Social Distancing Apps: Which Is the Best for Your Manufacturing Business?

Is your manufacturing company on the verge of shutting down because of safety concerns from your agents?

According to Goldman Sachs, while presenting an economic forecast for 2020, it is predicted that the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will shrink by 6.2% this year. 

This will be mostly due to the impact of the morbidity, mortality, and associated productivity, and the social distancing measures that are adopted to control it.

Emerging from the coronavirus lockdown does not promise to be an easy task. Despite this, there are businesses that will survive this period and even top the charts.

Will your manufacturing business be one of the survivors?

Social distancing is, no doubt, vital to our health and livelihood, making it almost impossible for businesses relying on in-person activities to flourish. From eateries to banking halls to factories, businesses have had to upend their regular strategies in order to survive this challenging time.

To better understand how social distancing apps can keep your factory from hitting the rocks, we have put together useful information to guide you. 

Here’s a quick outline of what you can expect from this article:

• The concept of social distancing technologies
• How do social distancing technologies work?
• What is a social distancing app?
• How do social distancing apps work?
• 3 ways that social distancing apps help to protect your workforce and increase productivity
• The best social distancing apps apps for manufacturing companies

 

Let’s look at them one at a time, shall we?

The Concept of Social Distancing Technologies

As it stands, companies that are eager to limit the liability for their employees and customers are already considering emerging technologies that will help limit the spread of the pandemic.

These technologies fall into two categories:

• One using wearables
• One using apps

 

The aim of these devices is to maintain a social distance of about 6 feet between workers. This follows the guidelines of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Once the CEOs of industrial factories employ this risk mitigation, employees will have to participate to ensure the safety of everyone in the workplace.

Are all the social distancing technologies suitable for general use?

How do employers know which of the social distancing technologies to use for their type of business?

It is important for employers to understand the following three things:

• the technologies in use
• the effectiveness of these technologies at minimizing the risk of infection
• The risks these technologies pose to workers’ privacy and well-being

 

How Do Social Distancing Technologies Work?

The design of social distancing technologies relies on short-distance communications to warn workers when they get within 6 feet of each other. This will allow one device to detect another person’s device when they are considered too close to each other.

Ultra-wideband

The communication technology that probably holds the most promise for social distancing in the workplace is ultra-wideband. Its function is to precisely measure the distance between devices. Late-model iPhones support ultra-wideband communications.

Bluetooth Low Energy

Bluetooth Low Energy is a more common medium used for portable speakers and headphones. However, the consistency of the distance information it produces depends on the environment.

In addition, they can use sound to determine the distance between people in the same way bats identify obstacles in their path with echoes. Like the coronavirus, it also respects door and wall boundaries.

Modern cell phones communicate well via Bluetooth Low Energy and sound. 

Contact tracing apps

Contact tracing apps use these media while following a common design to notify people when they are exposed to an infected person. They focus mainly on privacy, security, and precise distance measurements using sound that isn’t within the human hearing range.

Wearables

Another innovation is the more limited wearables. These are worn like a ring or bracelet and work well for social distancing. You can program workplace wearables to alert employees when they are within six feet of each other. 

They sometimes come in the form of devices that monitor health indicators like body temperature, movement, and pulse.

What is a Social Distancing App?

A social distancing app refers to software downloaded on your phone that basically helps people to remain about six feet apart.

Why are social distancing apps important for your manufacturing business?

Here are 4 reasons:

• They help your employees to be mindful of their distance and learn new work habits in the workplace;
• They allow quick and comprehensive contact tracing;
• They are preventive and warn employees of any potential risks they may face in the workplace;
• They encourage behavioral modification, thus reducing opportunities for exposure

 

How Do Social Distancing Apps Work?

Different social distancing apps are designed to work in different ways.

What do social distancing apps have in common, irrespective of their designer?

These features:

• Software that has to be installed on a phone;
• Hardware in the form of an armband, credit-card-like device, or any other form that can be conveniently used in a particular sector.

 

Here is how the smartspace social distancing app works:

After downloading and installing the smartspace app on your iOS or Android phone, it must be connected to the smartspace hardware device through Bluetooth. Then, you can distribute the hardware device, which looks slightly larger than your regular credit card, among your employees. 

As an employer, you can be the administrator of the app. Your employees must carry the hardware device on them whenever they are within the controlled workplace environment.

If an employee comes within 6 feet of his co-worker, the app alerts them by vibrating, a light display, and beeps. This alert becomes more urgent as co-workers get too close to each other.

The smartspace social distancing app is also ideal for contact tracing. It keeps real-time data records of your employees. 

3 Ways Social Distancing Apps Help To Protect Your Workforce and Increase Productivity

Social distancing apps can be a great way to stop your employees from worrying about their safety and focus more on their work.

Here are three basic ways that social distancing apps can help to protect employees:

1. Keeps employees in check

Surprisingly, there are still people who do not take social distancing guidelines seriously despite the increasing number of deaths due to COVID-19. These people tend to make the workplace uncomfortable for their co-workers who take social distancing seriously and are afraid of getting infected.

Are you getting too many complaints from employees about workers who ignore social distancing measures in the workplace?

The solution is quite easy – Get a social distancing app!

This app will help keep everyone in check without dealing with unnecessary confrontations.

2. It reduces stress

Are you worried about your safety and that of your workers?

The worry is enough to stress you and your workers, thereby reducing productivity.

Your agents cannot deliver their best when they are worried about their safety and dealing with irresponsible coworkers. A social distancing app will allow them to relax and focus more on their tasks.

3. It serves as a gentle reminder to your workers

Many well-meaning people still forget to practice social distancing from time to time. Therefore, there is a need for a gentle reminder to make sure employees observe the workplace social distancing rules. This is something that the social distancing app provides.

The Best Social Distancing Apps  for Manufacturing and Warehouses

Whether you run a small manufacturing business or a large one, your business was undoubtedly affected by the coronavirus pandemic in one way or another. Many employees were forced to work from home, presenting its own set of obstacles.

Right now, social distancing is the best way to curb the spread of COVID-19. Developers are seizing this opportunity to design applications and release them to the public to help people maintain social distancing protocols, especially in their workplace.

Do you want your factory to thrive amid this pandemic?

You can rely on technology to overcome the barriers presented by social distancing, while thriving despite this pandemic.

Here are some of the most efficient apps for maintaining social distancing in your operation:

1. DROR

This unique social distancing app doubles as a platform for personal safety assistance. Here, users receive reports on a daily, weekly, and 14-day basis, which will provide CEOs and management with the necessary information to assess their performance in handling social distancing implementation and execution within a certain period, even in the workplace.

Also, the app will show you the real-time scores of your movements.

In addition, the app provides a 24/7 emergency helpline, roadside assistance service, family tracking option, ambulance services, and other services.

You can download the app from Google Play Store.

2. Quip

Quip is a great tool to enhance your team’s productivity while maintaining social distancing requirements. With this app, which synchronizes with the Salesforce platform, you can be in constant communication with your team without having to switch from one app to another.

It creates a “culture of action” to increase your productivity, allowing you to thrive from the comfort of your living room.

Your team members can use this app to collaborate in creating and editing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets in real-time. In addition, the app has a live chat option within any document to help you communicate effectively when you need to make quick decisions.

3. 1point5

The 1point5 app was developed by the United Nations to help users maintain social distancing.

Basically, this app scans any device using 1point5 and warns you when another device is within your 1.5-meter perimeter. As a warning, your phone vibrates and shows a picture to remind you to maintain social distancing.

The 1point5 app alerts users using Bluetooth, so you must keep your phone’s Bluetooth turned on so that the app will work efficiently.

The app also allows users to adjust the distance to anywhere between 1.5 and 2.5 meters.

This app favors businesses that cannot maintain social distancing because of crowd control issues. You can download the 1point5 app from Google Play Store.

4. WaitQ

Experts developed the WaitQ app to help maintain social distancing at businesses.

It works by providing real-time data on the type of crowd present in a certain place. It uses red, yellow, and green colors to indicate how crowded a certain location is.

This app is only effective in places that have QR codes. So, you need to ensure that you have one in your office.

Users have to scan the QR code of location they visit, then click on “I am done” when they leave. A person is seen as being out of the queue when he crosses a distance of 200 m from the last scanned location.

5. Sodar by Google

Sodar by Google social distancing app was launched for use on Android devices. It uses Chrome’s WebXR tool to access your phone’s cameras and create a virtual circle around the person using it.

It works by creating an augmented reality of 6.5 feet radius ring around a person, according to the social distancing guidelines. This is great for manufacturing businesses with many employees requiring attention.

6. Aarogya Setu

The National Informatics Centre in India developed the Aarogya Setu app to collectively stop the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing.

The main aim of the app is to use your phone’s Bluetooth and Location to generate a social graph to track a person’s interaction with a COVID-19 infected person. It does this by monitoring your mobile’s interaction with another mobile device.

It alerts you whenever you unknowingly come in contact with an infected person while doing business transactions.

7. Zoom

This app played a major role across the globe during the total lockdown. It is still the go-to app for official meetings and anyone who just wants to keep in touch.

Zoom provides Voice over IP (VoIP) and services like online meetings, online conferences, video webinars, and lots more. You can also use the app to stay in touch with your colleagues and loved ones.

8. Smartspace

Are you looking for an app with a lightweight hardware device that you can rely on to maintain social distancing in your factory?

Your best option is the smartspace app.

Real-time data from the contact tracing device is downloaded to the app to use in tracking people that your employees have come into contact with, the duration of the contact, and who is likely to be a high-risk employee.

The app is available for download on iOS and Android phones and uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to the portable tracking device. Hence, you will not have to recharge the device for up to 10 days especially considering your busy schedule.

This risk-mitigating app can efficiently guard your office space, and has a dashboard that is incredibly easy to use.

Our Pick: The smartspace Social Distancing App – the new normal for your business!

When should your manufacturing company start making changes for a world without COVID-19?

NOW!

Having the smartspace app, which is the best social distancing app for your warehouse, is a step in the right direction.

By getting smartspace from Seguro LLC, you will be giving your employees the peace of mind necessary to get back to business.