WHITE PAPER

Delivering end-to-end
asset visibility
The next generation of IoT-driven asset track and trace
Traditionally, asset management has been hampered by poor
visibility into asset usage and condition. This whitepaper
examines how the Internet of Things (IoT) and the digital twin
are revolutionizing and digitizing asset management.

Contents

Delivering end-to-end asset visibility

Digitally re-inventing asset track and trace3

What is IoT-driven asset track and trace?

3

Key use cases for IoT-enabled asset track and trace

5

The central role of the digital twin

6

Creating the Digital Ecosystem

7

Deploying the IAM-driven IoT platform

8

An evolutionary approach to IoT-driven asset visibility

9Conclusion

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The need for asset visibility

Digitally re-inventing asset track and trace

The results of poor asset visibility
can be extremely costly:

Digital transformation is now a core activity for every organization. A recent
Accenture survey found 63% of executives saying they were accelerating theirtransformation initiatives(1). One area where the move from paper-based, manual
work-flows to automated, digital processes offer the most benefit is asset track andtrace. Implementing IoT-driven track and trace not only improves your current asset
management performance, but it also introduces entirely new capabilities to reduce
costs and risk, improve efficiency and drive innovation.

• Downtime costs auto makers up to$22,000 per minute(3)• 70% of organizations don’t know
when equipment is due formaintenance, upgradeor replacement(4)• 30% of preventive maintenanceactivities occur too frequently(5)• Construction firms lose up to $1
billion in lost assets each year(6)• U.S. nurses spend up to 40 hours
each month searchingfor equipment(7)• Up to a third of the assets thatorganizations list don’t
actually exist(8)On the face of it, the questions around asset track and trace are very simple: Whatassets do we have? Where are those assets? How are the assets being used andhow are they performing? Do any assets need repaired, replaced or retired? Are all
our assets properly accounted for and compliant? Simple questions but gaining thevisibility into your assets to answer those questions has been anything but simple.
The most common approaches to asset management have revolved aroundspreadsheets, handwritten lists and visual inspections in order to track the location,
status and performance of assets. In many cases, organizations are still operating inthis manner are well aware of just how labor-intensive, error-prone and inefficient it is.
Even where more sophisticated asset management systems are deployed,organizations are often not able to answer those basic questions effectively as theylack the necessary real-time data to realize the benefits from the asset data.
Without complete asset visibility, it’s not possible to optimize asset performance orknow the health of each asset. As a result, assets are under-utilized, fall through themaintenance cracks or fail completely. Staff do not know where assets are locatedand may spend hours searching or even purchase unnecessary replacements. This
also leaves the asset vulnerable to damage and theft.
In addition, it’s difficult to know when an asset needs to be replaced or, even, when
it has been replaced. Many organizations find themselves with ‘ghost assets’ thatthey are still paying for and insuring long after they have been retired.

What is IoT-driven asset track and trace?
Today, asset track and trace is one of the strongest use case for IoT investment
with estimates suggesting there will be over 260 billion IoT tracking devices
deployed worldwide by 2027(2).
The development of IoT has brought the physical asset into the digital world. By
adding IoT devices, like sensors and accentuators, to the asset, you can receive
real time data on every aspect of the asset – including inventory levels, location,
condition and performance.
Attached to individual assets, IoT devices capture, and report detailed information
about current asset conditions as well as where and how they’re being used.
This information is fed back to a central IoT platform either in real time or atscheduled intervals.
Previously, digital asset track and trace solutions used RFID tags to deliver basic
information back into the system. However, IoT devices have matured to offer
greater intelligence to capture and process information at the edge. It has enabledorganizations to gain deeper and broader insight into the asset – not only thelocation and status but the condition and real time performance levels.

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This opens the potential to deliver the asset information not only to the central
team but also to everyone who needs it such as plant operators, engineers andmaintenance staff. A central IoT platform collecting data from all assets within an
organization delivers a holistic, real time picture of cross-site and inter-site assets
to quickly identify issues and bottlenecks and optimize asset performance. For
example, you can quickly see how two similar assets are operating at different
plants and amend production schedules accordingly.
With the level of highly granular asset data available through IoT, anorganization’s track and trace strategy will receive many benefits including:• Complete visibility of inventory within the organization• Increase speed and efficiency of the inventory process• Eliminate human error through automated asset management• Real-time tracking of asset status, condition and location• Improve the flow of assets along the supply chain• Optimize asset utilization and performance within a plant and acrossthe enterprise• Eliminate costly and non-compliant ghost assets• Minimize risk from theft or damage• Accelerate process and production adjustments based on asset condition• Categorize and analyze asset failure to identify root cause faster• Move from scheduled and preventative to condition-based and build topredictive maintenance• Combine IoT data with other asset data and documentation within a digital twin tocreate a 360-degree asset view
• Use the newly created digital twin as the foundation for the management ofassets throughout their lifecycle
Ultimately, IoT-driven asset track and trace is now offering new, innovative businessmodels and revenue streams to forward thinking companies. By being able tomonitor and control asset performance, for example, a manufacturer can begin tooffer high value, predictive maintenance services to its customers.

Figure 1: The benefits of IoT asset track-and trace
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Key use cases for IoT-enabled asset track and trace
Overcoming the challenges of traditional asset track and trace starts with applying
IoT to transform asset operations and management. This disruptive technology
allows organizations to go further with what can be achieved in a number of key
areas including:Inventory management
The first step in asset track and trace is to know what assets your organization
actually has. You need to know how much inventory you own, where yourinventory resides, and the status of your inventory. This is key to reducing the timeassociated with lost or misplaced assets. It helps prevent inventory theft or loss
that is estimated to cost over $1 billion to the US construction industry alone(9). In
addition, it removes the risk of ghost assets incurring cost and compliance issues
long after they have been removed. According to Forrester, anywhere between
10% and 30% of lost, stolen, or broken assets are still on balance sheets in the
average organization(10). IoT-enabled inventory management systems automate
manual processes, reduce errors in recording inventory location, movement andtransactions as well as providing real-time visibility into the entire asset portfolio
for the organization.
Asset tracking
IoT allows you to track all assets as they move through production facilities or yoursupply chain. IoT asset tracking solutions continuously record the location andmovement of assets - from individual tools to complete pieces of machinery – andperiodically or in real-time displays that information on pre-defined dashboards toquickly allow everyone to see where the asset is and its condition. In addition, many
asset tracking IoT platforms can be configured to automatically send out warnings
or notices with location information when an asset hasn’t moved to the next stageof production within the correct amount of time. GPS and geo-fencing functionality
allows you to continuously monitor mobile assets and notify you immediately when
the asset moves outside the defined area or deviates from the defined path.
Asset utilization and performance
IoT-driven track and trace capabilities help you to receive and interpret granular
data on asset usage, wear and tear, inventory levels, and asset turnover. Based on
this information, the technology can provide automatic notifications directly fromthe asset related to its status and condition. You can quickly and easily see when an
asset is being under-utilized or where it’s operating outside its optimum operating
conditions. With a complete view across all assets, it’s possible to optimize asset
performance at enterprise levels and switch operations to increase productivity andextend the lifetime of the assets. In addition, the insight into asset condition andperformance allows you to make informed decisions on maintenance, purchasing
and asset retirement.
Condition-based and predictive maintenanceIoT devices can help predict, plan and take proactive steps for maintenanceactivities like parts repair or equipment failure before it occurs. Instead of relying on
preventive or scheduled maintenance that can lead to equipment being serviced too
often or, alternatively, not soon enough. With IoT-enabled monitoring, you have realtime information on the condition of every asset. You can pre-define notifications
and alerts when the piece of equipment exceeds its operating parameters.

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That information can be made securely available to your own maintenanceengineers as well as transient or contract teams. Deloitte suggests that poor asset
maintenance can reduce production capacity by up to 20% (11) so the transition to
condition-based maintenance powered by IoT-enabled monitoring translated tomany millions in revenue for medium and large organizations.
Production flow monitoring
IoT sensors can monitor your production lines and analyze everything from machine
performance to product packaging. You can get insights from production data
and use it to make the necessary equipment or process changes. The information
gathered provides insight into asset profitability at a product unit level. To boost
overall equipment efficiency, organizations can deploy track and trace service tomeasure the real-time performance of inputs like production, transportation andwarehousing. Through production flow monitoring, you can gain visibility to improve
the lead times necessary to assemble all the parts required in manufacturing.
Excessive lead times are quickly identified to remove bottlenecks due to parts being
misplaced or absent.
Supply chain management
IoT real-time asset tracking solutions help manufacturers extend their just-in-time
manufacturing processes to their suppliers. Integrating IoT with other supply chain
applications improves cross-channel visibility and improves decision-making. It
helps in building collaboration across supply chain partners including suppliers and3PLs as each party has in-depth information on the location and condition of assets– from individual products to containers to trucks and airplanes - as they passthrough each segment in the supply chain.

The central role of the digital twin
A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical object, instantiated as asoftware object that mirrors a unique physical object's characteristics, performanceand condition. Built upon a cloud-based IoT platform, the digital twin accepts datafrom IoT devices and other data sources to deliver a system of record for the asset.
It provides a foundation for the information sharing and collaboration necessary to
manage and optimize the asset throughout its lifecycle.
The digital twin should include the following elements:• Initial asset configuration - The data that establishes the properties andcharacteristics that the asset originally has. This is usually developed as a model• Operational data - The data from the connected asset changes over time.
This includes historical data for analysis and insight and real-time data for
maintenance and asset optimization• Data integration - Integration with other business and operational systems
to gain access and connectivity to supporting data and documentation on theasset. This provides a 360-degree view of the asset and ensures that all of theinformation about the asset is correct – wherever it resides – over its lifetime• Bi-directional communication - Some IoT platforms give the ability to both
receive and send data to the IoT device allowing for remote maintenance andremedial work to take place quickly from the digital twin

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The IoT platform is central to the digital twin. It receives the IoT data from thedevice, aggregates and cleans the data and makes it available to the people whoneed it as well as preparing it for analysis to improve operational and businessperformance. In this way, customized and targeted IoT applications – such as asset
track and trace or monitoring – can be layered upon the digital twin (See figure 2).

Figure 2: Digital Twin: The foundation for asset track and trace

Creating the Digital Ecosystem
As well as managing the relationships of IoT sensors and devices, the digital twinneeds to accommodate and securely enable the numerous roles and personas thatmust interact with the asset. This requires the seamless and secure connectivity
and communication of connected people, systems and things. This provides aholistic and ‘identity-centric’ approach to bringing big data, IoT, analytics andArtificial Intelligence together to achieve end-to-end asset management and deliver
the transformational use cases like track and trace and remote monitoring.

Connected People

Connected Systems

Connected Things

The identity personas and lifecycleof everyone that interacts with yourdigital assets and connected products.
– employees, suppliers, customers.

The secure sharing of information
between systems in the right format at
the right time and to the right device.

Advanced IoT services for the many
devices and things that need toconnect and exchange information.

In effect, the organization is creating a ‘Digital Ecosystem’ - of which IoT devices
are only one component (See figure 3). The ecosystem is built around a single
digital backbone that connects and integrates with any person, device or enterprisesystem across a highly complex environment both within a single plant or across theentire enterprise.

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Figure 3: The ‘Digital Ecosystem’

Deploying the IAM-driven IoT platform
The basis for deploying and managing a digital ecosystem is the enterprise-wide
IoT platform. This central platform enables organizations to quickly build and deploy
new IoT applications, such as digital asset inventorying, track and trace and remotemonitoring. The key for all organizations looking to fully exploit a cloud-based
IoT platform is to provide security for the entire digital ecosystem while ensuring
everyone and everything has the access it needs.
Taking an ‘identity-centric’ approach to IoT allows for the development of an
IoT platform that enables the rapid development and delivery of a wide range ofcomponents to drive comprehensive asset intelligence, tracking, monitoring andeventually transformational insights (See figure 4). Key capabilities of the IoT
platform include:• Secure device management - Protects all operating assets by automatically andsecurely provisioning, managing and retiring IoT devices across your asset base
• Ecosystem integration - Integrates and delivers seamless information flow
across industrial enterprise systems. This enables the seamless exchange ofsensor-based information with key business systems - such as ERP, WMS andTMS – and with people inside and outside of the organization• Unified messaging - Aggregate information from disparate systems to obtaina single data feed to enable any-to-any communication. This provides complete
transparency, governance and data tracking and visibility• Actionable insights - Apply artificial intelligence and machine learning tomonitor condition, boost performance and maximize availability of serviceable
equipment and assets

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The IAM-driven IoT platform enables vast amounts of structured and unstructured
data from a wide variety of sources to be rapidly ingested and aggregated in large
data sets. A unified data model allows for all data to be normalized across the entire
ecosystem. The platform can then apply a series of services to the data to meet theasset management needs of your organization.

Figure 4: The IAM-driven IoT platform

An evolutionary approach to IoT-driven asset visibility
With 360-degree asset visibility you gain the ability to track, monitor, and visualize
the location and condition of assets across people, systems, and things. OpenText
has created a comprehensive suite of IoT-driven asset management solutions todeliver visibility and control. Built on the OpenText IoT platform, it comprises four
components (See Figure 5) that build incrementally to allow you to evolve you
track and trace capabilities as your business requires. You can achieve end-to-end
operational visibility with:

Figure 5: Building comprehensive IoT asset track and trace capabilities

Asset Intelligence
OpenText Asset Intelligence allows you to transition from paper to digital asset
inventorying. It allows you to create and manage an accurate, real time inventoryof all your assets. It enables you to collect a rich set of information – both IoT andrelated data and documentation – to build a digital twin of the asset and is thestarting point for creating additional use cases from this newly created digital twin.
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It securely orchestrates and disseminates the digital twin data to key stakeholders,customers or regulators based on their role in the asset’s operation. With AssetIntelligence, you have effective inventory management that increases asset usage,and improves inventory turns while decreasing costs.

Asset Track
Building on the advantages gained from Asset Intelligence, the Asset Track solution
uses location-based services to pinpoint an asset’s location in real time. You areable to track the location and movement of assets in real time to reduce production
bottlenecks, optimize routes and reduce lost, stolen or misplaced assets. Oncean asset is registered, a location-based sensor or device is attached to the asset
allowing its location to be tracked in real time. Using Asset Track, you can ensure
you maximize your current asset operations and eliminate cost overruns due toadditional time spent locating existing assets for processing or maintenance.

Asset Monitor
As assets are used, their condition, health and performance can be viewed as
more important than its physical location. The Asset Monitor solution allows you
to monitor the condition of an asset across a wide range of variables - such as
operating range, capacity utilization, temperature and humidity – to understand how
an asset is being used across operations and facilities. It gives you visibility of all
similar assets in the organization to gain insight into asset optimization. The solution
provides the basis to move towards condition-based and eventually predictive
maintenance operations. Building on the digital twin, it gives an accurate, real timesystem of record to ensure that engineering and maintenance staff are given theright information while in the office or the field.

Asset Insights
Understanding how an asset is utilized can be extremely beneficial to anorganization. The Asset Insights solution empowers organizations to visualize all
their assets as an ecosystem, using an exception dashboard to quickly identify
underperforming assets or those that are missing in action. Combining IoT and
non-IoT data within the digital twin allows for more effective planning and execution
in areas such as inventory management, the reducing of operational bottlenecks,
asset utilization and performance as well as providing a basis to develop new IoT
data-driven revenue streams.

Conclusion
The potential for IoT-enabled asset management is enormous. Whether pinpointing
inventory, detecting changes to asset condition, tracing lost or stolen goods
or optimizing your supply chain, IoT-enabled asset management solutions
provide the tools to improve efficiency in a wide range of industries dramatically.
However, achieving full success when implementing the new generation of asset
management must be carefully planned and executed. OpenText’s IoT-enabled
asset management solutions allow you to create a digital twin of all your assets andincrementally layer capabilities to reach 360-degree asset visibility at the pace andcost that suits your business and the developing use cases.

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References
1) https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/technology/_acnmedia/ThoughtLeadership-Assets/PDF-4/Accenture-Tech-Vision-2021-Full-Report.pdf2) https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4769740/industrial-iot-assettracking?utm_source=CI&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=f5gxxb&utm_
campaign=1243699+-+Industrial+IoT+Asset+Tracking%2c+2019%3a+By+2027%2
c+There+Will+Be+267+Million+Active+RFID%2fAsset+Trackers+in+Use%2c+World
wide&utm_exec=joca220prd3) https://due.com/blog/understanding-the-financial-cost-of-downtime-inmanufacturing/4) https://iiot-world.com/predictive-analytics/predictive-maintenance/the-actualcost-of-downtime-in-the-manufacturing-industry/5) https://www.onupkeep.com/learning/maintenance-types/periodic-maintenance6) https://www.constructconnect.com/blog/high-cost-construction-equipmenttheft7) https://www.healthcarefacilitiestoday.com/posts/MGM-Solutions-6000-HoursPer-Month-Wasted-on-Nurses-Finding-Lost-Equipment--17611
8) https://www.fmis.co.uk/ghost-assets/9) https://www.constructormagazine.com/solving-a-billion-dollar-problem/10) https://www.forrester.com/report/Building-Your-Digital-Business-Case-TheROI-Of-Track-And-Trace-Solutions/RES139255?objectid=RES139255
11) https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/industry-4-0/using-predictivetechnologies-for-asset-maintenance.html

About OpenText
OpenText, The Information Company, enables organizations to gain insight throughmarket leading information management solutions, on-premises or in the cloud. For
more information about OpenText (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTEX) visit: opentext.com.

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