Technology Review

Global Asset Visibility: What is New?

The growing resistance to government imposed compliance costs will probably make it less likely that security mandates will be issued in the near future. The recent cancellation of programs like Maritime & Supply Chain Security: US DHS Global Trade EXchange (GTX) Pilot supports this view.

Competitive differentiation based on its own commercial merits rather than imposing government mandates will likely play a larger role. The simple fact is that many global asset visibility services can improve security while saving money on operations. This is clearly a win-win situation for both industry and concerned government agencies. Currently, technologies and services that enable ISO 28000 (Safe & Secure Supply Chain) will reduce liability and enhance consumer confidence, particularly for food and drug suppliers. The key is to understand the roll-out and adoption strategy that allows this to happen. Clearly there are a very large number of market segments with different needs and priorities regarding the creation of a positive value proposition involving global asset tracking. Plasma TVs coming from China into the US has a different set of needs as compared with the recycled material being shipped from the US to China on return shipment. NAFTA trade transiting the US between Canada and Mexico like duty-free goods transiting any intermediate country has specific needs for tracking and security. To effectively address these extremes, flexible service offerings and a family or suite of technologies and device types is required. It is not possible to meet the broad spectrum of demands with a "one size fits all" approach.

This article will endeavor to explore and describe: flexibility in GAV, what are its characteristics, who needs it, and how to determine what configuration of services best suits the applications specific to your company or agency. We begin by describing the different attributes and characteristics of a flexible GAV system, examining the various components. Then we will consider some evaluation criteria which public and private enterprises should employ to determine the most useful solution for their particular needs.

Overview of Applications

"Asset Visibility" has a variety of meanings, depending on your business or mission objectives. It can mean simple verification of a unit ID, as indicated by a barcode or passive RFID tag. It could also entail the ability to be in continuous two-way communications via data-link and/or voice. In global situations, visibility might also involve the continuous monitoring and receipt of real-time reports on any anomalies, events or out of tolerance situations that might occur.

The need for "global asset visibility" really depends upon the extent to which your company or agency has or wants dispersed regional operations, meaning whether or not company activities occur in regions not easily supported by existing communications infrastructure or a single mode of communications. If management cannot predict between which locations it might have to provide asset visibility, it meets the criteria for dispersed regional operations and is a strong candidate for GAV.

For first responders (police, fire, ambulance and corporate security), emergency care-givers (FEMA, Red Cross, and other relief agencies) and deployed military personnel, asset visibility is the ability to maintain cognizance of the location and status of every resource and supply item via continuous two-way communication, regardless of where it is and where you are. An example of visibility would be the logistical capability to track the inventory of relief supplies in a distribution trailer as they are handed out and to know exactly what should be sent and where to send it. This kind of situational awareness is critical to effectively deploy and manage operations involving various kinds of assets.

For supply chain management, asset visibility would also include in-transit visibility from the factory door through delivery to the customer. Suppliers, buyers, shippers, insurance brokers, and third party logistics firms all need continuous visibility to increase efficiency, reduce costs, improve dependability and timeliness, monitor quality of handling, and insure security and continuous chain of custody. Regardless of whether the items are critical components to support just-in-time inventory for manufactured goods, high value items like pharmaceuticals or electronics, or perishable food products, global asset visibility is becoming a must to remain competitive in today’s economy.

The shipment of hazardous materials is another category for which continuous visibility is extremely critical. Remote monitoring for security and material status, coordination with local authorities during transit, event notification and contingency planning all require redundant means to maintain constant visibility. Movement in remote locations demands GAV.

The monitoring and control of remote, fixed assets such as utility and communications equipment, the monitoring of fishing fleets to verify territorial compliance, and the tracking and monitoring of “high value” leased assets such as yachts, planes and off-road vehicles are all examples where continuous visibility is becoming increasingly important. Whatever the situation, dispersed regional operations require a global tracking capability.

Requirements Overview

The key to successfully achieving GAV is the proper identification of specific user requirements. The following introduces the categories of requirements, the types of products and services that are available, then explores the attributes of each. Finally, we introduce evaluation criteria helpful in making optimal decisions regarding the type of system best suited to your particular needs.

Sensors

While specific requirements vary widely, some basic categories can be identified for GAV. In most situations, the status of an asset is very important. For personnel, this is straight forward since they can report directly, assuming they have a means of communication. However, even for personnel, sensors are often used to allow passive monitoring without direct communications.

Sensors are primarily used to determine or monitor the physical status of assets. Whether simple sensors like temperature and humidity, more moderate sensors like g-shock, power, power state (on/off, internal/external source, battery level) and vehicle fuel level or more sophisticated sensors such as bio/chemical and radiation detectors, all sensors need some form of mechanical housing, a means to read and possibly report the data or conditions, and often an independent power supply. To be power-efficient, many sensors incorporate a duty-cycle or sample rate, so they don’t stay “on” all the time.

Sensor report thresholds can also be set to indicate an out-of-tolerance event. Often these thresholds will depend upon the asset being monitored. For example, the vertical g-load tolerance for a load of vehicles is considerably higher than for consumer electronics. The allowable temperature range is different for a shipment of ice cream than for fresh fruit. Thus, the ability to set sensor threshold specific to your needs is very important. It may be desirable, if not mandatory, to do this remotely through a sensor support uplink command.

Sensors monitor security by detecting unauthorized access to or use of an asset. For example, to detect unauthorized entry into cargo shipping containers, the most common application is a door state sensor. However, additional sensors might be required to detect entry by means other than through the door.

Position

For mobile assets, knowledge of location is imperative. While the required position accuracy may vary, knowing the location of an asset is a fundamental part of GAV. The most common means for determining position is through the Global Positioning System (GPS).

While GPS is available everywhere, it requires a clear view of the sky to see at least four satellites. Without clear sky visibility, GPS position information will be much less accurate or not available at all. Other means of position tracking use the E911 feature of cell networks. And yet others use general position information provided by satellite network providers, like Iridium.

Associated with knowing the position is the capability to view a position history or “breadcrumb trail” through a geographic information system or GIS interface. GIS allows users to easily zoom in and see the details of the location using map symbols or satellite imagery. The speed and direction of an asset’s movement may also be important, or the fact that an asset has changed motion state from moving to stopped or vice versa. Here again, thresholds and event notification may be important for position and speed as well. By defining geozones for an anticipated area of use or route of travel, alarm messages can be sent when the asset position deviates. The same can be done for speed limits. Again, remote configuration of these parameters makes it very convenient.

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