Almost every business to some extent requires smart storage solutions. These may be required as asset storage lockers, lockers to hold valuables of the employees, buy online pick-up in-store (BOPIS), or simply mail and parcel lockers.
While there had been conventional methods of doing this as well, today more businesses are adopting smart asset lockers for this purpose. This article discusses brief accounts of how smart asset lockers can elevate your business.
What is a smart locker?
In simple words, smart lockers, or smart asset lockers, as the name suggests, is an electronic locker system. This system uses innovative technology-based solutions to enhance the flexibility of workspace storage.
Whether it’s workspace management issues, secure package deliveries to the right recipients, or asset and equipment protection issues in workplaces, smart lockers provide an innovative solution for everything. They are helping in improving the conventional methods of locker storage which in some way lacked governance, ease of use, maintenance, and accountability.
What are smart asset lockers used for?
Every business employs some essential pieces of device, tools, and equipment that are quite expensive. For businesses whose day-to-day operations include a heavy reliance on the use of such assets and equipment and who have heavily invested in them, smart asset lockers can be of much help. They can be used for –
- Reducing the time required for issuing, collecting, and then issuing again of such devices from shift workers.
- It also helps in keeping a track of individual employees that have been issued with critical assets or equipment.
- Smart asset lockers can evaluate the need of issuing equipment to individual employees, when and for how much time.
- It enables automated self-pickup and returning options of equipment to employees. Manual procedures used traditionally are not only lengthy and unnecessarily time-consuming, but they aren’t that effective as well.
- Employees do not need to fill in any detailed forms or initiate approval procedures. They can simply be issued with the tools upon providing their pin-code or any other electronic form of identification.
- Smart asset locker systems can also generate detailed reports about the usage, and maintenance of assets and equipment. This helps in reducing the resources allocated for purchasing and maintaining such equipment.
How can businesses use smart asset lockers?
There are many uses of smart asset lockers for businesses. Some of these are –
Mail and parcels
With time, the necessity of securing mail and parcels as well as their size and volume, have significantly increased. Smart asset lockers not only have enhanced the distribution methods of mail and parcels, but they have also increased the level of convenience for employees and other recipients.
Secure storage and auto-reservation for individuals and teams
Individuals and teams in a workplace environment may temporarily need secure lockers to store their belongings and other equipment. Smart asset lockers can be an ideal choice in such cases. Not only are they secure, but they can also be remotely reserved to ensure their availability during important tasks.
Asset management
Smart asset lockers have completely revolutionized asset management techniques. It can easily manage important sophisticated tools and devices that employees get issued daily. It can keep a record of check-in and check-out times, conditions in which it was returned such as damaged, broken, or requiring normal maintenance, etc.
Inventory management
Smart asset lockers also help in better tracking, recording, and cost-saving of important or general use consumable items held in the inventory.
BOPIS
Smart asset lockers are being widely used to facilitate online buyers through methods such as BOPIS or ‘Buy Online, Pick-up In Store’. Without the need to book shipping agents or pay shipping fees, customers can easily purchase items online, while choosing to self-pickup them from the smart asset lockers held at the store. Each BOPIS transaction is issued a one-time code which only the buyer knows for accessing the locker and collecting their goods at any convenient time.
Why does your business need to think smart?
Almost all the uses of smart asset lockers discussed above highlight the importance for businesses to adopt smart measures. Major reasons behind this include –
- To provide employees with a sense of relief by assigning them individual lockers to hold their personal belongings while at the workplace.
- For easy and efficient handling of the mail and parcels that arrive every day at the business premises.
- To ensure complete accountability of important and expensive equipment, tools, and assets held by the business
What are the advantages of smart asset lockers?
Besides all the above, smart asset lockers offer the following advantages:
Providing and recording each action involving smart asset lockers in real-time.
Keeping a track of each piece of equipment in the most accurate manner.
Ensuring proper and total accountability of employees using important tools and assets owned by the business.
Automated procedures that involve self-service, thus avoiding unnecessary delays of any kind.
24/7 availability for convenience. No time restrictions of any kind.
Try American Locker’s Smart Asset Locker line to help elevate your business TODAY!