How Tagging Can Protect Your Assets

For a law enforcement agency, that is responsible for various crucial tasks within the nation, losing their own devices is tragic. The US Marshal Service had to face such a situation few years back, when they lost 2,200 encrypted two-way radios and communication devices valued at millions of dollars.

Instances like these attract world-wide attention, not just because of the money involved, but the threat it poses to security. In the present era, a situation like this could have been avoided with proper asset management. But, this was not the case few years back.

When expensive, important and potentially dangerous assets of a renowned company go missing, it grabs attention quick enough. But the assets of any company, whether big or small, expensive or cheap, are equally significant. Hence, tagging your assets, that helps in knowing the location and status of the same, is of pivotal importance.

Asset tagging enables effective tracking of devices, which is quite impossible to do manually in organizations that have thousands of devices. Labeling your equipment with unique tools helps in,

Enhancing the visibility & security of assets

Providing real-time information on who is using the asset

Accessing maintenance records

Saving time and resources

Meeting auditing requirements

Streamlining maintenance process

Easier and faster retrieval of data

Preventing theft and loss of assets

Meeting compliance requirements

Minimizing data security breaches

Avoiding misuse of assets by employees

Asset tags come in various shapes and sizes and can be made of diverse materials. An organization can select an appropriate tag based on their specific requirements, the one that best suits their business.

Commonly used Asset tags

Bar code

A bar code, used widely in inventory tracking, is helpful in storing brief details about products. Two versions of barcode are available- 2D and 3D.

QR codes

QR codes were initially used in automobile industry and gradually other industries started implementing it. QR codes ensures higher storage capacity and faster readability.

RFID Tags

Consisting of a chip and an antenna, RFID Tags doesn’t require the tag and the reader to be in line of sight. They are expensive when compared to barcodes.

Ensuring your tags are precise, tamper-resistant and not easily removable, are as consequential as implementing them. Inaccurate asset tags complicates the process and won’t serve the purpose of providing immediate, reliable and secure information about your assets.

According to various reports, the asset management system market that was valued at USD 9.43 Billion in 2015, is expected to reach USD 25.55 Billion by 2022.

Companies in UAE have stated realizing the importance of tagging their assets, which is evident from the rise in number of companies offering the service. Hopefully, asset loss and theft won’t be a problem in the future and even if it happens, there are ways to get it back.