What Assets Universities and Colleges are Tracking With RFID

Asset management in universities poses a significant business challenge. The need to track assets accurately across the whole campus is a logistical nightmare. Due to a large number of users checking in and checking out items daily, inventory visibility becomes a strenuous task to tackle. Given the vast number of assets, conducting cycle counts also demands a lot of time and resource allocation. It is worth noting that most universities depend solely on their yearly inventory count to determine their available assets. Typically, by the time they complete their inventory count, the data is already out of date. Adopting automatic identification and data capture technologies like RFID is essential to improve business processes and boost operational efficiency. Universities need to tackle the challenges of asset tracking to refine resource distribution and reduce the chances of asset loss.

RFID technology has revolutionized asset tracking in various industries, including educational institutions. Universities and colleges have increasingly adopted RFID systems to streamline processes and enhance efficiency in managing their assets through automating various workflows. It offers educational institutions the ability to automate various tasks related to asset tracking, including inventory counts, check-in and check-out processes, and maintenance schedules. By leveraging RFID systems, schools and universities can eliminate manual data entry errors and inaccuracies, resulting in more precise and reliable asset-tracking data. This increased accuracy not only enhances operational efficiency but also enables educational institutions to make better-informed decisions regarding resource allocation and inventory management. In the context of educational institutions, RFID technology plays a crucial role in asset tracking, allowing schools and universities to efficiently monitor the location and movement of valuable assets such as equipment, books, and other resources --- granting them enhanced asset visibility all throughout their campuses.

In addition to asset visibility, RFID systems also reduce the time, effort, and resources required to do cycle or annual inventory counting. During yearly inventory counts, universities cease operations to employ all available staff to hasten the inventory tally. This leads to a revenue loss that lasts several days or possibly weeks. By utilizing the capability of RFID systems to scan multiple items simultaneously without the requirement for direct visibility, the speed and precision of performing inventory tallies are enhanced. Consequently, the costs associated with manual yearly inventory counts are reduced.

The first step to achieve these goals is to develop a scalable tagging strategy. Identifying the right RFID tag to go with your assets is a cumbersome journey. RFID4U makes it effortless by simplifying the RFID tag selection through various tag formats available in-store.

Below are some of the assets that universities and colleges are tracking.

• Laboratory Equipment
  
  • Fragile Glass Equipment - RFID Flag tags prove to be an excellent solution for labeling expensive and delicate lab apparatus found in schools. There are various formats to choose from, depending on the shape of the equipment you want to tag. When it comes to labeling flasks, beakers, or any gear with a curved shape, butterfly RFID flag tags are the go-to option. For lab assets with a small diameter like thermometers, Flag post RFID tags are the preferred choice.
  • Chemicals and Soluble: Colleges specializing in science frequently utilize precious chemicals in their laboratory sessions. They also allocate particular materials exclusively for these chemicals. Chemical resistant RFID tags can endure chemical reactions and repeated cleaning. This guarantees the tag's longevity throughout the asset's entire lifecycle.


• Library Assets
  
  • Circulation books & Research Material and other returnable assets - Rare books, monographs, and archived reading materials, can be efficiently tracked using standard RFID labels. For this purpose, high-quality RFID labels like TagMatiks' Poly RFID labels are recommended. These labels are specifically designed to withstand the wear and tear of library circulation and provide accurate tracking of valuable assets.


• Campus Facilities Equipment
  
  • Work tools and power instruments: RFID tool tags offer a convenient and efficient way to track and manage your collection of power tools and handheld machinery equipment. These tags provide a versatile solution that eliminates the need to consider the form factor or surface area of the assets being tagged, ensuring that each item can be easily and accurately identified.


• IT Assets
  
  • Laptops, Servers, and handheld gadgets - On-Metal RFID tags are a highly effective solution for tagging IT equipment that is made up of both plastic and metal components. These tags are specifically designed to adhere to metal surfaces, allowing for seamless integration with a variety of IT hardware. By utilizing On-Metal RFID tags, businesses can accurately track and manage their IT assets, ensuring proper inventory control and hardware maintenance.

Conclusion: RFID's benefit to Asset Maintenance and Utilization

Managing university assets can sometimes be quite challenging. Given the numerous asset categories, multiple sites, and the sheer volume of items that require tracking, asset management can often be a daunting task. However, with the application of RFID tags, a handheld scanner, and  TagMatiks software solutions, any university institution can streamline and automate its asset management processes, schedule reports, and carry out comprehensive maintenance and inspection using the automated identification and data capture offered by RFID technology.

One way in which asset maintenance schedules can be optimized and asset utilization rates can be improved is through the use of RFID data coming from frequent inventory scanning and cycle counts. By tracking assets using RFID technology, organizations can better understand when maintenance is required, preventing breakdowns and minimizing downtime. This can ultimately lead to increased efficiency and cost savings.

Moreover, RFID technology is commonly used to track and manage various types of media such as books, monographs, and research papers. Due to their rarity and importance, these items are often tagged with RFID to ensure they are not lost or misplaced. By using RFID to track the life cycle of these assets, organizations can better manage their resources and reduce the risk of losing valuable items.

RFID4U's TagMatiks solution platform has revolutionized the way universities approach inventory visibility and asset traceability. A growing number of academic institutions have turned to TagMatiks to streamline their operations and improve efficiency. Through the use of intuitive software workflows, universities are able to easily capture and track inventory data using RFID technology. By simplifying the process of asset tracking, TagMatiks provides a comprehensive solution that meets the unique needs of educational institutions.

TagMatiks, an advanced solution platform developed by RFID4U, has become the go-to choice for numerous universities seeking to enhance their inventory visibility and asset traceability. It is a robust yet powerful solution that has streamlined the process of capturing inventory data through the use of RFID technology. Universities are now able to effectively manage their asset tracking needs with ease. This comprehensive solution has truly transformed the way academic institutions approach asset tracking.