Asset tracking: It’s about logistics—and much more.

Following a container across the country used to be the state of the art in logistics, but today’s advanced sensors and connectivity solutions mean there’s much more value to be derived from asset-tracking systems. Squeezing out efficiencies for just-in-time operations or managing a complex supply chain are still critical objectives, but data from asset tracking is also now indispensable in helping to meet other vital business goals.

Logistics data is essential for measuring a company’s carbon footprint, satisfying business partners’ sustainability requirements, and gaining a competitive advantage by validating new certifications. And as asset-tracking data becomes more fine grained, from boxcars to bottles, it can generate new business analytics that will further improve supplier performance, customer satisfaction, and your own bottom line.

Before a product or part reaches a factory in Fort Worth or a customer in Columbus, it may pass through multiple distributors in different countries, be processed in several factories, and travel thousands of miles on everything from cargo ships to ebikes. That requires an asset-tracking solution that is not only international and multimodal but can also be tailored to a wide variety of assets. As examples of how advanced asset-tracking solutions can create better business decisions and handle a wide diversity of products, we’ll follow how its reach can affect the production of 5.5-ton tractor tires, 152-pound bags of Fair Trade green coffee beans, and a 25-ounce bottle of Bordeaux.

Today, with the right telecom and logistics partners, you can follow shipments and equipment across every step of the supply chain and see whether they have been subjected to excessive sunlight, damage, or contamination, for example. Tomorrow, whether it’s a tractor tire, coffee bean, or a bottle of wine, you’ll be able to determine not only that your shipment reached the work site, store, or customer, but also how it was used.

The challenge that comes with tracking and monitoring assets is hardly new, though the practice has progressed rapidly thanks to the widespread availability of reliable high-speed wireless networks and sophisticated sensors. Developments in technology, including the tracking devices themselves, the asset-tracking software that manages them, and the networks they use to communicate, are bringing efficient, cost-effective solutions to businesses of all sizes. Consequently, U.S. companies are moving from discrete projects to enterprise-wide Internet of Things (IoT) asset-tracking programs to achieve a faster ROI and address larger business goals, such as meeting sustainability targets, according to one study. It’s why the global IoT in transportation market is expected to reach a projected $495.57 billion by 2030.

Along with supply chain efficiencies, asset tracking also generates more actionable information from logistics systems. Businesses need to know when products are waiting to be unloaded or already on a truck at the dock but stalled because of a driver shortage. The longer the product waits, the more likely the possibility of spoilage or theft. And it’s not just wine or coffee beans that are vulnerable. Rubber headed to a tire factory will go bad if it gets too hot waiting to roll.

Thermal sensors and accelerometers are built into tracking tags today, but learning after the fact that, for example, a case of Bordeaux has spoiled doesn’t do you much good. Companies need to know immediately so they can preemptively intercept a shipment that’s gone bad and replace it—before it reaches the customer and requires the added complication of a return merchandise authorization.

And don’t just assume your business will receive such information in time. Wi-Fi and cellular networks at major ports of entry like international airports are often overwhelmed by thousands of sensors and users vying for bandwidth. Geofencing only works if you can get the message through. Telecom partners need to be able to manage such congested, mission-critical communications environments so that you can cut through the traffic, get real-time reports, and learn about impending shipping problems in time to find alternate transport.

Of course, asset tracking has become critical to other business areas, particularly in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. ESG is all about knowing what is where and how it got there. The expanding array of regulations, certifications, and chain of custody requirements means companies have to engage in constant validation—and validation requires precise asset tracking from the sustainable rubber farms in Bahia, Brazil, to recycling facilities in Tijuana, Mexico, to zero-carbon tire plants in Starr, South Carolina.

It’s why state-of-the-art communications and tracking services are absolutely essential for assessing environmental impact, whether it’s Fair Trade coffee or a 5.5-ton tractor tire for an earth mover. Investor demands for transparency and regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are signs of forthcoming challenges businesses in the U.S. will face. Furthermore, meeting goals in environmental performance and corporate responsibility can raise a company’s ranking in evaluation platforms such as EcoVadis, which procurement managers use to compare and choose suppliers. And assessments by CDP—formerly the carbon disclosure project—give companies a competitive advantage.

So, whether it’s recycled rubber or coffee beans coming in from South America, the way you handle it and track it is what counts. ESG is yet another place where the asset-tracking rubber meets the road.

With location-based manufacturing being used even for tire production, it means logistics have to ensure that when those tires come out of a factory in South Carolina, they are summer tires headed to nearby dealers—not winter tires needed in Buffalo. But what happens when snow blankets Atlanta or a drought hits Chicago and upends demand? Asset tracking needs to tell you immediately what tires are sitting in warehouses in Illinois and what excess inventory dealerships may have available in Georgia to fulfill orders elsewhere.

Ready, accurate access to your tracking data pays dividends in the near—and long—term and cloud-based asset-tracking platforms allow management from anywhere, on any device. This level of visibility helps you identify trends and adjust ordering strategies to quickly react to sudden changes like extreme weather events. To fully optimize your supply chain efficiency, you need fine-grained asset tracking, down to individual bottles of wine, in order to gain valuable insights into inventory levels, average turn times, how much product to keep on the shelf in the future, and when to re-order.

The end of the chain is not the end of the story. Ultimately, asset tracking is about visibility, being able to see what is happening with goods, people, and services—and then being able to make better decisions in the future. Is the quality and on-time performance of recycled rubber better from one supplier than another arriving at the factory? Are raw, green coffee beans reaching more end customers from the roasting facility in Portland or the one in Seattle?

Moreover, visibility is essential when something goes wrong. Accidents, adverse weather, and hiccups in logistics are unavoidable. What’s important is how you manage it, and the more information you have, the better decisions you’ll be able to make. It’s the kind of traceability needed to tell whether a distributor failed to properly store a case of wine or whether it was just one bottle that spoiled because of a bad cork. You shouldn’t have to recall an entire shipment if only one item went bad.

For many companies, traceability is just a daily fact of adhering to regulations. But for all companies, traceability can lead to smarter customer support and building a flexible supply chain that can be rapidly repaired and reinforced. Implementing powerful, reliable asset-tracking solutions will help your business better understand your customers, identify emerging trends as they happen, gather smarter data, and ultimately, make more-informed decisions moving forward.

We’ve come a long way from passive RFID tags and local readers, and we’re continuing to improve asset tracking because there are still some parts of the supply chain that are invisible. T-Mobile wants to make it all observable with technologies like micro asset tracking.

Micro asset tracking involves the use of sensors developed by T-Mobile that are small enough to incorporate in individual disposable products from car tires to wine bottles. By getting small, companies gain insights into the bigger business picture.

Tires embedded with trackers can automatically alert fleet owners when hundreds of tires need to be replaced, for example, and beverage companies can individually track billions of bottles. Along the way, companies can learn how their products are used and how they are treated at the end of life. Are customers recycling properly or tossing products into landfills? Is the wine being stored for weeks or is it being consumed right away?

Asset tracking will continue to get more nimble and less expensive, raising new questions and unleashing new business opportunities. Our industry-leading asset-tracking solutions are already there to help improve efficiencies now and gain competitive advantage in the future.