Asset tracking & how it helps you to run smarter & more sustainably

With sustainability becoming a key measure for the majority of businesses in this day and age, it is important to consider how your business can become more sustainable, not just environmentally, but also through longevity of investments and cost efficiency. Customers are becoming much more aware of how a business operates within the realms of sustainability, and they are increasingly likely to have it on their checklist when choosing who to do business with.

Many businesses may be shocked to find how much they lose on unforeseen operational costs due to ineffective inventory management. Often, unused assets remain undetected, which not only impacts your asset cost base, but will inadvertently mean you perform and pay for increased maintenance schedules on your asset inventory.

Issues like these can be quickly and efficiently detected with an asset tracking solution, which not only helps to extend the lifetime of some of your most valuable assets, but also helps to identify how your employees may be using them.

Asset tracking solutions are designed to collect data and present it in a meaningful way so that operations professionals can improve business performance, save valuable time and cut their costs whilst increasing sustainability and longevity of a company’s assets.

What is Asset Tracking?

Asset tracking in the sense we are talking refers to the method of tracking physical assets by using tags that broadcast location by using GPS, WiFi, BLE, LoRa, etc . This method can be utilised in a range of different ways, absolutely tailored to suit individual business needs, objectives and budgets. With so many different hardware tracker options available today, it is becoming more viable and cost effective than ever to track lower value items such as tools and smaller machinery, even keys! Imagine how much it may cost you to call out a locksmith or re-route an engineer back to head office because the key to your site or property requiring access is misplaced?

Here are some of the main uses of Asset Tracking for sustaining your business:

 

Vehicle Tracking - Perhaps the first type of Asset Tracking that comes to mind, is the GPS tracking of company vehicles for loss prevention and route management. However, vehicle tracking can also be used to limit emissions and reduce costs, by providing insight into the day to day usage and making it easy to identify where changes can be made, to make them more business efficient. 

Cold Chain Management - As well as tracking where your vehicle is, you can also track refrigeration temperatures, when doors are opened or left open and also the route they have taken on any given day. All of this information is reported in real time, meaning that your managers can make instant decisions, change vehicle routes and monitor performance, ensuring that no vehicle is running damaged, at a reduced capacity or at a risk of spoiling cargo.

Fleet Management - Monitor driver behaviour in real time, including speeding, safety and efficiency, alongside tracking fuel consumption and spend on fuel cards, will minimise costs and avoid unnecessary fuel wastage. Crucially, the age, type and performance of your business vehicles have a huge impact on the way it affects the environment. Using an asset tracking solution will help you to keep a close eye on the investment cycle, identify any running issues early, prevent ongoing damages and unnecessary fleet expansion costs through replacements. Scheduling regular maintenance and repairs will also increase the sustainability of your vehicles.

Lone worker tracking  - The sustainability of your business not only relies on tangible assets, but also on the efficiency and safety of your employees at work. If you have workers in high risk, or isolated areas, you have a duty of care to keep them safe and secure. Businesses can implement tracking tools for their employees too, by adding a tracker to their lanyards or in their pockets, these trackers will not only be able to monitor their movements, but also alert you if a problem occurs or even act as a panic button for them if they are in danger.

Asset Tracking in the Construction sector - an example of sustainability on site

The construction industry is a prime example of where asset tracking has multiple use cases. With a wealth of equipment including both motorised and non motorised assets, a construction site and its busy teams of workers need to have timely access to reliable equipment to get on with the job. The site manager can use asset tracking to monitor levels of usage, identify potential availability access across multiple sites and minimise the risk of failure or missing assets.

Foretrack Connect is our very own custom built tracking platform, designed as an easy to implement and straight forward portal that reports in real time across all assigned assets. It is device agnostic, so we can connect a variety of different trackers onto the platform.

Foretrack Connect enables construction companies to implement the following:

  • Trailer tracking
  • Tool sign out
  • Tool location tracking
  • Asset utilisation - check when your asset is on a job
  • Asset service lifecycle - minimise downtime with timely checks
  • Plant machinery tracking
  • General asset tracking

Each tracking type is selected based on asset value and the tracking connection is also chosen based on location and use cases. With tracking personalisation to suit exact business requirements, the sustainability of the solution is already maximising the sustainability of business asset life cycles, with no unnecessary costs or implementation of tracking methods that will not perform correctly.

Implementing a robust asset tracking system into your businesses ecosystem will not only help with time management, reporting efficiency and cost saving, but it will also help you to anticipate any issues before they happen, therefore reducing reactive maintenance and repairs and instead, prolonging the efficient lifecycle of your vehicles, tools and employees. Many customers in the construction sector we have worked with have enjoyed considerable savings (and won more contracts) through better knowledge of where their plant machinery is at any given time, along with the reduction in unplanned hire costs required when assets are not located in time or break down through missed maintenance checks.

Of course, this is just one sector and example of a suite of use cases where asset tracking can help you run a much more sustainable and efficient operation. Here are other sectors who could benefit:

  • Equipment hire companies for events and temporary sites that provide welfare units, portable toilets and other industrial or technical equipment
  • Cycle or e-scooter hire companies
  • Logistics centres with forklift trucks, carts, pallets etc


Foretrack Connect can be tailored to suit different business requirements, with tracking tools, connections and use cases to suit any sector or budget. Contact us for a no obligation consultation.