In modern workflows, efficient audits lead to accurate decision-making and proper order flow in a firm dealing with a large number of assets. These assets can be human resources, pallets, vehicles, storage units, racks, and high-value commodities and equipment being used in business warehousing, supply chain, and logistics. Regular auditing is important for businesses of all sizes. Doing audits is extremely necessary to understand what type of resources and assets a company has and how these resources are utilized.
Asset auditing provides insights for maintaining operational efficiency. It verifies the accurate number of assets on the balance sheets so that any duplication and mismatch can be eliminated and businesses have a clear understanding of their assets all the time. With the audits, the company gets to know about real-time inventory and operational status. This also favors the organizations in taking future projects as it involves proper asset estimation for further projects.
The use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in asset audits can improve inventory control by providing efficient tracking of assets.
Let's discuss the role of RFID in asset audit:
RFID in Asset Audits
Asset audits prove critical when managing business operations, ensuring accurate inventory levels, and asset accountability. However, if we look at traditional audit methods, say using spreadsheets, or barcoding technology, they usually involve time-consuming manual processes, leaving room for errors and inefficiencies.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) has emerged as an all-in-one solution to these problems, offering a smarter, faster, and more reliable way to manage assets. RFID can automate asset tracking through seamless radiowave technology, eliminating the need for manual barcode scans or extensive physical checks. From healthcare and manufacturing to retail and logistics, RFID transforms how industries approach asset audits. The ability of RFID, to provide real-time insights, improve operational efficiency, and minimize human errors makes it a must-implement technology for businesses looking to modernize their audit processes.
Let’s see how asset auditing with RFID benefits various businesses:
How RFID Benefits Distinct Businesses with Auditing?
The auditing process, when combined with RFID can generate useful results that can increase the productivity of a company. RFID unlocks efficiency and visibility in the auditing process which further enhances critical decision-making.
1. Inventory Audit with RFID
By using RFID Inventory tracking solutions, which include RFID tagging the assets, using an RFID handheld reader only, or a combination of RFID Readers, the organization can more efficiently and accurately complete its audits, with nearly 100% reconciliation. Audit times can be cut down by nearly 90%, which means if a manual audit of a warehouse takes 10 hours, an RFID-backed audit will take less than 1 hour to complete.
2. IT Asset Audit using RFID Technology
IT asset audit is the process of keeping track of available resources like computer peripherals, computers, servers, storage equipment, and software. This process ensures updated records and verifies valuable information about the resources such as condition, location, and purchase dates. RFID mount-on metal tags/labels provide efficient tracking of laptops in an IT environment. RFID provides efficient asset-tracking which enables proper stock levels and theft detection capability. With an RFID handheld reader like the Zebra RFD40 SLED, IT firms can quickly take stock of all IT assets (tagged with RFID tags) and ensure accurate inventory.
3. Library Asset Audit
In a library, it becomes important to maintain proper asset audits as visitors keep borrowing books and the library’s assets. An RFID-enabled Library management solution can ensure accurate asset tracking and improve overall asset audits. Also, people can be allotted a library membership card in the form of RFID smart cards so that all the details of the user and issued book can be maintained properly.
RFID audit in a library also offers efficiency in keeping accurate records of shelves, lockers, tables, chairs, computers, and more importantly, books, CDs, and journals. One can quickly reconcile the library inventory with RFID technology and a library management system.
4. Healthcare Asset Audit
Healthcare organizations depend on equipment, tools, and other assets to provide healthcare to patients. Thus, it becomes necessary to maintain regular asset audits to know about the availability of critical equipment in a medical setting. Medical components like ventilators, oxygen tanks, and computers can be tagged with an RFID label for efficient asset management. A healthcare asset audit ensures the medical component's availability in critical wards and emergencies. Keeping track of ICU beds, normal beds, doctors, nurses, security staff and crucial medical instruments, vaccine vials, and medicines is possible with RFID-based audits in healthcare settings.
To summarize, asset audit is a long and hectic process but when you utilize automated software such as asset management software and RFID technology, then this process becomes quite simple, fast, and easy. RFID benefits asset audits in domains like IT, healthcare, library inventory, etc. Moreover, audits can be conducted with mobiles with the connectivity of the cloud, which also helps in optimizing the process of asset auditing.