Monday, July 11, 2011

Asset Tracking

Assets come in all sizes and shapes, from a single part to an 800-passenger business aircraft. Property Tracking programs are just as varied, starting with tool monitoring, equipment tracking, work-in-process tracking, sequence of custody tracking, and also industry specific use instances such as container pedigree monitoring and ATA Two thousand part tracking. When planning a good RFID Asset Monitoring project, several Manufacturers, Strategies and Aftermarket Service Providers start by researching RFID tags, wading through a huge selection of options together with variations.
But selecting RFID tags for an Asset Tracking undertaking doesn't have to be hard. The selection standards below can help narrow their email list of label choices from a few hundred to a small number which fulfill your specific requirements.

RFID Tag Requirements for Asset Tracking: Form Factor: How large is the property? Is there space to attach a label, or does it need to hang from the separate tag? If the resource is small, and handled in batches, does the carrier need to be marked? In tool monitoring applications, tags need to be attached to not hinder the purpose of the tool. In retail apps, an RFID draw may need to be integrated with a garment hold tag or even co-exist with an EAS tag or perhaps theft discouraging factor device.

Property Material:
What is the asset manufactured from? Hard Tags are designed for tracking steel tools and also containers along with liquid material, and may end up being riveted or screwed onto the device or carrier. Flexible materials may need similarly adaptable tags which is often bonded for the asset within the manufacturing procedure.

Asset Life:
Is the property an aircraft part that may be operating for decades or even fashion apparel with a shelf-life of a few weeks? Aircraft components are frequently tracked using ruggedized high-memory tagsjust for digitally keeping part manufacturing and upkeep history, and may vary depending on component components (where a label may be bolted, sewn, attached with adhesive), pressurized/non-pressurized environments (which may need ruggedized tags/secure chips) and also component existence (which can range between 5 to 40 years). High Memory tags are usually compatible with the Air Transport Associationspec 2000, which enables information sharing in between multiple partners in the Aerospace value chain.

Environment: Is the property used in an industrial environment as well as potentially exposed to hazardous chemical substances, radiation or even autoclaves? Is the asset a transportation vehicle or container which will be used outdoors or subjected to extreme temps? Ruggedized tags and high-memory tags are designed for outdoor applications and come within multiple options for installation on a variety of material and on flat or perhaps curved areas.

Performance: How far away do the tags need to be examined? Shelved inventory inside a warehouse or retail store counted frequently having a handheldreader can have lower performance tags. Assets that should be scanned across a sizable facility, or perhaps require GPS navigation tracking, call for higher overall performance. Performance depends primarily on the RFID computer chip within the label.

Cost: Just how valuable is the individual asset to be tagged? High volume/low unit expense applications within apparel, customer goods, foods and beverage, require low-cost tags that don't negatively influence the product price.
Business Procedure: How many different types of property comprise the business process? In a normal Work-in-Process application, raw supplies may be tracked by inserting tags on reusable storage containers, while main components, subassemblies, completed goods and manufacturing products may be labeled individually.

Asset Tracking from Oat Systems is RFID and RTLS-enabled and provides manufacturing industries with real-time status updates of critical assets. Their RFID asset tracking is also used in distribution centers, trailer yards and maintenance depots.