.

Details

Case study

DB Schenker: 36 base stations for 12,000 m²

With Turku University of Applied Sciences, in the Baltic Loop project: pallets tracked from harbour arrival to departure, FIFO checked, and every vehicle route recorded for layout analysis.

DB Schenker · Logistics

Pallet tracking and FIFO in a 12,000 m² terminal with 36 base stations

Lieto, Finland · With Turku University of Applied Sciences

Area covered
12,000 m²
Base stations
36
Accuracy achieved
30–150 cm
Tracked
Pallets, forklifts, pallet trucks
Read the case study
Floor plan of the Lieto terminal in the Noccela platform, with highlighted zones along the loading doors on both long sides of the building
Installation visualisation from the project: 36 base stations covering 12,000 m².

Connect location to your WMS and BI

Open APIs deliver live positions, history and events to the systems you already run.

Real-time stream

Live positions over a WebSocket connection for control-room views and live dashboards.
Real-time API

Events and webhooks

A pallet enters the departure area, a tag leaves through a gate: events are pushed to your system.
Push API

Cloud or on-premise

Run the platform as a cloud service or inside your own network, with the same APIs.
Hosting options

Forklifts and pedestrians

The same infrastructure can warn pedestrians and drivers when they come too close, as an alerting system alongside separation and training.
Workplace safety

Frequently asked questions

How many base stations does a warehouse need?
Each base station covers up to 500 m² per base station in open areas; high racks and dense storage need more. In the DB Schenker project in Lieto, 36 base stations covered 12,000 m². The base station estimator gives a first figure for your site.
What accuracy do we get in a warehouse?
Accuracy is up to 10 cm, depending on the environment and the number of base stations. In the DB Schenker terminal, the project achieved 30–150 cm with a deliberately small number of base stations, which met the needs of pallet and vehicle tracking.
Do we have to tag every pallet?
No. You can tag pallets at arrival and reuse the tags after loading, tag only the goods that matter, or tag only the forklifts. Vehicle tags alone already give utilisation, routes and congestion data.
Can it check FIFO automatically?
Yes. Because each pallet is tracked from arrival to departure, the platform knows how long it has been in the warehouse. The data shows pallets that were overtaken by newer ones or that have waited longer than a set time.
How long do tag batteries last?
Tags sleep when they are not moving, thanks to the accelerometer, and battery life is typically several years, depending on utilisation and update rate. Smart Tags and Industrial Tags use replaceable batteries.
Can the data go into our WMS?
Yes. A real-time stream, an HTTP API and webhooks deliver positions and events such as a pallet entering a zone. See the developer hub.
Can we run it on our own servers?
Yes. The Location Intelligence Platform runs as a cloud service or on an on-premise server in your network.
Can the same system warn pedestrians about forklifts?
Yes, with ID Badges and Signalling Flashes. It is an alerting and awareness system that complements separation of walkways, speed rules and training. See workplace safety.

See your terminal on a live map

Send us a floor plan and tell us what moves through your warehouse. We will show you how it would work, and what it takes.

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