Asset Tracking: How It Works & Its Benefits

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about assets? Firstly, for most people, assets are the most expensive possessions like a house or other kinds of investments. Businesses, on the other hand, they can be assets such as equipment or vehicles. Moreover, these assets would prove to be of greater value in the future for an organization. Carrying out the task of asset tracking can be time-consuming, especially when you’re starting a business. 

What is Asset Tracking? 

When a company owns physical assets such as vehicles, computers, or other equipment, it can keep track of them with advanced tracking systems. Basically, the process of asset tracking involves storing data such as location, ownership, etc. with suitable software. It gives you the benefit of easily managing and maintaining assets. Consequently, it also reduces the need for spending money on your manpower that helps with these tasks. 

How Does it Work? 

Essentially, unique identification attaches to an asset by a barcode, chip, or RFID tag. This unique identification provides location information to a reader or scanner and sends it to the asset management software, which also turns the location information into readable, actionable data.

Asset Track Tracking Methods

1. RFID

Radio-frequency identification, commonly known as RFID, has proven useful in a plethora of applications and settings. RFID systems rely on a mix of electromagnetic scanners and tags. Basically, both stationary RFID readers and handheld RFID scanners can read the data on tags. Although the reading process is designed to identify tags being scanned, other information may also be obtained from this scan.

2. UWB

It is evident that UWB is one of the newest technologies currently available because of how well it performs. Likewise, it is unmatched in terms of indoor precision. Using a wide band of the radio spectrum, a method known as ultra-wideband (UWB) transmits data. In order for this to function, it must generate short pulses that have a low power output and span a wide bandwidth. So, in its most basic form, ultrawideband (UWB) is a relatively power-efficient mode of transmitting a significant amount of data.

3. LPWAN 

One of the most common examples of LPWAN is LoRa or Long-Range technology. Indoor asset tracking solutions encounter a number of challenges, and such LPWAN solutions overcome many of those by addressing the underlying causes. While this is a lesser-known technology, LPWAN solutions provide a number of advantages, the most notable of which is their reduced overall power consumption as well as their greater signaling range. Meanwhile, technologies such as GPS and cellular systems have the best abilities to track assets around the world, but LPWAN can also work over long distances without using as much power.

4. BLE 

Indoor positioning applications like asset tracking frequently make use of Bluetooth. In comparison to more traditional technologies like WiFi and GPS, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) has been around for the better part of a decade. A coin cell battery can power BLE tracker tags, which can serve as a location beacon for several years. Using a Bluetooth gateway, you can locate the beacons and determine their precise location. Further, the Bluetooth or BLE gateway can either connect to a solution hosted on the cloud or it can even be locally installed on a device that can run the app. 

5. Barcodes 

Barcodes are inexpensive, dependable, and enormously scalable because they provide unique identifiers, but they don’t necessarily provide timing or position information. Typical identifiers are difficult to remember and must be one-of-a-kind. Entering them by hand is not only time-intensive but is also prone to error as a result. Scanning makes data extraction considerably simpler and more accurate. Additionally, using barcodes for an asset tracking system also have a huge benefit when it comes to technological recognition and confidence due to their extensive use in different industries.

Asset Tracking Benefits?

1. Intuitive Reports and Audits

Implementing asset tracking gives you the ability to get real-time reports and remote access to your data from virtually anywhere. Certainly, less-used assets may seem like overkill, but they will give your business a holistic view of the quality, location, and lifespan of your investments. Firms can access all of this real-time reporting with a single click thanks to new asset tracking technologies, making internal audits and proof of regulatory compliance easier.

2. Enhance Asset Lifecycles

An asset equipment tracking system can help enhance the accuracy and efficiency of routine equipment maintenance by providing near-real-time reports on operational health and asset status depending on the given indicators. So, as a result of verified, paperless asset inspections, on-the-job safety, equipment productivity, and overall job efficiency are improved. Regardless of the equipment manufacturer, a comprehensive and integrated asset tracking system provides a comprehensive insight into maintenance warnings, particularly alerts for when parts need to be replaced. In the long run, this may help to avoid costly downtime caused by malfunctions.

3. Saved Costs

Companies that do not have a specialized asset tracking system have to rely on administrative employees to determine the current condition of each physical asset. In addition to the possibility of human error, which could result in the loss of important assets, this strategy is substantially more expensive. Meanwhile, there is a considerable probability of improper asset utilization and inadequate handling without a centralized method for tracking your assets. With automation, these employees may devote their time and energy to more important activities.

4. Better Efficiency

Tracking an asset’s location and movement provides all businesses with better accuracy and visibility. Indeed, by keeping track of asset maintenance, expenses, downtime, and other factors, your team is better equipped to make informed decisions about the most important assets in your company’s portfolio. So, for your assets to perform at their optimal level, you must do regular maintenance and replacements on them. 

How Does Mapsted’s Asset Tracking Work?

Mapsted is one of the few companies that provides indoor asset tracking without the need for beacons, WiFi, or any other external gear. We provide seamless outdoor-indoor wayfinding, asset monitoring, targeted alerts, notifications, and analytics with our effective resource management solution called Mapsted Monitor. Our asset tracking software combines all of the many aspects of asset tracking into a single interface. Specifically, by utilizing our efficient software, you can keep a complete inventory of all of your assets in one location and update them when they need to be repaired or replaced.

Mapsted Monitor is a value addition to enterprises that need to keep a track of their assets regularly to generate revenue. Straightaway, this solution may be used with any off-the-shelf smartphone and is portable, scalable, and straightforward to implement. What makes our asset tracking systems one of the best is that our system uses both horizontal and vertical location, as well as multi-building positioning, to allow users to effortlessly move around complicated outdoor-indoor venues. Visit our website to learn more about.

What to Consider When Choosing the Right Asset Tracking Solution

All in all, before you go ahead and decide on an asset-tracking solution there are a few things you need to consider. 

1. Customizability and Integration

Make sure the solution allows you to make changes on the go like sending firmware updates. An out-of-the-box solution is fine, as long as it can still be customized. Still, purchase a solution that will work for your future by allowing IoT integrations. 

2. Ability to Track Vital Parameters 

Besides using real-time positioning to know the exact location of an asset, your solution should also be able to monitor things such as:

• Asset temperature
• Motion and vibration
• Weather conditions
• Traffic and road conditions
• Air quality
• Asset-out-of-bounds 

3. Notifications and Reminders

Generally, a great asset-tracking solution will remind you about recurring maintenance as well as preventative maintenance as well as custom reports on all assets. 

4. Security 

The solution you choose must have robust security layers in place so that no important data is compromised. This includes having a solution that allows for authorized viewing of certain assets, role-permitted visibility, and “viewing” versus “editing” capabilities. 

5. Cloud-based 

It is important to securely back up all your data at all times and that it is available to use from anywhere from any device. Indeed, keeping backups allows you to restore data whenever necessary. 

6. Support 

No solution should just be a one-and-done system. There should always be a high-quality customer support team on hand that can help you with any roadblocks or unforeseen bugs in the system. 

7. Ease of use 

If it requires you to see a demo or purchase a free trial, it is a good idea to test out the software and get a feel for its interface. 

8. Users and Pricing

The software you choose should be adaptable to the future needs of the company. For example, if there are multiple tiers of the software you should make sure you choose one that allows for multiple users at the same time. Make sure that you can track multiple assets and that it has all the features you need to be successful in your asset management.

Conclusion

Clearly, asset tracking technologies has numerous applications that more companies are beginning to investigate. To track and manage assets on the move, however, you’ll always need a robust system that isn’t reliant on GPS, BLE beacons, or Classic Bluetooth. Certainly, only one brand can provide such a potent solution. That’s Mapsted. It’s the asset tracking solution experts recommend and is currently used in hospitals and fleet management companies around the world. Every asset-tracking solution has a secret sauce, and Mapsted is no exception.