What is an Asset Tracking System? Discover Key Benefits of Asset Location Tracking
Asset Tracking Systems are central to the success of any large-scale operation, whether it is a warehouse storing diverse inventory items for e-commerce sites or a manufacturing facility filled with expensive equipment producing hundreds of products every day. Given that in most cases, the inventory value often crosses several thousands of dollars, losing sight of the products may mean theft, delay in order fulfilment or shrinkage caused by damage or spoilage. Popular business models such as quick commerce and last-mile delivery require the warehouse workforce to have a clear idea about the location of items ordered to achieve on-time delivery.
In this blog, we will explore how effective Asset Location Tracking drives success in the warehouse and manufacturing industry.
Impact: How Do Asset Tracking Solutions Optimise Operations?
The following pointers outline the advantages of building a comprehensive Asset Management System:
1.Determining Real-Time Asset Location and Inventory Level Leveraging Barcode Asset Tracking and RFID Asset Tracking
Quick audits and quality assurance checks are the foundation of transparency, customer satisfaction, and profitability. However, regular inventory audits can be time-consuming and can impact the busy schedule of a warehouse or manufacturing facility.
RFID tags help identify the current number of items or consignments without pickers or warehouse workers having to touch items or be too close to any heavy or sensitive product or machinery. Moreover, if the area to be covered by the audit is too large, then active RFID tags allow users to capture the data with just a hand motion, even for the item(s) beyond the line of sight.
In terms of data capture efficiency, while passive RFID tags may require the RFID reader to be directly aimed at them, the tags still prove invaluable for identifying items at a significant distance. Further, passive RFID tags are cheaper than active RFID tags and have a larger detection range compared to the most rudimentary and affordable tagging solution: barcodes.
However, barcodes remain a popular asset tracking solution because, during in-depth audits when each item from all the bins is accounted for individually, barcodes help create a balance between functionality and budget; tagging every item with an RFID tag can be cost-heavy.
2.Quick Inventory Retrieval
Swift inventory recall from the shelves becomes necessary when:
- A component or ingredient is urgently needed on the production line
- An order is received at a quick commerce warehouse
- An organisation aims to make the most of its business hours
By rapidly locating inventory, Asset Tracking Systems ensure that the operations run at peak efficiency during the above scenarios.
3.Mitigated Risk of Theft and Damaged Inventory Due to Altered Warehouse Conditions
With RFID Asset Tracking and Barcode Asset Tracking in place, a high-range RFID reader and mobile computer or an RFID-enabled mobile computer can prevent theft by instantly alerting the warehouse management or decision-makers at the factory about any unauthorised movement of goods outside the facility.
When the tagged items come within the range of RFID readers/mobile computers around the exit, in addition to setting off a warning notification to the stakeholders, active RFID tags add a layer of safety to the infrastructure. The tags have anti-tampering features and encrypted locks, further preventing willful inventory mismanagement.
Asset Management Systems also create an IoT environment. This allows temperature, humidity, impact, and other kinds of sensors to collect intel from the environment around the inventory. Ambient factors play a big role in determining the shelf life of organic produce and spoilage-prone products.
In other words, a comprehensive setup for asset location tracking is not limited to tracing item positions in a massive facility. The integration of sensors in the Warehouse Management Solution or Work in Progress Systems suggests that asset management includes keeping tabs on the usability of the inventory.
CTA: Discover what an Asset Management System entails. Click Here
4.Better User Management
User badges can be connected to the Asset Management Systems. Hence, when an unauthorised person tries to access inventory items or approaches a restricted area in the manufacturing solution, thus jeopardising their safety or confidentiality regarding the operations, then the management is notified immediately.
5.Optimised Warehouse Employee Productivity
By automating several inventory management tasks such as asset tracking, Asset Tracking Solutions ensure that employees work on more strategic work such as inventory planning, procurement optimisation, etc. At the same time, pickers become more efficient as they don’t have to struggle to locate items in the warehouse.
6.Improved Sorting and Faster Reshelving upon Return
In warehouses, particularly those catering to e-commerce and quick commerce businesses, returned items undergo an inspection for usability before being sent back to the designated shelf. However, identifying the appropriate shelf and the bin can be time-consuming unless Asset Tracking Systems save the day.
If items are damaged but can still be sold cheaper to minimise losses, Asset Management Systems play a vital role in ensuring their visibility in the POS and the ERP. Differently put, Asset Tracking Solutions are an integral part of a single source of truth for business data.
7.Analytics Dashboards, Reporting, & Decision-making
The data collected by the AIDC solutions, such as RFID readers and barcode scanners, is transmitted to the cloud by the Wireless Network Access devices. Once this data is on the cloud, the Analytics capabilities of cloud-native platforms such as ERPs help decision-makers make interactive dashboards, forecasting reports, and item-level performance analysis (including lifecycle analysis), amongst other report types which offer actionable insights that prompt strategic moves.
Here’s what you need for setting up a comprehensive Asset Tracking Solution. Discover Now
The Role of Asset Tracking Solutions in Boosting Profitability
As Asset Management Systems improve employee productivity, they help leaner teams achieve great results while also cutting down on employee expenditures. The solution also reduces theft and spoilage. Hence, Asset Tracking Systems contribute to decreasing the capital expenditure of the business, thereby padding the profit margin.
An indirect influence of Asset Tracking Solutions on the bottom line is employee satisfaction, which businesses can drive by reducing workload via automating some of the labour-intensive tasks. Employees who are happy with their workload and environment are likely to stay longer at the organisation; these long-term workers save the businesses the administrative cost, the opportunity cost, and the brunt of higher wages often associated with onboarding new members in the workforce.
Additionally, new employees may be less productive than their predecessors before their learning curve is complete and also need training, which also incurs expenditure both in terms of opportunity cost as well as capital expenditure.
Learn How Businesses Can Set Up a Robust Asset Tracking System with Quinta
Quinta’s wealth of experience with several major manufacturing and warehousing companies has informed our team of experts to help industry players select the best-in-line rugged barcode scanners, RFID readers, and Wireless Access points from our robust portfolio of solutions. We also have helped Logistics Supply Chain companies set up efficient Asset Tracking Systems, which enable the cargo to be traced all along the supply route in real time. If you are curious how the devices we curate help businesses track their cargo across the supply chain, then read our blogs titled: Real-time Shipping Container Tracking: Do Active RFID Tags Suffice? and The Role of Active RFID in Shipping Container Tracking.
In our asset tracking endeavour, while our collection of AIDC solutions, such as barcode scanners and RFID readers, help capture the inventory data, the wireless network access devices are responsible for quick cloud backup, keeping the business data ready for report-making and performance analysis.
Curious to know more about our product portfolio? Contact us today!
