The accurate identification and management of capital assets and equipment is important to the efficient operation of a business, particularly those such as equipment rental where capital assets generate revenue for the business.

RF Controls' RFID-based Intelligent Tracking and Control System (ITCS™) permits the unattended, real-time, 3D zonal monitoring of capital assets to:

Consider the use of intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) which are used to carry bulk chemicals both within a chemical production facility, and to customers using those chemicals in their production processes. These IBCs are valuable [capital] assets, and the proper management is important to the asset owner. Companies such as Chep own capital assets of this type and operate leasing programs for a diverse range of customers. Also, identifying and tracking the exemplary IBC can, by extension, lead to the identification and tracking of the goods contained in the IBC. Note the trend towards embedding RFID tags in leased assets, exemplified by Ifco Systems embedding tags into pallets.

A further example of monitoring the movement of capital assets is in computer intensive environments, such as financial transaction processing companies, who have so called “server farms”. In these installations, the value of capital assets relative to their size can be significant, so the misplacement or misrouting of a capital asset such as a blade server, received and logged at a goods receiving bay and destined for a particular rack location, can have significant financial implications.

So, if we assume that capital assets are tagged at source by the supplier, following directions from the customer (asset owner), then using ITCS antennas to cover areas of interest (e.g. receiving bay, passageways, etc.), it would be possible to monitor goods being received, automatically reconcile the physical receipt of goods against an Advance Ship Notice (ASN) or purchase order, and then monitor the movements of tagged assets in 3D as they are conveyed to their rack location for installation. An asset management software application could be fed with data from ITCS to allow creation of alerts as a result of the receipt or movement of tagged assets.