Many organizations have a lot of money tied up in reusable logistics assets. These are items such as totes and racks used to deliver goods to stores, bins and roll cages to move parts from suppliers to assembly plants, shipping containers, rental equipment, refillable liquid containers, and the like.

Yet, every year companies lose significant sums when those assets are lost or stolen. For instance, 25% of companies lose in excess of 10% of their container fleet each year.

According to a research report by the Aberdeen Group, RFID tagging of reusable logisitcs assets can be a solution:

"Deploying RFID tags and technology systems that use RFID information will give companies precise visibility into logistics assets, knowledge of the status and condition of the logistics assets, and the ability to plan for and coordinate the movement of those assets to ensure availability in the right location at the right time. ***

RFID technology can assist in many additional areas of logistics asset management.. The use of RFID tags can improve velocity and visibility of inventory for customers, so that RFID becomes a value-added service for the customer. RFID technology can also prevent fulfillment mistakes and minimize stockouts. For instance, the tag on a bread tote can indicate the truck, route, and sequence to ensure the tote is placed in the right vehicle in the right sequence and is unloaded at the right delivery stop."

The report is free. Download the report here.