The History of Asset Tracking

The Beginning

Before asset tracking was even a concept, human beings first had to learn to hunt and collect food to survive. This required a basic systematic approach to hunting and gathering food. As these hunter gatherer skills developed, people collected more and more food and stored it alongside other items like tools, weapons, and clothing.
As humans evolved from hunter gatherers into more advanced civilizations with supply chains, people started to accumulate and transport food, money, clothes, and other belongings from one place to another. Eventually, companies realized they needed a way to track and manage their goods as they were being stored and transported. In response to this need, processes were developed where all transactions, record keeping, and tracking of inventory was done manually.

Tracking Efficiencies with Technology

Fast forward to the 1960s and 1970s and businesses were more efficiently tracking their inventory and goods with computers. Technology sparked new and exciting innovations in logistics planning where companies could improve their inventory management and transportation routing instead of blindly storing their goods in warehouses. The 1980s allowed for even more tracking efficiencies with spreadsheets and map-based interfaces, and by the early 2000s, companies were using ERP systems for supply chain and logistics tracking.

Today

Technology has taken another leap forward since computers and ERP systems, giving supply chains and organizations the ability to remotely track their assets for greater visibility and control with GPS asset tracking. Businesses require timely and accurate information in order to track their mobile assets, and GPS asset tracking gives companies the opportunity to track and monitor where their containers and cargo are located and whether they are loaded or empty. This state-of-the-art remote asset management system allows businesses to run more efficiently, increase productivity, and improve their customer service.

GPS asset tracking today provides many advantages to supply chain management, including:

• Greater visibility into global supply chain operations.
• Reduced lead times and inventories.
• Accurate shipment status updates and lower costs of transportation of goods.

Learn more about GPS asset tracking from SkyBitz and see how our remote asset management solutions can accommodate your unique business needs.