Imagine managing thousands of assets manually on a daily basis with the impending fear of loss and theft, and misallocation of resources. What if you lost track of thousands of dollars worth of machinery? Whether big or small, loss and theft damage business operations tremendously and result in a high level of inefficiency.
Manual data handling can impact the quality of asset details gathered and amplify losses; fragmented records and missing information are some ways your asset data loses quality. For instance, as per Gartner, poor data quality costs organizations around $12.9 million on average per year.
To avoid such scenarios, it is in your organization’s best interest to automate the process of asset tracking using a modern-day GPS asset-tracking system. With rapid advancements in technology, many organizations now prefer leveraging GPS tools that can help track asset movements and provide real-time data.
This blog will introduce you to GPS asset tracking, its associated use cases, and how it can help transform your asset management processes.
What is GPS asset tracking?
GPS, referring to the Global Positioning System, is a means of tracking the movement of items through satellite signals. GPS is a part of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that provides geolocation and time information about any asset you wish to track with a GPS receiver. Trackers are attached to physical devices to signal the device’s exact location to your internal system.
The location data is transmitted to the GPS for live location monitoring. This helps maintain detailed records of your asset data and ensure that your asset is not sitting idly unnecessarily. There are several types of GPS trackers used with regard to asset management, two of them being:
- Asset GPS trackers: Used to monitor the location and movement of assets, such as vehicles, containers, heavy machinery, etc. GPS trackers can be applied to any type of asset as long as the tracker is safely applied and secured.
- Vehicle GPS tracker: Vehicle trackers can be applied to any vehicle to track when a vehicle leaves certain premises. Businesses can link these trackers with asset management systems to maintain a consolidated record of the assets’ movement.
Asset tagging along with GPS trackers helps track details of an asset seamlessly. You can embed GPS information inside an asset tag so the information is available through a simple scan.
What is the relationship between asset management and GPS asset tracking
GPS asset tracking is revolutionary in the realm of asset management as it provides deeper insights into your assets and their operational status. Asset tracking and GPS go hand in hand – one of the primary purposes is to mitigate the risk of loss and theft. It simply eliminates the need to manually track down an asset by automating asset tracking.
GPS tracking helps manage your asset needs better and improve the response time to emergencies. For instance, a hospital can track the location of its ambulances by simply attaching GPS trackers to it. The GPS will send updated information to your chosen asset management system so you can quickly assess whether the ambulance is currently available or not.
Asset management enables systematic cataloging of assets, while GPS tracking helps utilize this information to track the assets’ whereabouts. GPS tracking is dependent upon efficient asset management; it utilizes the already existing asset records to track the status, location, and usage of assets. You can easily assess what routes your asset travels the most to make timely maintenance decisions.
What are the benefits of GPS asset tracking?
The market for GPS asset tracking is to reach $3.38 billion by 2025 with a CAGR of 11.58%. The market for GPS asset tracking is quite competitive calling for more innovative and technologically advanced tracking techniques. However, with a surge in asset management, and an increased demand for real-time data, GPS asset tracking has been widely adopted.
GPS trackers often come with enhanced capabilities including increased precision and offline tracking. Here’s how GPS asset tracking helps organizations achieve high visibility into their assets:
1. Real-time tracking
You can integrate your asset tracking system with your GPS tracker to easily reflect and leverage location data. With a GPS tracker, you can receive minute-to-minute information about the movement of your asset and how frequently it changes locations. GPS devices can provide the exact GPS coordinates: both longitude and latitude. The latest timestamp of the GPS location is also highlighted so users know the time of update.
Along with time and location updates, the most recent asset location can be pushed to your system’s digital map in no time. Viewing your asset’s location on the maps allows for increased visibility and enhanced visual understanding. For example, you can check if your asset has reached a particular office/site by simply checking your location map and zooming in/out for better focus on a particular item.
Location tracking helps in optimizing asset allocation and addressing any operational issues related to assets. You can assess at a glance what assets are at a particular location along with their details – making it easier to make informed decisions regarding their distribution. Timely location tracking also optimizes your overall asset management process since you know where and how an asset is being utilized.
A study suggests that 90% of businesses use some type of a cloud-based system to track assets.
2. Reduced risk of theft
GPS tags reduce the chances of asset theft or loss. The asset can be traced and recovered easily owing to the tracking technology – enhancing asset safety. If an asset is still lost/subject to theft, you can track its last updated location and instantly recover it. Likewise, if an asset leaves certain premises, then automatic alerts can be instantly generated – a tracking technique called ‘geofencing’. Geofencing increases asset safety by preventing unauthorized asset movements.
Not only this, but you can ensure that your asset is traveling on the right route. You can trigger alerts if the driver takes a detour. The chances are low that you will lose access to GPS signals unless the asset travels to a remote location. GPS has a wide coverage meaning that you will most likely have access to your asset’s most updated location 24/7. This reduces any loopholes in asset tracking and provides a trustworthy device for GPS-based asset management.
3. Optimized maintenance
Once you have complete data about the location of your asset and the time for which it is being used, you can determine whether the asset needs to be maintained or not. For instance, if a truck has traveled a long distance, you can check the map to assess the travel route and whether it is likely that it experienced significant wear and tear, and then you can decide whether to send it for maintenance when back or not. –
With a well-functioning GPS tracking system, you can also determine the most time and fuel efficient route for your asset to reduce wear and tear. This can help improve asset usage, and optimize fuel consumption.
You can develop better asset control by assessing when an asset will be checked back in. This way, you can reserve the asset in advance for maintenance so it’s not unavailable when required and the asset is made unavailable for any other activity during maintenance time.
Users can collect data about equipment usage, and mileage to determine how it has been used. This encourages proactive maintenance.
4. Timely reports
You can easily generate detailed location reports to optimize the use of assets and assess where and how an asset is being utilized. Asset management systems can receive data from GPS trackers and consolidate that information in an easily understandable manner.
Simply generate a report on an asset’s condition, location, and status for thorough information on how it is being utilized. You can generate reports on the scanned history of an asset to assess from what source the asset was scanned and its IP address. This way you know the exact location of the last scan performed on an asset which in turn helps ensure that the asset is in a safe location.
Additionally, you can gather latitudinal and longitudinal data from the GPS devices that can be presented in a report. For instance, a weekly report detailing what assets have been checked out to different sites along with their current longitudes and latitudes.
You can generate graphs and charts to assess what sites have the highest check-ins/checkouts. These graphs help make better decisions regarding asset utilization and resource management.
Use cases for GPS asset tracking
GPS is a wise choice for asset location tracking. It not only increases the safety of your assets but also improves day-to-day asset management processes. Here are major industries use GPS asset tracking systems for enhanced visibility into their assets:
| Industry | Use cases |
Healthcare | Check the live location of medical equipment, such as ventilators, wheelchairs, infusion pumps, and MRI machines using GPS trackers. Know what branches of the same hospital are using the available resources. Highly expensive medicines can be tracked across locations to ensure they safely reach the destination, e.g. corona vaccinations. |
| Education | School administrators can track school buses to assess what routes they pass through and optimize pick-up/drop-off schedules. |
| AV & Media | Track assets in different entertainment events to ensure their timely recovery. Optimize resource allocation, manage assets efficiently for different projects, and procure extra resources in advance. |
| Construction | Obtain live location data on Google Maps for expensive heavy machinery and equipment that moves frequently across job sites. |
Alternate tagging solutions to GPS trackers
Although GPS asset tracking has revolutionized asset tracking, but other tagging solutions also provide a viable solution to your asset tracking needs. These include:
1. Barcodes and QR codes
You can generate customized barcode and QR code labels using your asset management system as per the value and type of assets. The barcodes and QR codes have detailed asset information embedded into them and you can easily access this information through a scan.
Moreover, barcodes serve as item identifiers and can store a considerable amount of information i.e. upto 7000 characters.
2. RFID technology
RFID utilizes radio waves to receive signals and transmit information to a tracking system. These tags can include data ranging from asset name and identification number to its procurement date and history. You can seamlessly track an enormous amount of assets using RFID tags to automate the process of data collection, help monitor stock levels, and reduce instances of on-site theft.
Increase business efficiency using a state-of-the-art GPS asset tracking system
Leveraging recent technologies for timely asset tracking is the need of the hour. Almost every business/organization now is adapting to the changing technological landscape.
An asset-tracking strategy geared toward achieving your long-term goals is the key to achieving higher business efficiency. Asset location tracking plays a pivotal part in ensuring streamlined operations. Set up your asset tracking system today to better manage asset locations.
