RTLS Herstellerbewertungsmatrix.

The matrix is a spreadsheet with 30+ scoring dimensions across 6 categories. Technology fit: radio type, accuracy at 95th percentile, update rate, scalability, environment tolerance.

Reference deployments: production-scale references in similar environment, validated accuracy in production, customer-callable references.

Commercials: capex / opex per site, year-1 vs year-5 TCO, success-based pricing options, change-order policy. Integration: APIs, standard protocols, support for your enterprise stack.

Service and support: response SLAs, on-site capability, escalation, regional coverage. Compliance and security: certifications, security posture, regulatory fit for your industry.

We maintain assessments for 50+ vendors in /vendors/* — and these feed the matrix directly. For each shortlisted vendor, we pre-populate technology fit, reference deployment data, and commercial positioning from our independent research.

Clients then add the dimensions only they can evaluate: integration with their specific enterprise stack, fit with their support model, fit with their procurement constraints.

The same matrix produces different shortlists for different use cases. Manufacturing WIP tracking: weight technology fit and reference deployments highest. Krankenhaus RTLS: weight references, EMR integration and clinical-engineering support highest.

Defence and tactical: weight security clearance, anti-spoofing and on-site support highest. Retail item-level: weight commercials and integration with WMS / EPCIS highest. We tune weightings during stage 1 — the dimensions don't change, the weights do.

Most vendor failures correlate with weak reference checking. Our matrix treats references as a binary gate — no production deployment of similar scale and use case, no shortlist consideration.

We then independently verify the references: callable customers, validated accuracy, production-scale evidence, not just pilot success stories. References that can't be independently verified are treated as zero weight.

Three cost categories that don't appear on a vendor's quote but matter for TCO: integration costs with your enterprise stack (often 30–50% of year-1 capex);

change-order costs for additional sites or scope (vendor pricing varies wildly here); support and tag-replacement costs over 5 years.

The matrix forces these into the open by requiring quotes for representative change scenarios and a 5-year TCO model.

Download the matrix, populate the dimensions for your shortlist, and run a transparent scoring exercise. If you want us to run the evaluation as an independent advisor — including the reference verification we do for clients — book a 30-minute scoping call.

We're vendor-neutral and earn fees only from clients. See /about/independence. The matrix is shipped after a short qualification email; sign up to the procurement-toolkit list to get it.