Tracking your assets and their availability is one of the most important aspects of a successful business. Without it, a business’s income, as well as its reputation can be hindered. A business’s assets can consist of a service or product, but both must be tracked and managed in order to ensure that a business runs smoothly and has the capacity to flourish.
Successfully managing and tracking assets is also a difficult task to achieve. In the past spreadsheets, barcodes, and a large portion of manual labour and time was used to keep track of a business’s assets. Unfortunately, this also meant that there were many mistakes and miscalculations because of human error.
Luckily, RFID has changed the ball game when it comes to asset tracking and management.
What is RFID Asset Tracking?
Radio Frequency Identification is a technology that facilitates asset and stock, tracking and management. This technology consists of “smart” tags that are attached to items, which can then be scanned to complete a stock take.
How Do RFID Asset Tags Work?
RFID’s use radio frequency fields to identify and track smart tags, and in turn, the stock that the tags are attached to. There are a few key parts that are needed in order to complete an RFID set-up and they consist of:
- RFID reader (handheld or fixed)
- An antenna
- RFID tag
- A mobile device with a RFID management application
- A barcode printer
- Mounting brackets
- The correct cables
When setting up one’s RFID system it is important to decide whether you want to opt for the handheld or fixed option. The handheld option will allow you to walk with the reader in your hand and scan items on the go. The fixed option however requires the stock to pass under or past the reader where it has been mounted. They do however mitigate human intervention as they can scan items independently.
The Benefits of RFID Asset Tracking
There are multiple benefits to RFID asset tracking, including, but not limited to:
- Increasing the speed with which stock take is performed.
- Increased accuracy of asset tracking.
- The ability to track more than one asset at a time.
- Improving the visibility and data one has of one’s assets.
- Reducing the involvement that humans could have with asset tracking, minimizing errors.
RFID Asset Tracking: Cost and Availability
The cost of an RFID system will largely depend on the size of the system and the amount of stock and assets being tracked. RFID is considered to be well worth the money spent as a business can lose much more in lost stock and mismanaged assets.
At Milestone we can fit and provide small and large businesses with a full RFID set-up as well as a variety of other shrink management solutions. Contact us to find out more about how we can help you manage and track your assets successfully.
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