Handheld RFID Asset Tracking -- a How-To Guide

For the longest time, I truly despised handheld RFID readers. They were expensive ($5,000), they had terrible read range (about 5 feet, average), and well, what exactly were you going to do with the data?

The problem was -- customers would call and say,

"I'd like to track my assets. Can I just point it in a room to take inventory?"

We'd tell them... not really. They weren't convinced. So, we'd loan them a handheld RFID Reader and they'd play with it and send it back and say, "Yeah... You're right -- not so good." We could have just 'sold' them but we didn't want people to hate us for being evil prospectors selling them a broken solution. 

In November 2008, something changed. We developed the first handheld RFID reader with a range of 20 feet for RFID tags that integrates with Microsoft Excel. And, the base price for this reader is only $3,000. Suddenly, a handheld asset tracking solution is viable.

Asset Tracking Must Be Simple

Our policy is -- one page and no more than seven steps on that page. If the process can't occur in one page, it can't occur by anyone other than an 'expert'. The real expertise in Asset Tracking is in the sneaky things you can do to keep track of them. For instance, 'Asset Tracking' is really just simple math: Count the number of assets here. Report findings. But, there is an art to preventing asset theft.

This guide covers the first part of asset tracking -- counting them. For the 'art' -- you'll want to look at Nox Core which is a full asset surveillance system so you can be sneaky and catch crooks.

Making an Asset Management / Tracking System

A modern Asset Tracking system consists of an RFID tag, asset tracking software, an RFID reader, and an asset. Until all of these items can work simply and efficiently, an RFID asset tracking system will be ornery and not worth your time. Most of the time, a pen-and-paper is the best asset tracking solution. But, if you have over 500 assets, RFID may be worth your effort. 

1. The RFID Tag

RFID tags have transformed from interesting to incredible over the last two years. RFID tags are now consistently in the 20' read range and we can make 40' effective working ranges fairly easily.

On-Metal or metal-mount RFID prices are becoming easier to stomach and some of the most durable RFID tags are nearing commodity prices.

We sell a high-performance Nox-1 RFID asset tracking tag for about 35 cents each. They are great for most applications and economical for quickly counting inventory. The durable Nox-TM series RFID tags are used on metal or outdoors where they need to withstand being run over by a truck and cost anywhere from $1 to $5 each. 

2. The Asset Tracking Software

This is the most difficult aspect. How far do you go? What do you track/manage? And, what's the difference between asset tracking and asset management? (Hint: Asset Management is just an expensive verb for Asset Tracking)

The key feature we focused on is simplicity. We worked very hard to remove excess clutter and our entire workflow for NoxVault is summarized here:

How it works

1. Create an Excel spreadsheet with your inventory items.


2. Download your spreadsheet to the NoxVault RFID Handheld


3. Tag PC's with RFID Tags.


4. Inventory 100 items per minute with your NoxVault RFID Asset Tracking System.


5. Automatically sync your Excel Spreadsheet with the latest RFID inventory.

If you can edit an Excel spreadsheet, you can take fast inventories with NoxVault.

That's it. Once the data is in Excel, you may want to sort by last-seen date and this tells you if your asset is missing. Maybe you'd like to know who-owns what -- that's great -- just add an 'owner' field in Excel. 

Asset Tracking, from an accounting and accountability standpoint, requires:

1. Who is responsible for It?


2. When did we buy it?


3. What did it cost?


4. Does it have a depreciation classification? If so, let some poor accountant figure out what to depreciate it for.


5. Is it still here?

Don't get too excited about excessive features in an asset management software program. In the end, those are the only five answers you'll actually care about.

3. The RFID Reader

Stationary RFID Readers have been great for about three years. It wasn't until October of 2008 that we were able to make a Handheld RFID reader perform at an acceptable level.

4. The Asset

Today, we can reliably track most any asset. We developed a guide to what assets can be tracked easily with RFID.

In this guide we are talking about accountability asset tracking. Some people may be looking for vehicle tracking and real-time location. This isn't about that. While those are nice -- they really require a GPS receiver and a cellular network. Great solutions for this are available, also -- but, not covered here.

How to get started tracking your assets with RFID

We put together a starter kit for tracking assets with RFID. It's currently in beta and we're looking for customers that are looking to make tracking their assets easier.

We look forward to the feedback. Please tweet me @CarlBrown or, our support staff @SimplyRFID

Comments

[Susan Blakney]

I have been dreaming of a system like yours for years and waiting to see it affordable as well. As a Heritage Preservation Firm with hundreds of art, artifacts with their accessories to track through phases of treatment and storage a lost or forgotten tracking number can mean a lot of lost time searching. Bar codes require handling which is undesired.

[Carl Brown]

Hi Susan -

That is a great point about barcodes! Thanks for the feedback!

Let us know what we need to do to help you get started and we'll do our best.

Thanks again,

-cCarl Brown