Barcodes Vs. GPS Asset Tracking

Barcode asset management and GPS asset tracking provide you with different functionality when it comes to monitoring your assets. Both have some very effective ways to manage your tools and equipment.

Which is better? Find out how to use GPS asset tracking and general asset tagging and see where the similarities and differences are.

Barcode Asset Management

Barcode asset management is the process of tagging your assets with physical asset tags to link them to digital asset profiles. In other words, you’ll log a laptop on your asset register and then link this laptop with a physical barcode.

This way, every time you scan the asset’s barcode with your asset tracking app, a few things will happen.

• The asset’s digital profile will open, ready for edits
• The asset’s last seen location will update
• The user who scanned the asset will update

Overall, this gives you a full audit trail of where your assets have been and who has been interacting with them. The ability to open an asset’s profile to report issues and changes also streamlines your operations, meaning you’ll be able to mark any changes at speed, accurately, and with ease.

GPS Asset Tracking

GPS asset tracking works a bit differently. Barcode asset management uses close interaction with assets to log asset changes and updates. In other words, there will be a manual process where you handle the asset and scan the asset’s tag to log or update a change.

GPS asset tracking, however, doesn’t require any manual or physical interaction. Instead, your GPS trackers will automatically update asset movements.

GPS trackers will be set to ping your asset management software at certain intervals, automatically updating the location. This is incredibly helpful for high-value assets or assets that frequently move.

You can also set up geofencing and tamper alerts with GPS tracking, meaning you have a strong theft deterrent and the ability to retrieve an asset should theft occur.

Which is better?

As the functionality differs, it’s difficult to have a clear-cut winner when it comes to asset management. Overall, it will depend on your business’ needs.

If your business has high-value assets, frequently moving around and you want to reduce theft or asset loss, GPS asset tracking will give you a much easier way to do this.

On the other hand, barcode asset management is simple, effective, and powerful. This is as it allows you to speed up your operations with ease. You can implement helpful systems with barcode asset management, too, such as effective and speedy asset auditing operations.

The best option, therefore, is to go for a mixture of both. With itemit, there’s no limit to which technologies you can mix and match. You can use GPS asset tracking, fixed RFID asset tracking, and barcode asset management simultaneously.

With these operations in place, it’s entirely possible to create a fully accountable, fully transparent, fully effective view of how your assets move on a daily basis.

To find out more about how itemit’s asset tracking system can help you, you’ll be able to book a demo using the button below.

You can also contact the team at team@itemit.com or start your 14-day free trial of itemit (with your own barcodes!) by filling in the form below.

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