Document Destruction Equipment and Asset Tracking

Find out how your document destruction business can best track important assets, like shredding bins.

In the document destruction industry, you can service a wide range of different clients. This includes everything from small businesses to banks, hospitals, and government agencies. Each of these have their own needs, ranging from basic paper shredding and recycling services to physical media destruction and disposal of old hard drives or other types of data storage devices.

In many cases, document destruction companies offer on-site shredding or pick-up services, which may require that they keep tabs on what they have loaned out to their clients, adding a new layer to the complexity of running a business. In this article, we will go over the options you have for managing your ever expanding list of document destruction clients.

What are your options for document destruction equipment and asset tracking? 

When it comes to your tracking options, you may find one method works better than others for your business. It all depends on what sort of work you typically handle.

Barcoding

The first option you can look into is barcoding. This method is going to be the most economic option, as you can purchase sheets or rolls of barcodes from places like Amazon, Office Depot, or Staples. As an additional option, you can use QR-codes, which function similarly to barcodes and are generally available through the same types of vendors.

Barcodes and QR-codes work well for stationary assets, such as locked cabinets that weigh too much to move about. Typically, these will be in the same place each time you visit. 

Many mobile devices (phones and tablets) come with a built in scanner in the form of their cameras. Some also include applications that will read the label appropriately, such as our Smart Service mobile app. If your business runs on a mobile platform like Smart Service, you only need a cell phone or tablet for scanning.

If you do drop off or pick-up style work, you can find inexpensive barcode scanners at the same vendors you might find the labels. You will have both wired or wireless (via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi) options, which can connect to your computer to integrate with a number of document destruction business applications, such as Smart Service.

RFID Tracking

The second option to look into is RFID tracking. RFID asset tracking incorporates radio frequencies to locate assets over short to medium range via a reader. With these options, you can easily track items that may move around the client’s location. You can also keep track of the containers that you deploy for on-site destruction.

Using RFID technology does have its downsides, however. The equipment to scan RFIDs range from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. With a bit of planning, you may also find cell phones that have the proper technology to read RFIDs with a simple Bluetooth adapter. This may not be an option though if your clients need to have more flexibility and added tracking capabilities. This might mean additional, expensive software to handle the database of RFIDs that you track.

Due to the complexity of these types of tracking, you may not have any integration options when it comes to the many industry-standard scheduling and dispatching programs for document destruction.

GPS Tracking

The third and final option we will cover in this article is GPS tracking. Choose this option, and you need to outfit the necessary containers with a tracking device. These items can be found on Amazon or local electronics retailers. Tracking via GPS likely means a lower starting cost than the RFID tracking, as it doesn’t require additional hardware to locate the tracker. Usually, the tracking device is traceable with a simple mobile app or a web portal.

Use of GPS tracking may seem like overkill, but when you’re dealing with medical or government agencies, you can’t be too safe. These types of clients deal with some of the most vital, sensitive information on the planet, making privacy paramount. If the container for their destructible media is movable, being able to locate it easily will provide peace of mind and security for your company and your client.

Combining Options for Optimal Coverage

If your company needs to provide a range of services and you want to make sure you cover all of your bases, you can easily mix and match the different options to provide an additional layer of security and improve efficiency by properly equipping your drivers and service personnel with the right tools. Programs like Smart Service provide you with a great deal of the foundation needed to incorporate the barcode or QR-Code methods of tracking.

The asset module of Smart Service gives you access to a standard set of options, such battery change intervals for GPS tracking. You can also use the general data fields to track last known locations when GPS tracking. 

All of these options can be used separately, as well. The best course of action is to take one option, try it out, and expand from there. This will help you improve and expand what your company offers your clients!