Real-Time Asset Tracking Overview

Traditionally to determine the locations of assets across facility(s), manual inventories or one-at-a-time, close-proximity scanning of asset bar codes was required. Due to the time required to perform an inventory, inventories were typically infrequent, meaning that most of the time inventory data is out-of-date and inaccurate.

Because inventory data is not current and accurate, many organizations procure more assets than necessary and/or rent assets. Excessive procurement and rentals of assets, and the inability to rapidly access needed assets, erodes operational efficiency and erodes organizational profitability.

RFID and Bluetooth technologies have transformed object and people accountability, by enabling the tracking and location identification of assets and people real-time across an enterprise, including both indoors and outdoors. Bluetooth has a detection range of approximately 600’ and Active RFID has a detection range of 1,000+’. Bluetooth ‘readers’ start at around $100.00 and Active RFID readers start at around $500.00, meaning that for a reasonable investment, facilities can be saturated with detection technology so that the asset management system software maintains the most current, and accurate, of all assets at all times.

UHF RFID is more expensive from a hardware perspective, and has an approximate 20’ detection range, meaning that to saturate facilities with UHF RFID can be exceedingly expensive. Whereas with Active RFID and BLE, facilities can be fully blanketed with detection technology, with UHF RFID it is more common to have strategically deployed detection zones for ‘last place detected’ whereas BLE and Active RFID provide ‘where is it now’.