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- Written by Murray Pollok - 05 Oct 2010
on International Rental News Magazine
More and more
rental applications for RFID asset tagging technology
are coming to light. Is it time that you considered the
latest asset management technology? Murray Pollok reports.
Are you visionary or a pragmatist? Sujatha Bodapati,
founder and CEO of AssetPulse, an RFID asset
tracking company based in San Jose, California, is looking
for more of the latter, since it's those kinds of people
who are prepared to invest in new technology like RFID
(radio frequency identification).
Ms Bodapati, a 20 year veteran of the IT and asset tracking
market, tells IRN that RFID is a classic illustration
of the 'Crossing the Chasm' thesis by marketing
guru Geoffrey Moore. This holds that there is a difficult
'chasm' to cross between the innovators and early adaptors
of new technology and its subsequent mainstream adoption
by the 'early majority'.
"RFID still has
not quite crossed the chasm", she says, "We do
see some companies looking ahead, it is whether they are
willing to take the lead...upper management has to have
the vision."
Some do. Aggreko was one of the first big names to adopt
RFID tracking technology - in its case for quickly processing
equipment returning to depots and for preparing orders
- while offshore oil and gas rental specialists in both
the US and the North Sea have also been quick to see the
opportunities of RFID, which offers a more robust and
versatile alternative to barcodes, able to withstand very
harsh operating conditions and store a wide variety of
asset and operational data.
In the equipment rental sector these early adaptors are
leading the way in finding applications that make them
more efficient, cost effective companies.
AssetPulse, for example, has been working for several
years with Phoenix, Arizona-based tower crane rental company
Stafford Tower Cranes on an RFID project that helps the
company track its crane components - typically mast sections
- on its cranes located around the US.
"It's a perfect example", says Ms Bodapati,
"of how components move from one contract to another.
They have cranes all over the country and can't easily
keep track of the tower sections."
Stafford fixed RFID tags to each of the crane sections,
and these are then read using a hand held mobile reader
used on site by a visiting Stafford technician or salesman.
In addition to recording what sections are where, the
system allows Stafford to "keep accurate account of how
long [the equipment] has been used by the customer", says
Ms Bodapati.
AssetPulse and Stafford are now engaged on a further phase
of the project that will expand the usability of the RFID
based system, and about which Ms Bodapati will not yet
divulge details.
One feature of AssetPulse's work has been the development
of very robust RFID tags that can be used in harsh offshore
environments, and that are used for "closed loop" applications.
That is, where the asset remains owned by a single organisation,
unlike the RFID tags commonly used in the retail environment
where they are tracking goods from the start to finish
of a single journey.
Full Article Source : International
Rental Magazine Website.
| AssetPulse and AssetGather are
trademarks or registered trademarks of AssetPulse,
LLC. All other company and product names mentioned
may be trademarks of the respective companies with
which they are associated. |
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