Glossary

Common Construction Equipment Management and Asset Tracking Terms

Wondering what all this equipment management lingo means? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve broken down some common equipment management and asset tracking terms for you below and grouped them for your convenience so you can familiarize yourself while on your journey to bringing asset management efficiencies to your business.

Asset Tags

Asset tags are pieces of hardware that adhere to assets and enable the transmittal of data from the asset to the software. Examples include QR tags and labels and RFID tags. Tags come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be attached to assets in a variety of methods – adhesives, screws, zip ties, etc.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

Bluetooth Low Energy is a wireless technology which enables the transmission of data from an asset to a smartphone, tablet or other device when the asset is tagged with a BLE beacon. The smart device detects the BLE signal from the beacon and relays it to the software platform. Compared to Classic Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy provides considerably reduced power consumption and cost while maintaining a similar communication range.

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacon

A BLE Beacon is a hardware device that enables the transmitting of BLE signals for identifying location. For use in asset management, a beacon is a tracking device that broadcast their identifiers to an electronic device within range. Users can set beacon ranges and be alerted when a beacon is out of range using FMP (“find me” profile) and PXP (proximity profile) — which allow one device to issue an alert on a second misplaced device. Beacons work well with smartphones as a reader.

Equipment Management

Equipment Management is a comprehensive process that includes asset tracking. Tenna helps you track all the different asset types you own for total asset management that best benefits your business.

Equipment Management Software

Construction Equipment Management Software is a dedicated application used to monitor, record and present data on an asset throughout its life cycle, from procurement to disposal. The software analyzes and provides an organization with a range of information pertaining to specific assets including when, where, how and by whom assets were used, and details such as year, make, model, etc. Asset management software is considered an asset management tool.

Fixed Asset

A fixed asset is an asset that enables its owner to operate and conduct its particular business such as equipment, machinery, property, etc. that is not designed to be consumed during normal operations. Also known as a “capital” asset, a fixed asset is tangible as opposed to liquid.

Fleet

A Fleet is a group of assets operating together or under the same ownership including commercial motor vehicles such as cars, vans, specialist vehicles, yellow iron equipment, buses, trucks and trailers, aviation aircraft, rail units, or watercraft.

Some businesses use the term Fleet to describe only their vehicles. Construction businesses commonly refer to their entire collection of assets as their Fleet. Tenna meets both interpretations by helping you track and manage all the assets in your fleet, including your vehicles, equipment, machinery and more.

Fleet Maintenance

Fleet maintenance is the responsibility of maintaining a company’s fleet so that the assets are available, well-kept and fully functional for use. Maintenance includes routine service or repairs to keep fleet assets healthy, performing to their designed capacity, and can extend a fleet asset’s lifetime. Inadequate fleet maintenance results in unnecessary expenses and decreased productivity.

Fleet Management

Fleet management is an oversight function performed by companies that maintain a fleet that supports business operations. Fleet management can encompass a wide range of functions from initial investment and financing, to assignment and usage, to regulatory compliance, to safety, maintenance and performance oversight.

Vehicle Fleet Management

Vehicle fleet management is an oversight function performed by companies that maintain a commercial fleet of motor vehicles that are relied upon in support of business operations. Fleet management minimizes or eliminates risks associated with vehicle performance and supports compliance with regulations. Fleet management can encompass a wide range of functions, from initial investment and financing, to maintenance and performance oversight, to assignment and usage.

Fleet Tracking

Fleet tracking is a process which automatically monitors the location, status or performance of individual vehicles within a fleet with hardware devices that collect and transmit fleet data to a fleet tracking software system to generate a comprehensive picture of vehicle insights. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic maps via the Internet or on specialized software.

Fleet Size

Fleet size is the number of vehicles, trucks, or other assets that make up a fleet.

Fleet Safety

Fleet safety is a positive, compliant operating condition achieved when fleet managers implement and conduct appropriate precautions within fleet operations, follow regulations and adopt preventive measures to reduce the likelihood of damage, incidents or accidents involving an asset, operator or third party.

Onboard Diagnostics (OBD)

Onboard Diagnostics is a vehicle’s self-diagnostic and reporting capability. In IoT asset tracking, onboard diagnostics can be read remotely from the physical vehicle through fleet tracking devices with OBD II port connections. OBD information is generated by the vehicle’s engine control unit (ECU) and includes the status and condition of vehicle’s subsystems.

Geofence

A geofence is a virtual geographic boundary, defined by GPS or RFID technology, that tracks asset activity within.

Geofence Alert

A geofence alert is an alert triggered by an asset entering or leaving a geofenced area. When tracking assets within a geofence, alerts can be triggered on the asset tracking software when an asset enters or leaves the established boundary.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

GPS is a space-based radio-navigation system. It is a global navigation satellite system that provides geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. Transmitters are connected to a global navigation satellite system and provide asset location, navigation and timing services.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things is a network of physical devices embedded with electronics, sensors or actuators that connect with each other through the internet to collect and exchange information.

QR (Quick Response) Code

A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode, first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used.

QR codes are popular due to their fast readability and greater storage capacity compared to standard barcodes. Applications include product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management and general marketing.

A QR code consists of black squares arranged in a square grid on a white background, which can be read by an imaging device such as a camera and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be properly interpreted. The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both horizontal and vertical components of the image.

Telematics

Telematics includes telecommunication and informatic data about a vehicle’s location generated by GPS and onboard diagnostics and transmitted remotely and automatically. Standard telematics data in asset tracking includes operating hours, location, fuel consumption, odometer readings, etc.

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