Mobile asset management is managing availability and serviceability of assets used to move, store, secure, protect and control
inventory within the enterprise and along the
supply chain or in conjunction with service providing.
Mobile assets are e.g. of the classes of
* returnable, reusable containers used to transport raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods through the supply chain.
* precious tools and apparatuses used in technical services and required for proper performing such services with fully valid certification
* any other objects of a value that justifies additional tagging for the purpose of managing the object and its availability
* any other objects with a certification that terminates after certain time which justifies the controlled return for next inspection
* persons under special threat on site of operation.
* Rental companies are increasingly turning to
asset tracking
Asset tracking refers to the method of tracking physical assets, either by scanning barcode labels attached to the assets or by using tags using GPS, BLE, LoRa, or RFID which broadcast their location. These technologies can also be used for indo ...
for all larger pieces of equipment in order to manage theft, misuse of assets and to assist in the management of
Preventive maintenance
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...
Tracking mobile assets
The business justification to invest in asset tracking capability is usually the risk of loss. This can be loss of the asset directly, or loss of the ability to render service to customers that is enabled by the asset. For example, the business may have a few critical tools, and the loss of just one of these tools would significantly degrade the ability to perform necessary work.
Thus, the assets being tracked may a) have specific quantifiable capital value or b) general aggregate operational value.
Examples for such assets include
*
beer keg
A keg is a small barrel.
Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids.
A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on th ...
s,
*
intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) used in the food and chemical industries,
* racks for
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
and
automotive parts,
*
unit load devices (ULDs) used in the
airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...
industry.
*
Line-replaceable unit LRUs of in-field operational installations
* rolling cages,
* collapsible
aluminum containers for raw materials,
* portable
surgical instruments
* medical devices in
hospitals and subject of repetitive certification.
Non-Asset Mobile Tracking Applications
Persons may be tracked within a controlled geographical area; e.g. hospital patients, visitors in a secure facility, or workers in power plants, chemical plants, or tunnel construction sites. People can be actively tracked to locate them reliably and quickly in the unfortunate case of disaster.
[Making Business Sense of Real Time Location Systems (RTLS)](_blank)
RFID Radio Person-tracking is a highly specialized application that requires special-purpose technology, and is only workable within a specific, controlled environment. Tracking an individual person in an open, uncontrolled environment without special instrumentation is not realistically possible.
Concerns with usage of tracking mobile assets
These assets are often in the hands of third party entities (such as suppliers,
customers,
logistics providers and
carriers) and out of sight and control of the owning entity. They usually represent a significant
capital expenditure for companies and their management and maintenance is
resource-intensive.
On average, businesses spend 5% of annual
revenue on logistics assets, and almost one-fifth of respondents spend more than 10%. The annual costs include the replacement of lost or damaged special containers, where typically up to 30% of the containers are surplus in circulation just because nobody knows when and where.
Outsourcing mobile asset management
Mobile asset management providers manage asset operation within the supply chain, directing the activities of a client’s third party logistics company as needed and ensure proper services are performed on the asset (handling,
cleaning,
maintenance
Maintenance may refer to:
Biological science
* Maintenance of an organism
* Maintenance respiration
Non-technical maintenance
* Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English
* Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doct ...
,
repair
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...
). These providers also study business processes within the supply chain and help optimize each process.
Methods of tracking
Different methods exist to track and manage mobile assets. Today, companies use
labor-intensive
Labor intensity is the relative proportion of labor (compared to capital) used in any given process. Its inverse is capital intensity.
Labor intensity has been declining since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, while its inv ...
manual processes to track assets between
manufacturers and
distributor
A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plug ...
s, which can result in higher supply chain costs and processes that are less reliable due to natural
human error. Specific identification of the container’s origin and destination is virtually impossible under this method.
Components of mobile asset management
Mobile asset management solutions can include one or more of these parts:
* Server unit
* Database unit
* Wireless tags for the units
* Illumination bases for wireless communications (GSM)
* Locating receivers (GPS)
Asset tracking technology
More sophisticated mobile asset management companies use the most advanced means of tracking assets available today, such as
radio-frequency identification. RFID automatically captures data on each individual container and can indicate container contents without ever having to open the container. This technology is also combined with software applications that collect, maintain, track and analyze the data and provide customized reporting of the location, status, and audit and maintenance history of each asset. For example, Wayne Memorial hospital has saved $300,000 by tracking for infusion pumps with
RFID technology that can piggyback on the Wi-Fi system already in place.
That system is known as "Active" RFID because it uses tags that have batteries and constantly beacon. The most popular form of Asset Tracking using RFID is "passive" RFID using ISO Standard 18000-6c. The Financial Services Technology Consortium created a standard for tracking assets at bank locations see www.FSTC.org. The company that performed the work for FSTC and most of the member banks is
ODIN and they have a specialty RFID Asset Tracking Software.
Flexible pricing options
Management providers typically offer flexible
financing
Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...
options, including pay-per-use,
subscription or
leasing models. Each financing option provides a predictable monthly asset-related expense.
Benefits of mobile asset management
The major benefits of mobile asset management include:
* Improve visibility of assets in the supply chain
* Meet compliance mandates of customers
* Improve asset tracking and inventory control across multiple facilities
* Reduce loss or damage of goods while in transit
* Streamline business processes having to do with assets
* Reduced labor cost and
human error with automatic asset tracking technology
* Reductions in theft and improvements in rental utilization
[http://www.qualcomm.com/common/documents/white_papers/QUALCOMM-WP-EquipmentRental.pdf Using technology to improve profitability]
See also
*
Track and trace
In the distribution and logistics of many types of products, track and trace or tracking and tracing concerns a process of determining the current and past locations (and other information) of a unique item or property.
This concept can be s ...
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobile Asset Management
Supply chain management
Radio-frequency identification
Tracking