Penguin and Zebra Technologies Partner to Deliver End-to-End Healthcare Asset Tracking Solutions

June 24, 2025

Penguin Location Services, a global leader in AI-powered location intelligence and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS), is proud to announce a new partnership with Zebra Technologies, a pioneer in enterprise asset intelligence and RFID innovation. This healthcare asset tracking partnership delivers comprehensive solutions for medical facilities seeking advanced asset visibility. As a recognized Zebra Global Alliance Partner, Penguin is expanding its Operational Intelligence platform to offer healthcare organizations unprecedented healthcare asset tracking capabilities across both high-value and high-volume medical assets.

Advanced Healthcare Asset Tracking: Active BLE RTLS + Passive RFID

Hospitals today require more than just real-time tracking of critical equipment—they need complete asset visibility. That’s why Penguin and Zebra are combining their strengths to deliver a hybrid tracking ecosystem that unites Zebra’s passive RFID technologies with Penguin’s AI-enhanced BLE RTLS.

Together, the solution enables:

• Room-level precision for high-value assets using Penguin’s BLE-based RTLS

• High-volume inventory coverage for low-cost, passive RFID-tagged items

• Unified data visibility within a single asset management platform

This hybrid approach supports use cases from life-saving equipment location to automated inventory audits, ensuring hospitals can track more assets, with greater accuracy, at lower cost.

Proven Technology, Scalable Results

Standards-based BLE and RFID technologies benefit from global adoption and scale. With BLE, healthcare facilities can actively track over 20,000 assets across large campuses—far surpassing the limitations of legacy systems.

For larger-scale inventory management, Zebra’s passive RFID can tag and read hundreds of thousands of items—from surgical kits to linens—without batteries or complex infrastructure.

The result: an integrated visibility solution that bridges the gap between real-time location and large-scale item management.

Extending Healthcare Asset Tracking Intelligence

This collaboration enhances Penguin’s Operational Intelligence platform to cover a broader asset spectrum—bringing automation, insight, and control to every corner of the hospital. By unifying active and passive tracking, healthcare providers can:

• Improve equipment utilization

• Reduce shrinkage and loss

• Streamline inventory and replenishment

• Enhance audit readiness and regulatory compliance

A Shared Vision for Smarter Healthcare

“Zebra’s leadership in RFID combined with our BLE RTLS expertise unlocks a powerful synergy. We’re delivering a future where healthcare facilities can see, manage, and optimize every asset—from a mobile ultrasound unit to a disposable glove,”
— Dr. Mohammed Smadi, CEO, Penguin Location Services

This strategic partnership reflects both companies’ shared vision: to make smart, scalable location technology accessible to healthcare systems of all sizes, driving safety, efficiency, and operational excellence.

Learn More

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Healthcare Navigation Award: Penguin Wins Patient Experience Excellence Recognition

Irvine, CA – October 9, 2025 – Penguin Location Services is proud to announce a major achievement. The company received the PX Initiative Excellence Award 2025 in Healthcare Navigation. This recognition came at the International PX Congress in Riyadh last month.

This global recognition highlights Penguin’s continued impact on healthcare by simplifying and transforming the patient and staff experience through more intelligent location services. The award builds on their landmark year of expansion in healthcare including their robust AI-powered location solutions – PenTrack™, PenSafe™, and PenNav™.

This global recognition highlights Penguin’s continued impact on healthcare delivery. Specifically, the company simplifies and transforms patient and staff experiences. They achieve this through intelligent location services and indoor navigation systems. Moreover, the award builds on their landmark year of expansion in healthcare. This includes their robust AI-powered location solutions – PenTrack™, PenSafe™, and PenNav™.

Leadership Perspective on Healthcare Navigation Excellence

“This award is a testament to our team’s dedication,” said Mohammed Smadi, CEO at Penguin Location Services. “It reflects their creativity and relentless commitment. Every day, we work to empower healthcare providers with essential tools. Consequently, patients receive the right care, at the right time. Furthermore, they experience greater ease and confidence throughout their journey.”

“Penguin embodies the spirit of innovation we seek to recognize,” said Ahmed Mussaffi, CEO of BII-Health. BII-Health is the parent organization of the International PX Congress. “Their approach to healthcare navigation demonstrates something important. Specifically, it shows how technology can reduce complexity effectively. Additionally, it enhances safety and improves the patient journey from start to finish.”

Real-World Impact of Healthcare Navigation Solutions

Today, Penguin’s indoor navigation solutions support millions of people. These include patients, families, and staff navigating complex healthcare environments worldwide. Indeed, leading health systems and academic medical centers rely on this technology. These facilities span North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Healthcare facilities depend on Penguin’s PenNav for several critical functions:

• Guide patients across sprawling hospital campuses with turn-by-turn indoor navigation
• Reduce late or missed appointments through accurate wayfinding technology
• Ease stress during critical care journeys with intuitive digital navigation

As a result, healthcare providers deliver better patient experiences consistently.

What the Patient Experience Excellence Award Recognizes

The Patient Experience Excellence Award recognizes organizations that are redefining healthcare delivery. Specifically, it honors those integrating advanced technologies into clinical and operational workflows. For Penguin, this means leveraging cutting-edge AI-enabled location intelligence effectively.

Their healthcare navigation platform delivers several key benefits:

Help Patients Navigate Complex Hospital Campuses

Patients and visitors navigate complex hospital environments with ease. The indoor navigation system provides clear, real-time directions. Consequently, this reduces confusion and anxiety during healthcare visits.

Reduce Staff Stress and Improve Workflow Efficiency

The system streamlines movement throughout healthcare facilities. Staff tracking and indoor positioning optimize workflows automatically. Therefore, healthcare workers can focus more on patient care instead of logistics.

Support Connected and Compassionate Care Delivery

Health systems deliver safer, more connected care using location intelligence. The healthcare navigation technology integrates seamlessly with existing hospital systems. Moreover, it creates a more compassionate care environment for everyone.

Continued Growth in Healthcare Navigation Technology

As the company continues its expansive growth efforts, this award reinforces their mission. Specifically, Penguin aims to deliver actionable location intelligence worldwide. This drives better outcomes and better experiences in healthcare consistently.

Their AI-powered indoor navigation solutions are transforming how healthcare facilities operate. Furthermore, they’re setting new standards for patient experience and staff efficiency. Ultimately, this recognition validates Penguin’s approach to healthcare navigation innovation.

About Penguin Location Services

Penguin Location Services™ improves enterprise operational efficiency comprehensively. Their solutions enhance visitor experience, workflow, and safety simultaneously. They use the world’s most advanced location engine for healthcare navigation. Additionally, it supports BLE 5.1 and above infrastructure.

Powered by AI and machine learning, Penguin’s location algorithms enable high-velocity updates. They deliver sub-room-level accuracy across entire enterprises consistently. The company is committed to making location services more accessible globally. Moreover, they’re making indoor navigation systems easier to manage on a global scale. Ultimately, Penguin is redefining the future of location intelligence in healthcare.

Visit: www.penguinin.com

Trademarks: Penguin Location Services, PenTrack, PenSafe and PenNav are trademarks of Penguin Inc.

Media Contact

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.penguinin.com

The Evolution of Healthcare RTLS Technology

Healthcare RTLS has historically been limited to well-funded organizations like Mayo Clinic due to high costs and proprietary systems. However, recent technological advances are changing this landscape dramatically. The introduction of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 standard has created new opportunities for cost-effective indoor positioning solutions.

“We believe that every aspiring healthcare enterprise that wants it should be able to afford it,” explains Dr. Smadi, emphasizing Penguin’s philosophy of making RTLS accessible to all healthcare organizations.

Key Advantages of Modern RTLS Systems

Cost-Effective Infrastructure

Modern RTLS solutions leverage standard hardware rather than proprietary systems, significantly reducing deployment costs. By utilizing BLE technology – with over 4.5 billion BLE radios shipped globally – healthcare organizations can achieve substantial cost savings while maintaining high accuracy.

Multiple Use Cases from Single Infrastructure

Today’s RTLS systems function as comprehensive IoT (Internet of Things) infrastructure, supporting multiple applications simultaneously:

• Asset tracking for medical equipment and supplies
• Patient tracking throughout their healthcare journey
• Workflow analysis and optimization
• Nurse call cancellation systems
• Hand hygiene compliance monitoring
• Infant protection systems
• Environmental monitoring through integrated sensors

Enhanced Patient Experience

RTLS technology enables healthcare organizations to capture critical patient experience metrics in emergency departments, including face time with practitioners and wait times. This granular data helps optimize resource allocation and improve overall patient care quality.

Technical Innovation in Healthcare RTLS

Penguin Location Services has developed advanced algorithms that leverage multiple data sources beyond traditional radio signals. Their AI-powered approach incorporates:

• Radio signal information from BLE 5.1
• Hospital map and infrastructure data
• User and asset behavior patterns
• Environmental factors like wall reflections (multipath signals)

This comprehensive approach achieves room-level accuracy and even bed-level precision, enabling applications like nurse distress alerts with unprecedented accuracy.

Scalable Implementation Strategy

Healthcare organizations don’t need to implement RTLS hospital-wide immediately. Many successful deployments start with specific areas like emergency departments or individual floors, then expand incrementally as they see results and build confidence in the technology.

“People are very skeptical about what we show,” notes Dr. Smadi, “but when they want to deploy it, they want to make sure that it works and scales. We’re perfectly fine with testing first in a couple of floors or a ward.”

The Future of Healthcare RTLS

The next evolution in RTLS technology may eliminate the need for dedicated ceiling infrastructure. As Wi-Fi access points increasingly adopt BLE capabilities, healthcare organizations could achieve submeter accuracy for both tagged assets and smartphones using existing network infrastructure.

This technological advancement promises to make RTLS even more affordable and easier to deploy, potentially making location services ubiquitous across healthcare settings.

Real-World Success Stories

Healthcare systems implementing comprehensive RTLS solutions report significant benefits across multiple use cases. One private healthcare system in the MENA region successfully deployed asset tracking, expanded to patient tracking, and added Infant Protection System and hand hygiene compliance monitoring – all using the same infrastructure investment.

The flexibility of standard hardware allows healthcare organizations to adapt their RTLS systems for new use cases without major infrastructure changes, maximizing return on investment.

Healthcare RTLS technology represents a significant opportunity for healthcare organizations to improve operational efficiency, enhance patient care, and optimize resource utilization. With modern cost-effective solutions now available, RTLS is becoming an essential component of healthcare IT infrastructure rather than a luxury reserved for large health systems.