What are the Principles of Asset Tracking Hardware?

Asset tracking hardware is a crucial investment in your business if you are handling assets for your clients. Any asset that is lost is very costly to a business. This can lead to not just lost revenue but also lost clients, especially if losing assets is something that happens regularly. However thanks to asset tracking hardware, you are better able to keep track of these assets and reduce the amount of lost assets.

Principles of Asset Tracking Hardware

How does asset tracking hardware work? It depends on the type of system that you use for your business, such as using a barcode system or using GPS tracking. If you use a barcode system, you need to scan the assets throughout the process, from coming into or leaving the warehouse to getting on the truck. Then, it gets scanned as it is delivered to the customer. GPS tracking is a more automated approach to this, where you just put the GPS tracker on the asset and track it in real-time using your asset tracking hardware. The primary goal of this type of system is to make sure that you always know where your assets are so that you can better serve your customers and minimize your losses.

Understanding of Asset Management Systems

There are different elements of the asset management system, which typically consist of using a GPS tracker on these items. In the past, barcode tracking was utilized but this isn’t quite as effective as using a GPS tracker. Barcodes only track where the item was scanned, which doesn’t help if a problem happens in between the times that the asset gets scanned. With GPS technology, you can get the real-time location of any asset, whether it’s in your warehouse or if it’s out on the road. This is an especially useful option when you are tracking high value assets, as these aren’t items that you want lost.

GPS asset tracking hardware may be more expensive than some other options, but there are plenty of benefits to taking this approach. For one thing, you can quickly find the assets in the warehouse and make sure that they are delivered to the right person. If these items are stolen, you can track them down quickly using the real-time GPS information. Asset management has come a long way thanks to the technology of GPS tracking.

Different Types of Asset Tracking Technology

In this section, it will take a closer look at the different technologies that are used for asset tracking hardware. Each option has their own advantages and disadvantages that you need to consider before selecting the best option for your business.

Ultra-Wideband

Ultra-wideband asset tracking hardware is one of the latest versions of this hardware. The advantages with this option include the ability to transmit data through walls and other obstacles as well as offering more accuracy. The biggest downsides with this technology is that it’s often very expensive and since it’s a newer technology, it isn’t without various issues like new hardware.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is easily the most common of these technologies, primarily because of how reliable it is. Bluetooth tracking hardware is low energy and low power consumption option that businesses have counted on for a long time for their asset tracking needs. The biggest advantage of Bluetooth tracking devices is that they are relatively inexpensive options that are incredibly accurate. This also has a downside, where it can suffer from wireless interference in some cases.

Cellular Tracking

Cellular asset tracking can be a great option if the assets being transported are larger assets. For instance, you would typically use this type of tracker on large vehicles (18 wheelers or buses) rather than other assets. That’s because one of the biggest downsides with this option is that it isn’t very accurate. The advantage is that it has practically a global reach.

Why You Need Asset Tracking Hardware

Why should you invest in asset tracking hardware? There are quite a few reasons why asset tracking hardware is so important for your business. Here are some of the reasons why asset tracking is crucial for businesses:

Save Money On Administration Costs

Administration costs can be lowered by having the right asset tracking hardware. This hardware means that you don’t need to worry as much about looking for the assets because you can just look up the tracking information rather than search through the warehouse or otherwise manually tracking this information down.

Improved Customer Service

You can dramatically improve your customer service by offering better visibility about where assets are. Customers will love being able to track their assets so that they know when to expect their delivery. This allows them to know if something went wrong so that they can contact you with any concerns. Customers love transparency and asset tracking hardware gives that to them.

Accountability

If something goes missing, you want to know why. GPS tracking can prevent assets getting lost and help you notice something getting lost sooner. Then you can recover it easier since you know where its location is. This helps you hold people more accountable for assets, including when they end up where they aren’t supposed to be.

Eliminates Human Error

When people handle things manually, they are left open to mistakes caused by human error. For instance, with barcode tracking things can easily get lost if a person fails to properly scan the barcode. The asset tracking system helps log assets automatically, eliminating those problems caused by human error.

Peace of Mind

Whenever you are dealing with assets, it’s important that you have peace of mind that your items are where they are supposed to be. You can always know where assets are with good asset tracking technology, which is especially important when dealing with valuable assets. If something is stolen, you can increase the chances of these items being recovered thanks to the GPS tracking system.

Conclusion

If you are in the business of dealing with asset tracking, asset tracking hardware is an important investment to make. Whether you want to improve efficiency while minimizing costs or you just want to offer more transparency to your customers, asset tracking hardware is the perfect solution for your business.