With greater visibility across your entire supply chain you can enhance security while mitigating loss and theft.
Loss and theft of company assets is a growing concern for many businesses. Last year, $35 million in cargo theft losses were reported to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, compared to $2.1 million five years earlier, illustrating a clear need for improved security.
However, ensuring the security of company assets can be challenging, especially for organizations with multiple locations and dispersed operations. Intensified by the surge in ecommerce activity, businesses are with supply chain evolution. Across many industries, companies are turning to the Internet of Things (IoT) to facilitate this evolution and to enable more resilient supply chain network operations. The goal? Mitigate loss, theft and maintain the security of the assets they—and their customers—depend on every day.
Businesses experiencing supply chain evolution: logistics, cargo, shipping, transportation, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and manufacturing.
Visibility is a clear advantage
Whether your assets are trucks on the road, containers in a warehouse, or machinery and tools on the jobsite, improving visibility will improve security. Traditional checkpoints, spot checks and GPS systems—often costly and fragmented—can’t keep up with modern threats and security risks many industries are facing today.
IoT can transform asset management processes by providing clear, real-time insights into what’s happening along your supply chain whether inside, in-transit or outdoors.
Traditional checkpoints, spot checks and GPS systems, which can oftentimes be costly and fragmented, cannot keep up with modern threats and security risks many industries are facing today.
An intelligent warehouse watchdog
Employee theft and misappropriation continue to be among the most common causes for inventory shrinkage in warehouses, yards and distribution centres. Addressing this loss begins with effective asset management—not just at the warehouse level but at an inventory level.
In the past, it was typical for inventory accuracy to be the sole responsibility of one or more employees. Whether picking an order or taking inventory, staff efficiency was key to ensuring inventory records were up to date and accurate. This manual process increases both the possibility for human error and the company’s vulnerability to internal theft.
Asset management solutions mitigate these risk exposures by monitoring warehouses at the inventory level–letting you to track your inventory in real time across categories, product types, zones, facilities and geographies. It’s like having an intelligent warehouse watchdog to inform you the moment a loss has occurred, as well as which items were stolen or carried out in error, so you can respond appropriately.
Preventing cargo theft in-transit
The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimates the total losses from cargo theft come in around $5 billion a year nationwide, but this staggering figure can’t be traced back to a single source. When you consider the entire supply chain of just about any company, it’s understandable how managing asset security can be difficult across different legs of the journey.
$5 billion: yearly cargo theft losses in Canada
For example, a break in the chain of custody during shipping, especially across multi-mode transportation, can create gaps in documentation, add confusion about handling and lead to lost or missing assets. Even parking cargo in intermediate facilities can expose them to unexpected risks.
IoT sensors provide theft warnings and alerts to help mitigate these risks. In the event of a deviation from pre-defined routes—such as a delay in arrival or idling in a location for longer than usual—managers will receive an alert so they can take steps to address the concern. These connected devices can also send real-time alerts to notify you if a shipment is opened by unauthorized personal or tampered with in some way.
Gaining this level of granular visibility over in-transit cargo lets you keep constant contact with your assets, where they are on their route and chain of custody—all essential aspects in preventing cargo theft in transit.
Protect assets parked outdoors
Even at the end of the workday, security remains a concern for many businesses. Vehicles, tools and machinery left outside or on a jobsite are vulnerable to theft or damage. And, assets and machinery can get lost when transporting between jobsites.
An IoT asset tracking system can monitor yards and jobsites and track in-field assets to avoid them going missing and protect against theft by sending alerts when assets move outside the yard.
IoT asset management improves security
Advancing your asset monitoring system will help fortify security across your business. Connected solutions help managers know where and when goods-in-transit will arrive, if they’ve been opened or tampered with or have deviated from their route. They also track stops and starts, control when and where a shipping container can be opened and keep managers informed of asset status even after the workday is done.
Learn more about fortifying your asset management security, connect with a Rogers asset management consultant.