Multi-Site Guide: How to Track and Locate Assets Anywhere

Effective business operations begin with asset tracking: monitoring and controlling the location of an organization’s internal resources. From computers to machinery to vehicles, companies rely on physical equipment to meet the bottom line—and in order to operate, this equipment may change hands or locations multiple times in a single day. It’s critical to track and locate assets in order to minimize loss, save money, and avoid lost time trying to find them. 

Modern businesses have multiple options when it comes to choosing how to track their assets. Gone are the days that companies would track their assets’ locations with a physical ledger or a static spreadsheet; today’s high-tech solutions are as mobile as the assets they track. Read on to take a look at the most dynamic ways you can track and locate assets in the field and beyond using mobile apps, barcodes, and real-time updates to boost productivity and reduce asset loss.

How to Track Assets Across Multiple Locations

In today’s digital age, many businesses use both hardware and software in order to monitor the location of assets. Certain items move around more than others; an organization’s buildings and furniture are stationary, while assets like vehicles and equipment may travel long distances or change hands frequently over their useful lives. 

Leveraging a mobile asset tracking solution is especially helpful for items in the latter category–some additional mobile asset tracking examples might include:

• A K-12 school district or higher education system with a 1:1 technology program. The district will need to track laptops and tablets even as they change hands each semester or year, and as students bring laptops between school and home.
• A trucking company that deploys 18-wheelers across the country to deliver everything from heavy equipment to building materials. This organization will need to track the location of its vehicle fleet and gain insight about when each asset is due for repairs.
• A hospital or healthcare organization that relies on medical equipment which can be easily moved between patient rooms—like wheelchairs, patient monitors, and hospital beds—will need to track equipment in order to maximize effective utilization of the assets it has. 

When it comes to assets on the move, the most versatile tagging solution is barcode tracking. With a barcode system, you first choose what type of tag you will use: popular options include QR codes, UPC, EAN, and Data Matrix. Next, generate unique barcodes for each asset you’re tracking, then print them onto a label sheet. Finally, affix those barcodes to your assets and you’re set: you can access everything there is to know about the asset with a single scan of the code.

Advantages of Barcode Tracking 

Here are some of the advantages of using barcodes for tracking and locating assets:

1. Can withstand wear and tear

Unlike more delicate asset tags like Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which are best for indoor use only, barcodes are as tough and long-lasting as the labels they are printed on. Even if you have an asset that travels the globe or changes hands frequently, daily wear and tear is no match for a laminated label. 

2. They can be batch-generated

Got a lot of similar assets to tag all at once? Barcodes can be generated in bulk. Use an asset management software to select your preferred barcode type and the number of assets you need to tag, and watch as it generates as many consecutive codes as you require. 

3. No expensive hardware required

You don’t need a specialized scanner in order to read barcodes. All you need is the smart phone you already have. Install your asset tracking software’s mobile app on your phone, then allow access to your phone’s camera to scan a barcode and pull up an asset record instantly. 

4. Get insights in a single scan

Once you have a barcode assigned to an asset, you can do any number of things with it. You can easily assign assets to locations or groups, create repair tickets, and audit inventory items. Essentially, a barcode system cuts down your asset tracking workflow to a single scan. 

Strategies to Track and Locate Assets

Once you’ve chosen a system like barcoding for tagging your mobile assets, it’s time to address the second half of the equation: tracking those tags with a software solution. For an organization that deals with assets that move around a lot, you’ll want to look for asset management software with some specific functions especially tailored to tracking and locating mobile assets. Here are some examples of the software features that are most useful when it comes to assets on the go. 

1. Real-time data

A software solution designed to work with highly mobile assets ought to let you access the real-time status of any asset with a click. You should be able to immediately view an asset’s most recent location, current assignment, real-time status and more with a single click. 

2. Full lifecycle history

Software that tracks each of your assets from purchase to disposal can lengthen their useful lives. When you have important receipts and records easily at hand, you can easily assess each asset’s current condition and value. 

3. Monitor maintenance

You’ll want to find a solution that lets you proactively manage upcoming maintenance dates, better forecast future purchasing needs, and optimize asset utilization by analyzing its use frequency. Allocating assets effectively will help you ultimately reduce any potential downtime.

4. Mobile asset management

It’s not only the assets that move around a lot. You and your team do, too. That’s why it’s important the software solution you choose has a mobile app, allowing you to scan barcodes and manage assets from wherever you are. 

How To Track Assets With Asset Panda

Looking for a cutting-edge solution that not only offers all the features you need to track assets on the move, but which can be customized to your company’s specific requirements? Thousands of organizations rely on Asset Panda to track and locate assets. Companies in fields ranging from education to construction, with headquarters in locations spanning from the United States to China, have adjusted Asset Panda’s modular asset tracking software into a bespoke solution just for them. 

Asset Panda is the most flexible and customizable system in the industry for tracking and managing assets. It matches the workflow you use, on devices you’re already using, making it easy for all your users to access the information they need from wherever they happen to be working. On average, users can save two to five percent on their cost of total assets with Asset Panda.

See why people all over the world are using Asset Panda when you request your unique demo today.