There’s an industrial urban legend which perfectly captures the importance of inventory management and companies accurately tracking their assets. It goes something like this. 

Every evening an employee pushing a wheelbarrow full of sand is stopped by security at the front gate of their factory. Every night the wheelbarrow is searched and, since it contains nothing but sand, the employee is allowed to go on their way.

After two years, the employee retires and sets up a store selling wheelbarrows.

If his company had instituted an effective tracking system – for example, using barcodes to monitor assets like those wheelbarrows – this problem could have been stopped very quickly.

There are many different asset tracking solutions available, but barcodes are seen as a highly effective, low-cost solution that can be used to track almost anything – from beer barrels and pressurized gas tanks to medical equipment or even wheelbarrows. 

Highlights

• Real-Time Tracking

• Capturing Key Information

• A Simple But Effective Solution 

• Barcodes Pros & Cons 

Real-Time Tracking

Barcode asset tracking can help companies find assets that have been lost – or that they didn’t even realize were still in their possession, says Doug O’Dell, TrackAbout’s Vice President of Sales.

He recalls one TrackAbout customer that discovered it owned an additional 300,000 units within just 18 months of implementing barcode asset tracking. The business had inadvertently left these behind at customers’ premises over several years, and the units had disappeared from its system because of the difficulty in maintaining accurate paper records. Each container was worth several hundred dollars, so the discovery was significant.

O’Dell estimates up to 20 percent of the total portable assets owned by companies that use paper tracking systems are genuinely lost or unaccounted for.

Using proven software solutions such as TrackAbout, barcode tracking not only helps companies find their missing inventory, but it ensures they can manage these assets far more effectively to get the most out of them.

Even better? The cost of setting up a barcode-based system is modest, adds O’Dell. A base barcode only costs around $0.15 in the U.S., with fancier ones – incorporating logos or web addresses – priced only a little higher. “Our largest clients rarely pay more than $4,000-$5,000 on barcodes at any one time,” he notes.

Capturing Key Information

So, what is a barcode? Put simply, it’s an easy-to-read key comprising a series of vertical lines of varying thicknesses. When scanned, the barcode links a specific asset – like a pressurized gas tank – to a location and a client. When delivered to a customer, the barcode can be read by a smart phone app or dedicated handheld device, and key information – for example, the date, time, location, and who signed for the asset – can be accessed by the asset’s owner.

The owner knows where the tank is and how long it has been there – and because the barcode ties back to that asset, the owner can see how many trips it has made, what its state of repair is likely to be, and whether it needs to be reconditioned, maintained, or replaced. Users can also see how long an asset has been at the client’s facility and when it should be returned.

Having all this important information at their fingertips helps companies manage their fleet of returnable cylinders and containers in a more cost-effective and timely way.

An effective asset management system and software solution such as TrackAbout also minimizes risk of human error – eliminating the likelihood of serial numbers being transposed when being entered into the system manually.

A Simple But Effective Solution

Barcodes are not the most resilient tracking system on the market, but adhesive barcodes can last up to 10 years if they are not defaced, scratched, or damaged by the environment.

With TrackAbout, when a barcode reaches the end of its useable life, it can easily be scanned and replaced with a new version that seamlessly links to the history of the asset, says O’Dell. If the old barcode is too damaged to read, the item’s serial number – to which the barcode links – can be used to program a new number.

Another major advantage of barcodes is that they are context specific. Occasionally, duplicate barcode numbers may enter the system during generation, but this has no impact on functionality. For example, an asset delivered to a foundry, filled with nitrogen from Company A, could have the same barcode number as an asset delivered to an ice-cream parlor from Company B. Different companies can use the same barcode numbers for their assets because they are separate entities.

Barcodes are not the only game in town either. Other tracking solutions are available, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, Quick Response – or QR – codes, and Near Field Communications (NFC)-based systems. But these also have pros and cons.

RFID tags

RFID tags contain silicon chips and are more expensive than barcodes. Although they can potentially hold much more data than a barcode, users will need specific devices and software to read them. RFIDs are robust and several can be scanned at once, although they do need to be close to the reader – and they may be affected if there are only limited radio frequencies available in the different locations. This could, for example, be an issue if containers are being shipped internationally, notes O’Dell.

QR codes

QR codes, meanwhile, are two-dimensional barcodes and can contain much more information; typically, up to 2,500 characters compared to the modest 25 of a typical barcode. This may be a little excessive when the job is to simply track the location of an asset.

QR codes are also more expensive than barcode labels, but they are more resilient. It’s even possible for them to be scanned and read if half or more of the code is missing, notes O’Dell. Just like barcodes, they can be read using an app on modern cell phones.

NFC chips

NFC chips use similar technology to the Apple and Google pay-type systems and can also be used to track assets. While the information transferred between reader and tracking chip is very secure, these systems tend to be expensive to install and use.

Another downside is that the reader needs to be very close to the asset to capture information, which makes it harder to scan of a large number of assets in a short period of time.

Around 95 percent of the 20 million units monitored by TrackAbout use barcodes because of their accuracy, robustness, and the speed at which they can be read, says O’Dell.

“Many of our customers in the industrial gases space process hundreds of thousands of containers worldwide,” he says. “Every day, TrackAbout helps them to keep on top of this tide of containers.”

With the right software, barcodes tend to offer the simplest and most effective solution for companies. TrackAbout makes the process simple; it’s so intuitive to use and doesn’t require extensive user training, adds O’Dell.

Using barcodes to track pieces of inventory – whether they’re expensive cylinders or wheelbarrows – is a cost-effective way of increasing productivity, improving workflows, and providing immediate access to essential information. With barcode asset tracking, it’s easier to make important business decisions and run your business more effectively.

Barcode Pros & Cons

• Most cost-effective option. Barcodes are a low-cost solution when compared with alternative technologies – particularly if many assets need to be tracked.

• Printing costs are minimal, and barcodes can quickly be applied to assets with adhesive labels.

• Durable but damaged barcode labels need to be replaced – although this is quick, cheap, and easy to do.

• No additional training necessary for set up or scanning.

• Easy to read with a handheld scanner or with any Android/iOS phone or tablet.

• Barcodes require line of sight to be scanned and are read one at a time. Scanners also need to be held within a few inches of the barcode.

If you'd like to learn more about how effectively managing returnable assets can help improve business efficiency, boost productivity, and increase profitability, reach out to our sales team today at sales@trackabout.com.