If you are working in almost any type of business, chances are you’ve heard of asset tracking. However, you might not be sure what it means exactly and why would you need it in your business. The truth is, if you are not investing in proper asset tracking you might end up losing money and time. The amount of assets that you come in contact with in your daily work is surely pretty high. Everything from equipment, tools, machines, to office objects like laptops, monitors, desks, chairs, etc. However, the bigger the assets are the more you need to protect them. This is the case with vehicles, fleets, dumpsters, etc.
Now, if you’re looking into the vehicles only you use and come in contact with, you might know where they are at the moment and the shape they are in. But, if you think on a scale of the whole fleet and all the people working there coming in contact with all the different assets that the company owns, you surely must get freaked out. Very often these types of assets are transporting products to different locations, and it is not unknown to lose track of them in the process. That is where asset tracking comes in.
What is asset tracking?
Asset tracking is literally tracking your assets in the simplest way explained. If you want a more thorough definition, asset tracking is the process one uses to take document all the physical assets of the company. Usually, this is done by a centralized platform that displays data like the location of the asset, the owner, maintenance history, etc. And this is done for all of the assets of the company and it is tracked in real-time which is very helpful. Through asset tracking companies not only will know where their assets are at all times, but they will also be able to schedule maintenance or preventative maintenance.
What assets can you track?
You can track basically any valuable asset that your company owns. Usually among the tracked assets are things like office furniture, computers, IT equipment, manufacturing equipment, software licenses, printers and copiers, carpets, HVAC equipment, safety equipment, vehicles, dumpsters, fleets, etc. .
Why do you need asset tracking?
- Better accountability and loss prevention— this one is pretty obvious. If you are not tracking your assets you can experience vast losses and cost increases. Moreover, tracking the assets also influences employees to be more responsible and holds them accountable for misusing the assets whilst saving you money. With asset tracking solutions you would be able to track your valuable assets.
- Makes asset recovery possible— sometimes it will happen that some asset gets lost or you lose track of it. In cases where these assets are big like trucks or other vehicles, losing money replacing the asset can be a big problem. That’s why tracing the lost one is plausible. Instead of using productive time and manpower to look for a lost asset, the asset tracking solution does it for you by showing you the real-time GPS location of the lost asset. This prevents your business to be delayed and to cause further loss of money.
- Better customer service— more efficient operating businesses usually mean more satisfied customers. If customers choose to do business with you, they expect you to be informed about where their assets are at all times. With asset tracking solutions you can keep tabs on their assets and impress them. Moreover, you can evaluate the efficiency and duration of your internal processes by tracking those assets.
- Lower administrative expenses— if you don’t have an asset tracking solution, you’d have to hire administrative employees to track the assets manually. This means both reduced labor power in your company, and higher expenses. If you take into account the human error factor, it can also mean losing some assets. Digitalizing this process can be a much cheaper and easier solution for your business.
- Asset Management in real-time— implementing an asset tracking solution means that you will have a clear picture of the business assets that your company and customers own in real-time. Items that are just arriving or need to be moved to a specific location can be easily tracked which makes the process much more secure.
- Have better maintenance—when you have information about your assets like the date they were bought, how often they are used or moved, when are they serviced, etc. you can have a better picture when to replace the assets, and when to maintain them. While tracking them, you can anticipate their lifespan and make sure that your business is not left without crucial assets all of a sudden.
- Reduce labor waste—as previously mentioned, if you don’t have an asset tracking solution you ought to do the asset tracking manually which would require employees to work actively on it. With an application, you can track all the assets in real-time, how they move, where they need maintenance, etc. It significantly lowers the need for wasting labor and increases overall productivity in the company.
What are the benefits?
There are many benefits to asset tracking like:
- Tracking leased assets – when leasing certain assets, your company is required to keep a detailed record of every single one of the leased assets. With an asset tracking solution, that job is much easier than it would be done manually. Moreover, in the app you can add additional information about the leased object such as details of the leasing contract, when does it end, pictures of the asset, guides for using the asset, etc.
- Customizable reporting – one big benefit when it comes to asset tracking software is that the reports can be very easily and quickly created and they can hold all the information that you want them to.
- Certification requirements – many industries have regulations that require proper asset tracking in order to maintain certain certifications. Asset tracking software can meet those regulations very easily and much more thoroughly.
- Access to information – usually most of the asset tracking solutions come with an application that gives access to information to managers regardless of where they are at the moment. This can be very convenient.
All in all, asset tracking is very beneficial to businesses, it is easily implementable and when integrated with other management systems can be a big asset itself to the company.
