Asset tagging is easy to overlook but is an essential best practice for warehouse management. It can help reduce the impact of inevitable human errors that hamper inventory and fulfilment processes. It’s also a great way to collect real-time data on your operations – data which can enable managers to structure the business in a way that sparks more efficient delivery, storage, manufacturing, personnel and marketing decisions.
Keeping tabs on all your company’s assets — with assistance from a leader in the printing and labelling space — can help your organisation more quickly get your products into the hands of consumers.
Asset tagging keeps you competitive in a changing marketplace
Many employees will be familiar with asset tagging as the work of labelling company laptops, printers, furniture and other high-dollar equipment with barcodes. It’s also a process to create easy automation of inventory control which prevents loss and ultimately upholds a better customer experience.
Many business owners are indeed working to meet the challenge of serving customers who are coming to prefer speedy order fulfillment and even the same-day service made famous by Amazon. The global marketplace began quickly delivering goods across Australia in late 2017.
Creating and implementing a system of asset tagging and tracking can make a big difference in a business’s ability to successfully respond to and meet these more evolved consumer demands. It’s an essential challenge to address, as businesses that don’t meet customer expectations always risk becoming obsolete.
According to a 2021 eCommerce Report compiled by Australia Post, online shopping continues to be motivated by speed of delivery and personal convenience. In a May 2021 survey, 49% of survey respondents cited speed and convenience as their primary motivation for online shopping. In May 2020, 45% of respondents said speed and convenience were motivating factors with 34% disclosing that shuttered shops and pandemic-related closures drove them to shop online. By May 2021, only 11% of survey respondents said shop closures and pandemic restrictions drove them to shop online.
This may explain why online shopping in Australia is up 47.5% in May 2021 compared to May 2019. The switch to online shopping was certainly sparked by the pandemic. Australia Post reported that consumer spending online increased 40% year-over-year between April 2019-20. But 2021 data suggests this shift is likely to be a permanent preference for many.
And it isn’t only clothing or home goods filling our online shopping carts. The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reports significant increases in online purchasing for food businesses.
Gain valuable data-driven insight essential for warehouse management
One of the most obvious benefits of asset tagging is to know where the business’s assets and goods are at any given moment. Knowing the location and condition of your equipment and products will save time and money. But there’s more knowledge to be gained by asset tagging in your warehouse. Among them:
- Know what is currently in stock, how much to order for the future and how frequently workers are moving units of
an item
- When inventory is moving fast or multiple shifts of workers are involved, asset tagging and real-time stock-taking can help managers realise if pricing needs to change. This may happen around holidays in particular
- Asset tagging enables better scheduling for your delivery operations team. The sooner it’s clear that more or fewer orders than anticipated have rolled in, the quicker managers can retool the schedules of drivers and delivery vehicles
- Real-time data allows managers to more quickly understand if a backlog is accumulating and consider how to pivot so as to keep storage space to a minimum
- The accurate information from asset tags allows the business to demonstrate regulatory compliance
- Asset tagging also minimises unnecessary losses including waste due to expiry dates, loss or theft
In summary, asset management generates data that business leaders can use to make smart choices. It’s about being proactive, not reactive.
Integrating data into all departments
It isn’t only the operations or management staff who will benefit from the knowledge your enterprise will collect with a modernised asset tagging system.
Marketing teams can also gain useful insights for present or future campaigns. Maintenance staff can craft more accurate plans and budgets by knowing the rates at which various tools and facilities are being used. Accounting teams can properly depreciate items for tax purposes. Finally, manufacturing timelines can be adjusted to better fit with delivery timelines.
How Brother can help
Our asset tagging solutions can stitch your entire asset tagging system together. We make a wide variety of compact label printers, each with their own standout benefits. Price points vary; we believe businesses of any size can benefit from labelling tools. Many of our label printers are easy to hold in your palm and carry around the warehouse or stockrooms. They connect wirelessly to essential platforms like warehouse management systems or label design apps.
Some, like the TD-4550DNWB, are able to print both barcodes and alphanumeric characters. This can be a major asset in high-volume spaces like supermarkets. Or, like our temperature-tested labels with label printers such as the PT-P950NW, will work both in cold sections of your store or server room and in warm environments. They don’t smudge even after a chemical spill and are resistant to tearing or scraping.
Importantly, Brother label printers can be integrated with existing software solutions. We want businesses to be able to integrate our solutions quickly and easily into their workflows — today and in the future.
Contact us today and let us know about your asset tagging challenges. We’re here to find a way to help.
