Automation in asset management not only helps these businesses tag and track their assets, but also has a host of additional benefits that spill over into other aspects of their operations.
It is no surprise, then, that a lot of small businesses are increasingly making use of automation to lower costs, improve efficiency, and motivate employees to do their best.
As a small business owner or manager, one of your main concerns is probably how to reduce fleet costs so that you can spend more in other areas. While investing in asset tracking systems can be a large up-front cost, it is one that will surely pay off and result in more fleet savings over time.
Nearly 67% of current small business owners reported lack of capital as a top challenge, according to Guidant’s State of Small Business report.
Of course, this tight budget has a number of implications on small business owners and their operations, including working with fewer vehicles, a smaller workforce, and needing to optimize every aspect of their business.
With fewer resources comes the urgency to maximize each one to its fullest potential. This also means that downtime – in any sense of the word – isn’t an option.
Since small businesses face a unique set of challenges that set them apart from other business operations, they have to exploit every avenue they can in order to thrive. This is where asset tracking can play a pivotal role in streamlining operations!
For small businesses, optimizing fleet operations can be an invaluable way to reduce overall fleet costs. When you only have a limited number of employees and vehicles available, ensuring you’re getting the most out of your investment in each one is essential.
Asset tracking systems can help you achieve maximum fleet efficiency by enabling you to pinpoint the location of every driver and vehicle remotely and in real-time. This knowledge of where every asset is in the field can help fleet managers better optimize driver and vehicle deployments.
It can also improve your customer service experience and satisfaction scores when deliveries or shipments can get to the right location faster – which is a valuable way to build customer loyalty and drive revenue for small businesses.
By implementing asset tracking systems, you can reduce unnecessary fuel costs in your small business’s fleet. Asset tracking software can be used to build optimized routes between delivery sites, customer service visits, your offices, etc. This prevents your drivers from running into road closures, traffic jams, or taking lengthier routes that would lead to extra fuel use.
By using asset tracking devices to monitor where your vehicles are and the routes they’ve taken, you can determine if your employees are participating in unauthorized vehicle use for personal reasons that put extra miles on your fleet. For small businesses with a tighter budget, closely monitoring fuel consumption and eliminating areas of waste can free up valuable resources for other high-venture business tasks.
Large fleet vehicles and the assets they're carrying are often tempting targets for thieves. But, as a small business, even one stolen vehicle or load of inventory can make a big impact on your profit margins. That’s why it’s so important that you’re constantly putting measures in place to prevent theft.
By placing a GPS asset tracking system on your high-value assets, you’ll be able to remotely track the asset’s location at all times. This way, you can immediately notify the authorities if you notice a vehicle is not where it is supposed to be, giving you a greater chance of recovering the stolen items.
Vehicle tracking systems for small businesses can help you dramatically decrease fleet maintenance expenses.
Asset tracking devices with remote diagnostics can help fleet managers determine if a vehicle is experiencing a maintenance issue so that small repairs can be made proactively – before they result in total vehicle failure that can take a big hit on a small business budget.
Plus, with comprehensive data reports on vehicle performance over time, you can optimize your planned preventative fleet maintenance schedule to ensure you're conducting routine maintenance at the most strategic and effective times.
Asset tracking devices can provide an impartial, verifiable record of driving activities and behaviors occurring in your fleet. This enhances driver accountability and allows fleet managers to quickly identify if one of their employees is regularly practicing unsafe driving habits. This way, they can immediately step in to provide additional training and correct the problem before it results in an accident.
Since auto collisions can result in higher worker’s compensation premiums, legal fees, lost productivity, and damaged vehicles and assets, investing in asset tracking and fleet management solutions now can save you from the costs of unsafe driving later.
Leveraging top-of-the-line GPS asset tracking systems can help you streamline your asset management tasks – saving time and money while improving asset utilization. Having easy access to telematics data from a GPS tracking device gives you better control of your company’s high-value assets.
At Rastrac, we offer a variety of asset tracking and fleet management solutions that can work for businesses of any size, no matter their industry or where they’re located. With so many devices and installation options, there is something that will work for any budget.
If you’re ready to talk about how fitting our valuable asset tracking devices into your small business budget can help you experience reduced fleet costs, reach out to an expert today!