Optical character recognition is the process of converting text images into machine-encoded text (OCR). OCR has its origins in telegraphy. It is commonly used to enter data from printed paper data records such as passports, invoices, bank statements, computerized receipts, business cards, mail, static data printouts, or any other suitable documentation. And, while OCR has evolved and changed over time, it has most notably impacted Intermodal Yard Visibility.
In the beginning, OCR had a lot of promise. Nonetheless, OCR had its drawbacks. Over the years, there have been many promises made but few reliable deliveries. The OCR industry has historically made a bad name for itself with less than stellar accuracy rates.
Would a company be satisfied with tracking 50% of its inventory?
No!
A Modern-Day Solution:
Netarus, a company dedicated to finding creative solutions and applying the most recent innovations and technologies to the logistics and material handling industries, created SiteTrax™. The ground-breaking technology collects asset IDs from intermodal containers and chassis, as well as their location, and sends this data to any database, enterprise ledger, ERP, or transportation management system.
How SiteTrax™ works:
With the click of a button on virtually any mobile device or the most recent virtual gate solution, a company can capture container assets in real-time. When an asset is captured, its ID is automatically entered into any public, enterprise, or distributed database, such as Yard Management Systems (YMS) and Terminal Operating Systems (TOS). Data collection is as simple as pressing a button on a mobile device.
OCR had fallen out of favor in the industry due to its well-documented flaws. With the introduction of SiteTrax™, OCR is rapidly repairing its image and may be future-proofing OCR in terms of asset tracking.
SiteTrax™ also simplifies while expanding OCR beyond borders. Likewise, no power is required on each asset, only a simple label is needed, the communication protocol does not require constant updates, and the scope is international.
And, while GPS pucks are great for local tracking and real-time tracking, and RFID is excellent for closed ecosystems, the scale of reach is limited to a single company or supply chain. The scale of reach of OCR with SiteTrax™ is global and works across all companies.
How Effective is SiteTrax™? A Case Study:
This all sounds promising, but how does OCR future-proof asset tracking?
The team at SiteTrax™ wanted to find out so they conducted a case study looking at integrated tools to increase throughput and efficiencies. The results proved significant.
The test looked closely at a third-party logistics company that had seen a spike in its business with growth in the intermodal shipping supply chain. As container imports increased in 2021, the trucking and drayage provider serving ports on the United States’ East Coast was in high demand. The number of containers in its yard at its Chesapeake, Virginia, facility reached previously unthinkable heights. The property, which consisted of four separate yards and nearly sixteen acres, was bursting at the seams.
The case study demonstrates how the SiteTrax™ OCR platform and data captured can improve an organization’s operations, productivity, and even morale. Furthermore, once the SiteTrax™ data was integrated into the customer’s yard management system, the results were self-evident.
To name a few of the positive outcomes, the logistics company reduced truck turn-times by up to six times, reduced yard checks by one-third, and saved the back-office staff saved an average of three hours per day. According to the study, SiteTrax™ data generated by OCR increases productivity while decreasing stress in intermodal shipping. (To learn more about the case study, follow this link.)
Future Proof Asset Tracking:
Because SiteTrax™ technology is entirely user-friendly with no learning curve, does not require constant updates to the device, uses simple labeling, is international in scope, and provides rapid, accurate data virtually instantaneously, it is able to overcome most, if not all, the shortcomings previous OCR systems had. Likewise, as clients begin to experience the benefits of using SiteTrax™, they will see that the revolutionary technology is something that will carry them into the future because of its simplicity partnered with accuracy and forward-thinking approach to asset tracking.
SiteTrax™ uses OCR (optical character recognition) to automatically pull asset ID, geolocation, and timestamp data from virtually any camera and seamlessly integrate it into any ERP or database. When it comes to knowing the precise location of assets, this is a game changer that will be an invaluable tool for a variety of businesses for years to come.
Yes, OCR with SiteTrax™ is future-proof asset tracking.
Are you ready to future-proof your asset tracking?
