Asset tracking is a significant undertaking for organizations across many industries. The global asset tracking market has reached a size of $15.4 billion, showing just how much companies put into this aspect of their operations. Today, companies need the right asset tracking best practices to reduce costs and ensure the efficacy of their efforts.
What is Asset Tracking?
Asset tracking is one of the most fundamental aspects of supply chain and asset management. It entails tracking shipments, lots, products, parts, and materials across production and distribution.
Effective asset tracking lets companies improve on-time delivery rates, combat theft, trace misplaced product, and better understand and optimize their processes and supply chains. The potential benefits across so many areas show why asset tracking is important across many industries.
How does asset tracking work in practice? Technology such as RFID tags, IoT, and mobile devices provide a solid foundation alongside more conventional methods such as barcodes. Various scanners, whether hand-operated or fully automated, update information on tracked assets.
Alongside that hardware, companies also rely on a variety of asset management software and platforms. These take the wealth of data collected across supply chains and operations and translate it into a format that helps stakeholders make effective decisions.
Best Practices for Asset Tracking
Like any other aspect of your operations, certain best practices define the most effective approach to asset tracking. Your company can maximize the impact of your efforts by addressing these critical areas of asset tracking.
Asset Maintenance
Integrating maintenance into your approach to asset tracking can provide a number of benefits. With the right asset tracking software, you can track key maintenance requirements and ensure that schedules are carefully followed.
The use of unique tags for individual assets is key here. Doing so lets you accurately track the progress of planned maintenance, along with keeping clear and accurate records of any unplanned maintenance. This reduces administrative workloads while ensuring that mandatory maintenance is completed.
Over time, the accumulated data from your asset tracking solution can provide key insights into your maintenance practices. You’ll be able to optimize the way you manage equipment maintenance and other areas with the improved visibility you’ll achieve.
Asset Lifecycles
Modern asset tracking has grown to encompass a broader range than traditional tracking, which often focuses on warehousing and freight alone. Today, mapping out the complete lifecycle of assets provides improved traceability and visibility.
An effective asset tracking solution integrates not just warehousing and shipping but also production, support, and disposal. This doesn’t necessarily mean location tracking throughout the entire lifecycle but rather establishing a platform that handles other areas as well.
Today, this often means integrating compliances, licenses, and environmental metrics into the asset tracking solution. As reporting requirements established by governments around the world become stricter, organizations require higher traceability across their operations and supply chains.
Asset Tracking Software
Choosing the right asset tracking platform is vital to ensuring results. These types of applications vary widely in their scope and features, and you need to be sure that you get the solution you need.
Going with a centralized platform for asset management is the best course of action. Having all accessible data in one location makes it easier for stakeholders at every level to do their jobs and breaks down any barriers to collaboration.
Cloud solutions are also asset tracking best practices today, providing the reliability, accessibility, and security that organizations need. When dealing with multiple facilities, warehouses, distribution networks, and more, you need to know that your people can access the platform wherever they need it.
Asset Depreciation Tracking
When most people first think of asset tracking, they’re focused on improving delivery and avoiding losses. However, there’s more to it than that. Asset tracking can enable your organization to balance its books in your favor by tracking depreciation.
Tracking depreciation is one of the most important fixed asset tracking best practices, and it also applies in other areas as well. When you’re dealing with dock equipment, returnable containers, and other assets you’ve had to invest in, claiming depreciation reduces your tax obligation.
However, with so many different assets, it can be difficult to track depreciation properly. Varying depreciation classes and rates even further complicate the issue. Letting a reliable software solution track this for you can ensure that you aren’t paying more than your share of taxes.
External Audit
Auditing your company’s processes is essential to ensure that you’re operating effectively and maintaining compliance. You likely already have internal audits in place for your asset tracking practices, but seeking out an external audit could shine a light on unforeseen issues.
Carrying out such an audit on your own can help your company avoid any potential penalties should you face an actual audit from a regulating body. The right asset management platform can make carrying out audits easier and help you maintain compliance.
With the right platform, you can generate reports for a wide range of specific purposes. This can help satisfy audit requirements quickly and easily. You’ll also receive alerts and notifications when something doesn’t add up, so you can deal with it now rather than later.
Informed Decisions
Whether in the warehouse or on the factory floor, your teams need reliable and insightful information to make the right decisions. Increasing the data you capture through asset tracking and leveraging it with the right platform can have a considerable impact.
The use of RFID and IoT devices can automate data collection as lots move throughout your supply chain. With this accurate data, your teams can understand the current state of orders, deliveries, and production and react accordingly to address inventory issues or potential delays.
Transform Your Asset Management with Surgere
Implementing the latest asset tracking best practices can streamline your operations and reduce costs. Surgere can help you realize those benefits with comprehensive solutions that provide both the hardware and asset management platform you need.
Our asset tracking services enable your organization to improve delivery, maintain full visibility across your supply chain, and gain new insights into your operations. Contact our team today to see how Surgere can transform your asset management.
