WAREHOUSE INVENTORY TRACKING WITH EYE MESH TAGS

INTRO

Inside the warehouse, accurate inventory control is critical. With thousands of items stored across multiple aisles and racks, knowing exactly where each pallet, box or asset is placed helps maintain order and efficiency. As inventory is moved, replenished and picked throughout the day, clear visibility of its location reduces searching time, prevents misplacement and supports smoother warehouse workflows.

CHALLENGE

Modern warehouses face multiple operational challenges that directly impact productivity and cost. One of the core issues is poor visibility into inventory and stored assets. When warehouse systems rely on outdated manual processes, such as periodic counts, paper logs, or disconnected spreadsheets, inventory accuracy suffers. Fragmented data and delayed updates make it difficult monitor assets, leading to misplaced stock, and slower order fulfilment. This lack of visibility also increases the risk of stockouts and overstocking, which raises holding costs and ties up capital unnecessarily.

Warehouse layouts and space utilisation also compound these challenges. Poor space organisation and inefficient use of vertical and horizontal storage areas increase travel time within the facility, slow picking and put-away operations, and make it harder to locate both inventory and equipment. These layout inefficiencies contribute to higher labour costs and reduced productivity, further eroding competitive advantage.

Many existing indoor asset tracking solutions are not designed with large warehouse environments in mind. Most rely on a simple setup: a beacon or sensor attached to an asset and a gateway collecting the data. While this approach may work for small or less complex facilities, it quickly reaches its limits as warehouse size, layout complexity, and asset volume increase.

As the number of tracked assets grows, traditional Bluetooth®-based systems require a high number of gateways to maintain coverage across wide storage areas and multiple zones. This increases installation effort, infrastructure costs, and ongoing maintenance.

In addition, these systems often depend on fixed communication paths. When signal blind spots appear – due to high racks, dense inventory, or structural obstacles – asset visibility may be lost until the issue is manually identified and resolved.

SOLUTION

To address these challenges, Teltonika offers EYE Beacon Mesh and EYE Sensor Mesh tags – both based on Wirepas Mesh technology. This technology enables to track the location and movement of inventory across large and dense storage areas.

The tracking system consists of three types of Mesh devices operating within the same self-healing network: EYE Beacon Mesh and EYE Sensor Mesh tags, anchors, and gateways.

How it works – moving objects are equipped with tags. The tags transmit data to stationary anchors, which forward it through the anchor mesh network to the gateway. The gateway then sends the data to the backend system, where it can be viewed and analysed.

To make it clearer, we describe how the solution operates in two of the most common scenarios.

TOPOLOGY 1

In the first scenario, we track which aisle the asset is located in using EYE Sensor Mesh. This approach is suited to assets that are moved more frequently within the warehouse, such as tools or pallets. A couple of gateways are installed at strategic locations, such as ceilings or walls and collects data from the anchors and forwards it to the backend system. Anchors are installed at fixed points along warehouse aisles, for example, at aisle entrances, ends, or on side walls or columns. Each anchor represents a known aisle zone. When a tagged asset is placed in an aisle, nearby anchors receive the data and allow identifying where the asset is.

Then the assets are equipped with EYE Sensor Mesh tags, with a built-in accelerometer for movement detection. Tags can detect movement and adjust their reporting intervals accordingly. They report more frequently when moving for faster response times, and less frequently when stationary to conserve energy. Then, when the asset is moved to another aisle or even within the aisle, its location is updated automatically based on the strongest signal detected by the anchors in proximity. And via Anchors Mesh reported to the Gateway that might be far away. This setup provides reliable aisle-level visibility with relatively low anchor density, making it suitable for dynamic storage areas.

TOPOLOGY 2

In the second scenario, we can track even more accurately – not just the aisle, but also at which rack the asset is stored – using EYE Beacon Mesh. This setup is intended for assets that require more precise positioning and are stored on racks for longer periods. Such as boxed goods or high-value inventory. These assets are equipped with EYE Beacon Mesh tags, which broadcast a unique ID linked to a specific item. Anchors are installed directly on the rack structures, typically on vertical rack columns or specific rack sections. When even higher accuracy is required, anchors can also be placed at different rack levels horizontally to identify levels.

With each anchor corresponding to a defined rack or rack segment and EYE Mesh tags communicating with the nearest anchors, the system is able to identify assets position not only at the aisle but to the exact rack where the asset is stored. When an asset is moved between racks, its location is updated automatically by the mesh network. The Gateways remain as shared infrastructure elements at strategic locations, such as ceilings or technical areas, and do not need to be deployed per aisle or per rack, as only anchors count needs to be increased for more accuracy.

Both scenarios operate within the same Wirepas Mesh network, which is decentralised and self-healing. Anchors do not rely on fixed communication paths, and if one anchor becomes unavailable, data is rerouted automatically through neighbouring devices. This allows warehouses to combine aisle-level tracking for frequently moved assets with rack-level tracking for stored assets, or to scale from one scenario to the other as operational needs evolve, without redesigning the overall tracking infrastructure.

BENEFITS

• Improves inventory accuracy – automatic identification of items stored on racks helps maintain precise stock visibility without manual checks.

  
  

• Flexible deployment – aisle-level and rack-level tracking can operate within the same network, depending on accuracy requirements.

  
  

• Enhances equipment utilisation – movement tracking of mobile tools enables better rotation and use of existing assets, reducing idle time and hoarding.

  
  

• Reduces operational costs – efficient use of tools and inventory cuts down on unnecessary purchases, rentals, and labour time.

  
  

• Easy to scale – the solution can be implemented zone by zone and expanded across large warehouse facilities without complex infrastructure.

  
  

• Reliable performance – the self-healing mesh network ensures continuous data transmission even if individual anchors become unavailable.

  
  

WHY TELTONIKA?

At Teltonika we continuously explore new technologies that create measurable value for our customers. Our goal is simple – to deliver practical solutions that solve real operational challenges. As warehouse environments become more dynamic, we identified the need for a more flexible and cost-efficient way to track assets indoors. That is why we introduced Wirepas Mesh technology into our portfolio. EYE Beacon Mesh and EYE Sensor Mesh tags, powered by Wirepas Mesh, extend traditional tracking capabilities. They provide reliable monitoring of mobile equipment and stored inventory while integrating smoothly into existing Mesh infrastructure. By combining telematics expertise with mesh networking, Teltonika delivers a scalable solution for modern warehouse management.