Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Asset Tracking
There’s much more to know about the specifics of asset tracking. This blog post dives deeper into scalability, developing asset tracking systems from scratch, newer versus older technologies in use and how to find the right solution for your own use case.
We’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the subject, along with our answers. We’ve split these FAQs into two main categories: 1) general questions, and 2) vendor-centric questions.
Note: If you have questions specifically about the WISER Locator, please visit our dedicated FAQs page.
General Questions About Asset Tracking
1. What industries use asset tracking?
You can find instances of asset tracking at work across nearly every industry today. Some industries use their own terminology to describe their tracking systems, but you can find clear examples of asset tracking at work across retail, shipping and logistics, transit, manufacturing, warehousing, healthcare, energy, construction, and education.
2. What kinds of assets can I track?
Asset tracking—as opposed to digital asset management—accounts for physical objects of almost any variety. Asset tracking systems frequently account for work-in-progress or work order tracking in a manufacturing facility, goods in inventory, vehicles, shipping containers, calibrated tools, electronics, medical equipment, pharmaceutical products, retail goods, and dozens of other asset categories.
Some asset tracking systems will be better suited for one type of asset over another. For instance, passive RFID tags can be extremely small, making them optimal for tracking a variety of smaller objects. However, passive RFID tags are not always reliable for tracking metal objects or items with high water content. In these cases, barcodes might be a better option. Neither barcodes nor passive RFID gives real-time tracking, so high-value assets that move frequently or in unpredictable ways might be more effectively tracked with a real-time location system (RTLS).
3. Are legacy technologies like barcodes and RFID still worth using?
Yes. While newer technologies expand the scope of asset tracking significantly, barcodes and RFID systems are still the primary asset tracking solutions in use today. Their scalability and wide adoption alone make them invaluable.
Barcodes have proven their value in virtually every industry thanks to their small size and the low cost per individual barcode. Also, new innovations in barcode technology continue to make scanning barcodes simpler and more autonomous, which lowers the need for manual scanning—one of the biggest usage challenges with barcode systems.
RFID is similarly useful. Since passive RFID does not require batteries or external power, passive RFID tags can be some of the smallest, lightest tracking tags available today. RFID also offers more hands-off options than barcodes while providing similar identification / detection systems.
While it is often useful to supplement barcodes and RFID with real-time asset tracking technologies, these two staples of the asset tracking ecosystem are unlikely to lose their value in the near future.
4. What are the newest tech developments in asset tracking?
Nearly every aspect of asset tracking has evolved in the last few years. For example, asset tracking software has progressed significantly, with new systems to categorize, identify, and account for various assets at the press of a button—as well as to protect and appropriately share key data. Advances in computer vision and invisible barcodes are also making asset-tracking more feasible, robust, scalable, and cost-effective.
Most of the latest developments in asset tracking center on RTLS. The rise of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), GPS, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and other location-based tracking solutions has expanded asset tracking drastically in the last decade alone. But, the most recent advances in RTLS is the use of ultra-wide band (UWB), in particular when it’s used in heavy metal or highly reflective environments.
5. Can I develop my own asset tracking system?
Well, in theory, yes. Many organizations have created their own basic asset tracking systems using pen-and-paper logs or spreadsheets. Because such systems are clumsy and prone to human error, it’s generally worth adopting a more sophisticated approach.
Developing a more complex asset tracking system from scratch can be extremely difficult and is often less effective than adopting or adapting tried-and-true systems based on UWB, BLE, RFID, barcodes, or other validated technologies. The end users of existing asset tracking systems are often directly involved in customizing how a system works, though. This customization could include identifying what sorts of alerts or notifications to deliver, what asset metadata to associate with each item, and other logistical elements of the system.
6. How do I determine the right kind of asset tracking system for my business?
A few key questions can guide you to select the right kind of asset tracking solution for you and your organization:
How many assets do I need to track?
How valuable are each of those assets?
What will it cost me—or what risks will I face—if I do lose any of those assets?
How much does my current inventory or accountability process cost me in time and money?
How much do I stand to gain or save by adopting a new system?
What other problems am I looking to solve via asset tracking?
If, as an example, you run a factory that frequently loses assets like printed textiles, but the cost to equip each item with a tracking device is greater than the cost to replace the lost item, your best course of action is likely changing existing work processes rather than adding tracking devices to every low-dollar item. If, on the other hand, you frequently misplace valuable mobile assets like workstations on wheels (WOWs), implementing RTLS might save you a significant amount of effort and cash.
Vendor-Centric Questions
7. How do I select the right asset tracking vendor / solutions provider?
The asset tracking industry has a history of under-delivering on big promises, so choosing the right system—and system provider—is critical.
Because of past system failures, the most important factor might simply be seeing the system you want in action, seeing it work as promised. It’s not always possible for vendors to show the scale you’re considering, but a good asset tracking solution should always be demonstrable. Also, asking for system demonstrations in real-world work environments will quickly indicate whether the system you’re considering can perform in your own setting.
As with any technology, you’ll also need to find out where a solutions provider operates geographically, what installation and training support they provide, what ongoing or integration support is available, pricing information, and the general track record the company has. The thing to note is that none of these vendor-vetting metrics will matter if the system in question fails to operate as advertised.
8. How can I be sure an asset tracking system is scalable for my use case?
Scalability is a top challenge for nearly any process-improvement system, and asset tracking is no different. Assuming you’ve already vetted your asset tracking system vendor adequately, the three biggest obstacles to scalability tend to be 1) technological limitations, 2) cost, and 3) labor. The best way to determine if your asset tracking project is scalable is to map out how these obstacles intersect in the case of your own asset tracking project.
Here are a few examples:
Using passive RFID to track 5000 hand tools that move frequently through a factory: It’s technologically very doable, and the cost to put passive RFID on individual tools is typically reasonable. The expense to implement many RFID portals (doorway readers) can be significant, however, especially if the factory in question has an open layout not suited to choke-point readers for all needed areas.
Completing the scenario above using handheld RFID readers instead of scanning portals: The relatively low cost for handheld readers would be much more affordable upfront, but this would add extensive labor for manual scans.
Tracking 1000 healthcare workers or patients with GPS: The cost for wearable GPS trackers is quite low now, and the labor involved to manage these devices would also be low even if they were regularly cycled in and out for new workers or patients. Operating GPS reliably indoors, however, isn’t technologically feasible, so another technology like UWB would be needed for this case.
Tracking the real-time locations of 10,000 shipping containers using GPS: The technology is there, and the value of shipping containers should be more than worth the cost to affix a tracking device. The problem is that GPS consumes a lot of power, so recharging or replacing batteries for this many GPS devices adds an immense amount of upkeep labor.
Tracking non-linear metal assemblies with UWB: Manual scans are a cumbersome way to monitor manufacturing processes that don’t follow a uniform, linear journey, so most work-in-progress (WIP) tracking requires a real-time system. Not all UWB solutions will work around metal-filled environments like factories, but the leading ones will. UWB is also ideal for this type of non-linear tracking, since it allows a high level of precision, showing where each item moves and how long it might stay in one place—effectually eliminating any manual labor needed to log steps in a non-uniform path to completion.
9. How often will I need to replace tracking stickers, barcodes, etc.?
Although every asset tracking system is different, most common tracking tags are designed to last the full lifecycle of an asset or even to be recycled afterward. Barcodes, RFID, and RTLS tags will typically work for many years. Powered assets will require battery changes or recharges on occasion, though.
10. How often will I get asset updates?
Frequency of asset updates depends on the technologies and systems in use. Point-of-scan systems like barcodes will generate updates each time an asset is individually scanned. RTLS can deliver continual updates, usually at a specified update rate (e.g. once per second, hour, or day, etc.).
11. What can I do if the asset I’m looking for doesn’t show up?
Most asset tracking systems will allow end users to retrieve an asset history of some kind. If an asset doesn’t show up in your system, this recorded history is often the best place to start looking.
Asset tracking systems dependent on manual scans—whether using choke point / portal scanners or handheld ones—could lose item visibility if a scan is missed. Looping back to the last recorded scan might indicate where an asset could be now, but it may be extremely difficult to locate small items, lookalike objects, or assets that move frequently.
Tracking systems that deliver actual location data, like RTLS, tend to make searching for missing things more straightforward, since it’s possible to navigate to a specific, known location where the asset tag last registered its location.