IoT Smart Geolocation Enables Asset Tracking for Logistics

Internet of Things technologies can provide an added advantage for businesses.
Published: August 4, 2021

Almost every business in the transportation industry now involves Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. With an uprising CAGR of almost 12.4 percent, the IoT in logistics is expanding its market segment, according to Transparency Market Research. This reflects the importance of choosing a smart technology to manage the various operations and functioning of the transportation industry. As a result, the IoT is thought to be a game-changer, especially for the transportation industry, due to its widescale acceptance and applicability in the domain.

For instance, location tracking of differently sized cargoes, vehicles and fleets has become a necessary part of the logistics industry, especially for timely product deliveries. Comparing it with conventional technologies or existing systems, it becomes quite expensive to manage everything at once, but the involvement of the IoT keeps the costs significantly low.

The IoT renders quality services and reduces the load of managers by keeping a real-time check on drivers’ routes and driving habits. Therefore, it is not a surprise that geolocation services have been around for a long time, as they provide real-time locations of objects like mobile phones, speed, radar units and smart devices. Also, with the increasing connectivity of IoT devices, geolocation services are proliferating at a rapid pace in transportation businesses.

Benefits of Integrating Geolocation for Asset Tracking
Asset monitoring in the transportation domain carries a vast potential in optimizing the upkeep and maintenance of tools and vehicle parts. Moreover, keeping a live update on vehicles and the routes taken by drivers enables improved decision-making for the process managers. It thus counts among the major benefits of keeping the entire logistics process organized and streamlined.

Geolocation is another important and beneficial application of the IoT in transportation. It mainly extracts data from multiple physical sensor devices, like radio receivers, accelerometers and barometers, that are connected through a data-processing algorithm to deliver real-time updates about vehicle locations. It helps logistic managers to maintain a real-time check on the entire process, even from remote locations.

Here are a few industrial benefits you can achieve by implementing smart geolocation: extended asset lifecycles, reduced maintenance costs, streamlined audit and regular operations, real-time scheduling and asset maintenance tracking, better productivity and improved resource utilization.

Smart geolocation enables asset tracking for the logistics industry by creating a virtual boundary around an industrial premise. This provides real-time tracking of every object entering the boundary and alerts managers about the same. Thus, it helps eliminate thefts and maintain a proper record of every vehicle or cargo entering the premises.

For instance, your company can create a geolocation boundary for warehouses at which you need updates regarding the vehicles and cargoes entering and exiting in large numbers. This would create a sense of authority for managers to keep a close eye on the objects being carried in or out of the warehouses, without requiring excessive manual labor.

Why Use an Asset-Monitoring Solution for the Logistics Industry?
An asset-tracking system uses IoT sensors to collect and analyze the data. It has enabled the industry to accept a data-driven concept for a better approach and improved decision-making. However, long-term business goals are not just carved around improving profits. Instead, companies are looking to maximize resources, reduce overall expenses and, most importantly, boost growth.

The logistics and transportation sector is utilizing its strength and potential in almost every segment, such as cargo monitoring, vehicle tracking, GPS use, driver safety and more. All of this requires a technical approach, such as a smart asset-tracking system that curtails operational costs and boosts overall productivity. Everything can be performed with manual efforts, undoubtedly. Still, to gain efficiency, accuracy and constant growth in the industry, businesses must have a streamlined system that does it all without fail.

Using an asset-monitoring solution in the logistics industry provides optimized solutions to meet a company’s business requirements, offering completely automated processing, improved industrial functioning, geolocation to target assets and a data-driven approach for strategic decisions. Such a system can overcome the challenges of tracking assets in real time and it also develops growth.

The implementation of technologies like IoT and artificial intelligence (AI) is making industries flourish across different dimensions, offering customer satiation to the public. The IoT is reinventing more advanced solutions for industries that are used to package tracking technologies. Furthermore, asset tracking not only entails monitoring the location of an asset, but also impacts a lot of things, especially business operations. Thus, it can be said that it is a perfect solution to keep everything managed and organized without compromising industrial productivity.

Additionally, there are many other industries for which a smart asset-tracking solution can be implemented, including oil and gas, water, chemicals, beverages and more. All of these industries involve a common use of equipment to meet customer demands, and these sectors demand better productivity in less time. So utilizing a sensor-based smart asset-monitoring solution within these industries calls for an automated system that revamps the entire industrial structure and connects it to a manager’s dashboard for constant viewing.

In the logistics and transportation industries, asset-tracking solutions provide geolocation services that keep a detailed record of vehicles and fleets. It develops informative reports and provides a great option to share the same with concerned authorities. Implementing an asset-tracking system for logistics provides for the successful creation of vivid reports about every fleet to analyze details in an informed manner. Thus, employing IoT technology in these industries has been and always will be an added advantage for many businesses. It is evolving at a rapid pace to improve how the transportation sector would perform in the coming years.

Sanjeev Verma is the founder and CEO of Biz4Group, based out of Orlando, Fla. He conceptualized the idea of the Biz4 brand and founded  Biz4Group and  Biz4Intellia. Sanjeev has more than 20 years of experience in boosting IT-based startups to success. In the past, he has worked on leadership positions with Marriott Vacations, Disney, MasterCard, State Farm, and Oracle. Under his leadership, Biz4Group develops, implements and monitors digital solutions ranging from IoT solutions and products, mobile and Web development, and digital marketing to full-stack development and CMS solutions.