Smart lockers for business asset management

Learn how smart locker and tracking software offer organizations a safe, secure and automated way to monitor and track the use of critical assets and valuable equipment.
SendTech Staff Writer Pitney Bowes
06/06/2024 Receiving

Smart lockers, or intelligent lockers, have been in widespread many uses in retail, college campuses, and businesses for several years. Now, Smart Lockers are transforming asset tracking and delivery. From hardware to PPE to IT equipment, organizations of all types are protecting their most valuable assets with the latest generation of smart lockers.

Smart lockers transform parcel & asset distribution.

The smarter way to store, manage and track assets and equipment 

 

Storing, tracking and distributing your organization’s physical assets can be a heavy lift, but it’s a critical one. Lost and misplaced assets reduce productivity, erode confidence and impact your bottom line. Manual tracking processes simply don’t cut it in a world where employee-issued equipment includes high-ticket digital devices.

The solution? Solid steel and state-of-the-art software. An intelligent asset locker solution combines the benefits of a physical locker with the advantages of asset-tracking software platforms that automate processes and feature live analytics and user-friendly dashboards.

Here are the top six reasons your organization should consider adopting smart lockers for its asset management needs.

1. Improve operations and productivity

Manual asset management is time-consuming, error-prone and totally avoidable now. Just replace those spreadsheets and scheduled audits with a simple asset-tracking dashboard and live reports. Smart lockers can be deployed as asset lockers to automate many of the laborious tasks associated with tracking individual assets and creating logs and usage reports.

Smart lockers can make your organization more efficient and effective in a variety of ways. In addition to saving operations time and resources, smart lockers help ensure shared assets are available to those that need them whenever they need them. Locating asset lockers close to mission-critical infrastructure can also help to minimize downtime in the event of equipment failure or malfunction. Authorized users are given more autonomy to retrieve, exchange and return assets, while features like real-time alerts and automatic notifications free staff from needing to hunt down unreturned items. 

2. Reduce loss, theft and unauthorized use

Theft and fraudulent loss claims may not be a problem at your organization, but to misplace or break something is only human. Valuable assets such as phones, laptops, audio/visual equipment or power tools can easily go missing if left unattended for even a short time. An intelligent asset locker solution makes it easy to safeguard assets that are being returned or temporarily stored between uses. Tracking assets in real time helps you know exactly who used what, when they used it and what condition it was returned in.

In addition to end-to-end chain of custody, the best asset tracking solutions will also include features that allow you to designate who is authorized to access and use specific assets and equipment. The use of unique barcodes gives intelligent lockers an additional level of security, because access can be granted or denied in a matter of seconds if necessary.

3. Gain actionable insights

Here’s where smart lockers and business intelligence meet. Asset tracking platforms can provide actionable analytics and data reporting to help you identify and remedy issues, enhance the customer experience and optimize operations.

4. Stay secure and compliant 

Smart lockers can do more than protect valuable assets and equipment. They can protect your company and its reputation. Asset tracking platforms and dashboards can also provide detailed usage logs to help you address internal security and policy needs as well as industry-specific regulations. 

5. Empower hybrid work environments

As if tracking assets wasn’t challenging enough, the rise of remote work and the realities of hybrid work environments has only compounded the problem. An intelligent asset locker solution can help employers maintain health and safety protocols and enhance productivity by offering contactless, 24/7 access to hardware, equipment, documents and other assets a modern workforce needs to get the job done.

What’s more, as open work environments are becoming more common, many workers have no permanent desk at which to store their belongings while working. The solution? An intelligent asset locker solution provides secure short or long-term storage for personal items such as purses, backpacks, chargers and other essential work-related gear. Lockers can be reserved, assigned, and reassigned dynamically as needed.

6. Put them where you need them

Indoor, outdoor, rear-loading—smart lockers come in all shapes and sizes. The best of them offers modular locker options to fit your specific volume, space, layout and workflow requirements, as well as the ability to scale your locker footprint as your needs evolve.

Always on the lookout for a branding and communication opportunity? Here’s one: transform your locker setup into a ready-made, traffic-heavy billboard that displays your brand identity and showcases internal or customer communications. 

What to look for in a smart locker partner

This isn’t an ordinary hardware installation.  You need to evaluate the build quality of your locker its software capabilities, and the service and support you will receive.

You should evaluate:

  • Delivery options
  • Onsite training and service
  • Integration with existing tracking software
  • Build and lock materials
  • Serviceability and lock replacement
  • Manual override capabilities
  • Touchscreen display accessibility

Smart locker storage requires a partner with a strong service infrastructure who can immediately respond when you call. You’ll also want to assess the longevity and reputation of your potential partner to ensure they can support you and your smart locker investment for years to come.