The management and control of the location of assets like Roll Cages, Pallets and Tote Bins has long been a thorn in the side of retailers, manufacturers and supply chain execution specialists alike. The potential annual losses and claims for assets is enormous.
Let’s face it, equipping the supply chain with pallets and containers is big business. Not surprisingly, it’s the physical asset that has attracted most of the attention for grabbing any Return On Investment in asset management. Keeping track of where an asset is in the supply chain has definite ROI potential.
What you need is the ability to monitor and quote specific assets that are in customers systems and to be able to legitimately charge for assets that can be proven as lost or damaged.
Now, with AquiTec’s SCM system, the days of lockable totes being adapted for fishing tackle boxes or bread trays being used as storage devices in garden sheds are numbered.
Closed loop tracking – or, how it works
The asset needs an identification device or tag. The ID label or tag should enable quick and easy recording of an asset number. Typical devices or tags would be either barcodes (1D or 2D) or RFID (either passive or active).
Note: ID labels or tags should be permanent or semi-permanent, or the tracking system is likely to breakdown.
Once an ID has been fitted to the asset, the asset identification (normally a unique number) is registered with all systems that are to be used for the tracking activity. Once the asset ID is recorded, it’s a simply a matter of tracking the asset throughout each lifecycle, until destruction.
How we do it
SCM has the same approach to asset tracking. Both systems allow the asset to be tracked in 2 ways -
- By type:
The system tracks the assets, by type, going to a customer. Each customer has an “account” automatically created at point of despatch that assets are “checked in” and “checked out” of. At the point of reverse delivery, the number of assets returned are deleted off the customers account.
- By individual asset:
The system tracks each asset for each customer. The process can begin at either the picking process or the despatch process. Either way, each asset has its individual ID recorded. On return, each asset is recorded and the exact asset is discounted against the customers account.
Hard currency return
What is the cost when an asset is lost?
What are the annual replacement costs for assets?
What is it worth to significantly reduce those one time and annual costs?
These, and other, hard currency questions can only be answered within each individual business. However, the fact remains that:
- There are costs to replacement, either purchase, hire or refurbishment
- There is a way of significantly reducing those costs with AquiTec’s SCM Warehouse Management Systems
Extending the loop
In today’s world of distributed logistics security of product and knowledge of the product is paramount. Link our Asset Management capability with security tags on containers and/or delivery vehicles and the loop is complete.
- Track assets whilst on the road
- Ensure that the container dropped off at the last delivery was the right one (remote monitoring of course)
- Monitor the position of an asset in the back of a vehicle – ensure that the weight distribution is legal
- Cut ‘on the road’ pilferage
- Link warranty and repair tracking systems into the loop
Possibilities become realities. |
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