What are the Latest Trends for Asset Tracking?

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Being a technologically advanced society, asset tracking is continually evolving. The goal is to improve what used to be a tedious, time-consuming and error-prone process considerably easier and more reliable. Here are some of the current and developing trends to keep an eye on for asset tracking:

Artificial Intelligence

Moving from manual processes to a platform for asset tracking delivers significant benefits to any organization. One major benefit is the ability to stay on top of the routine maintenance for your fixed assets and equipment. Artificial intelligence, or AI, takes convenience to the next level by determining  when your equipment needs servicing and catching potential problems on its own.

Blockchain

According to a NetworkWorld article written by digital strategist Bob O'Brien, blockchain is defined as "a way of recording information such as contracts, stock trades, health information, and asset provenance on a time-stamped distributed ledger that cannot be modified after it has been written.”

Your data is centralized and shared with everyone in a fixed format. The blockchain attaches records to each asset, going back years in time. Because a blockchain has no centralized authority, it’s accessible to everyone which increases accountability throughout the organization.

Advantages of Blockchain

Advantages of this format include the ability to transfer an asset to anyone and easily keep track of it. Whenever an asset moves from Point A to Point B, the blockchain records that transition to indicate a change of hands. In fact, the entire lifecycle of that fixed asset, including its previous and current location, is written and stored there. That recorded history, as noted above, cannot be modified in any way, which makes it a very secure means of data tracking and management.

While blockchain has been used primarily for digital assets in the past, companies are increasingly considering its use for physical assets like equipment, vehicles and other company-owned items. Because the technology is so up to date, it has the ability to determine, without question, who is holding an asset at any given time. In the article “5 Latest Trends in the Asset Tracking Landscape: What’s New?” it states, “The main advantage of blockchain is that it preserves previous records. Having knowledge of past utilization patterns is key to improved fixed asset management.”

Indoor Positioning

Advancements in location-sensing technologies enable businesses to track their assets with spatial context reliably and accurately. This means that not only do you know where your asset is located, you have a visual representation of its location through an indoor map.

Indoor Map Layers and Objects

Imagine a map that isn’t flat, but rather multi-dimensional and layered, encouraging the users to address individual elements. According to IBM, “the benefits of such granular asset tracking, for both fixed and moving assets, bestow enterprises with unprecedented control and visibility. Entire networks can be monitored through a centralized hub offering 360-degree tracking of assets.”

Asset Panda’s platform for asset tracking incorporates the most advanced technologies available today. It’s scalable and flexible enough to incorporate new technologies as they become available and empowers you to track your assets any way you want.

By:

Courtney Roush

Courtney Roush is a freelance writer, editor, and communications strategist with 25 years of experience. Her favorite discipline is crisis communications – and it’s a highly relevant one in our present times.

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