In the current period of economic uncertainty, hotel and hospitality organisations alike are looking for new ways to protect the revenue and limit losses.

This ethos naturally extends to getting the most from the equipment used by staff and guests within hotels and deferring unnecessary purchases where possible.

The practice of ‘Asset Tracking' supports hotels and hospitality organisations in times of economic instability by offering the ability maximise staff and equipment output through accurately locating and redeploying existing equipment, limiting the need to buy new ones, reducing labour costs, improving profits, and increasing guest and customer satisfaction by making sure in-room equipment is working and if not, then a replacement is easily located and used.

For a hotel to operate efficiently, staff must be able to locate and access all equipment when the need arises. This can extend from situations whereby electronic equipment used to for guest ‘check ins' becomes faulty and being unsure if there are any back-ups within the hotel or new pieces need to be ordered, to managing the car fleet a hotel may run to transport guests. By having visibility over all of the assets within a hotel, managers are able to rapidly identify replacement assets to limit staff downtime and audit / rationalise that equipment which is not being used.

Today there are two primary technologies which can be used for Asset Tracking in the hotel sector; barcode technology and RFID.

Using barcode technology, hotel managers can minimise time monitoring the location and status of assets within one venue or across multiple sites to pool high value assets. The value of the barcode lies in its accuracy and efficiency.  It is an incredibly robust, reliable technology that costs virtually cents to produce and yields high returns on investment.

Coupling barcode technology with a leading Asset Tracking system, such as The Hardcat Barcode Auditing Module, enables organisations to accurately identify fixed and portable assets - from hotel owned vehicles, entertainment equipment used with guest rooms to IT equipment used by staff. Asset information is recorded via a hand-held barcode reader, which has a pre-programmed interrogation system enabling the system user to collate data efficiently, accurately and in an organized and efficient format.

Proven Asset tracking systems enable hotels to quickly replace any assets that are damaged or faulty in as soon as a problem arises, by knowing where the replacement equipment is instantly. If a hotel guest requests that a television set is replaced in their room due to being faulty, they do not want to hear the hotel staff complaining about their inability to find a suitable replacement set.

They expect and deserve a response which is both timely and efficient; otherwise the hotel should not be counting on their return business. Even if there is a case where there is no replacement equipment available for use, the customers will appreciate honest and timely feedback on their situation.

While traditional equipment like bar codes and bar code readers are still often relied upon for Asset Tracking purposes, recent advances in RFID technology offer hotels powerful Asset Tracking benefits.  RFID can offer unique benefits within hotel environments as the technology can be faster and more accurate than bar code readers because it is automated, and thus does not depend on people to ensure that tags are read, either at all or quickly enough.

Importantly, RFID technology's ability to track and trace food products through the supply chain offers real benefits to a hotel's restaurant or in-house food preparation facility.  The food served within a restaurant housed in a hotel or via room service is a direct reflection on the quality of the hotel itself. Through being able to manage and have visibility on the quality of the food products arriving at the hotel prior to being served to guests helps to ensure service levels and guest expectations are met.

Using RFID to automatically capture serial numbers or lot codes on food pallots and cartons processed at distribution centres provides a new level of traceability without requiring time-consuming manual data collection. By accurately and efficiently capturing lot codes, hotel restaurants and food preparation areas can confidently target their recalls so unaffected products would not have to be destroyed, thus protecting guests and limiting food wastage.

If in the unlikely case a patron becomes ill as a result of food and beverage provided by the hotel, RFID Asset Tracking allows for a hotel to be able to back-track the entire journey of the food products in question and help to identify the source of the problem – be that as a result of kitchen practices or contaminated food products which arrived at the hotel. The concept of being able to chart the history of food products from ‘farm to fork' is quickly being adapted within the hotel sector to help protect brand and venue reputation through new quality control measures.

Due to the economic downturn currently being experienced throughout the APAC region, many hotel owners / managers are understandably weary about approving expenditure on new technology. However, the return on investment available from utilising proven asset tracking solutions ensures that the technology actually pays for itself. Based on over 20 years of industry experience, by employing Hardcat technology and asset tracking expertise and software, even a relatively small hotel (less than 25 employees) with 500 assets can save over $30,000 per annum.

Asset tracking aims to deliver cost savings for hotels at a time when they need it most. Given not all Asset Tracking systems are alike; the implementation of the technology is not always easy, nor straightforward. What is required is help from a trusted Asset Tracking partner, such as Hardcat, that has over 22 years of experience in the sector.

About Hardcat: Hardcat is a world leader in Asset Management solutions, and supports an ever growing list of major organisations. Hardcat can provide your organisation with a comprehensive asset management software solution that allows your assets to be managed throughout their life cycle process.

For further information about Hardcat and their world leading Asset Tracking Solutions please call +613 9695 5400 or visit: www.hardcat.com