Establishing the precision needed
The first question is need, not technology: at what granularity must the asset be found? Building, area, room and shelf levels demand different technology and different infrastructure; overstating the need leaves a project collapsing under its own weight.
- Precision is derived from the time-to-find objective
- Update frequency is a separate requirement
- Indoor and outdoor areas need different solutions
- Tag battery life is a design constraint
Site conditions and technology choice
Metal density, cold storage, humidity and racking change how signals behave. Technology is chosen against field measurement rather than datasheet figures, which is why a pilot area is mandatory.
- The pilot area must represent real conditions
- Metal and liquid density are confirmed by measurement
- Infrastructure needs become clear only after the pilot
- Tag durability is matched to the process
The personal-data boundary
Tracking an asset and tracking an employee are different things with different legal consequences. If the system produces data linkable to a person, the privacy notice, legal basis and retention period are defined at the outset.
- The link between asset and person is separated by design
- A legal basis is written where data becomes personal
- Retention and aggregation are set from the start
- Use beyond the stated purpose is blocked technically
Connecting to the business process
Location data creates no value on its own; it has to attach to a decision. Missing-equipment alerts, maintenance routing, stocktake duration and zone breaches turn location into work.
- Every data flow attaches to a decision or an alert
- Stocktake duration is measured before and after
- Zone rules are written with the process owner
- Output integrates with existing maintenance and inventory systems