Enterprise asset tracking scales with LTE-M innovation

By Ohad Peled

Over the past few years, asset tracking has evolved into a critical business function. According to Custom Market Insights, the global market for asset tracking is expected to reach USD 34.5 billion by 2032. Whether businesses are monitoring global supply chains or keeping tabs on high-value equipment, knowing where assets are at all times has become essential. This visibility enables organisations to optimise supply chains, prevent theft, and minimise operational downtime.

Yet, despite its importance, many asset tracking deployments fall short of expectations due to a variety of technical and commercial challenges. Solutions often struggle to maintain consistent tracking across indoor and outdoor environments. Others consume excessive power, making them high-maintenance and unsustainable at scale. Some are marketed as one-size-fits-all platforms but lack the robustness to cope with the complexities of real-world operations.

The Strategic Value of Asset Visibility

In today’s competitive environment, knowing the location of high-value assets in real time can give businesses a vital edge. Manufacturers, logistics providers, and other operationally intensive organisations are under pressure to deliver lean, efficient services while also meeting increasing customer expectations for speed and transparency. Effective asset tracking provides the infrastructure needed to support these demands.

For instance, real-time visibility helps reduce losses and theft by significantly minimising the risk of asset misplacement or unauthorised movement. It also improves operational efficiency: when assets can be located quickly, workflows accelerate, downtime is reduced, and throughput increases. In addition, data collected through asset tracking can feed into analytics and forecasting models, helping organisations make smarter planning decisions across their supply chains and operational teams.

These benefits extend beyond logistics—they directly contribute to healthier profit margins, better customer service, and reduced business risk.

When Tracking Breaks Down: The Real Challenges

Despite these potential gains, asset tracking solutions frequently fail to deliver the promised outcomes. The reasons are often not purely technical—they are business challenges in disguise.

One of the most common issues is connectivity. Assets frequently move through areas with limited or no coverage—such as factory floors, basement warehouses, or within shipping containers. If a tracking solution loses visibility in these moments, businesses are left guessing rather than knowing.

Battery life presents another significant hurdle. Trackers going offline due to drained batteries is one of the leading causes of system failure. For enterprises managing hundreds or thousands of devices, manual battery maintenance quickly becomes impractical. Systems that demand frequent recharging or battery replacement soon become too labour-intensive and expensive to operate.

Scalability, too, is a common pain point. Many solutions function well in pilot programmes but fail when scaled across the enterprise. Rolling out a solution across tens of thousands of devices is not the same as managing a few dozen. Difficulties often arise in managing large fleets, integrating with existing systems, and adapting the solution for different asset types or operating environments. These constraints hinder not just the IT teams but also impede the operational benefits tracking is supposed to deliver.

Therefore, it becomes imperative to evaluate asset tracking solutions not just for their features, but for how well they align with your business goals. The right solution should be designed to deliver outcomes at scale, across a range of operating conditions, with minimal friction.

LTE-M and NB-IoT: The Game Changers

A key factor in effective asset tracking is reliable connectivity. Traditional cellular technologies often fall short in challenging environments such as industrial zones, dense urban areas, or facilities where assets are constantly on the move.

This is where LTE-M—a low-power wide-area (LPWA) technology purpose-built for IoT—comes into its own. LTE-M provides superior radio frequency (RF) sensitivity and more stable connections than older technologies like Cat-1bis, reducing signal dropouts and improving the consistency of location data, even in RF-challenged environments.

Unlike LoRa, which relies on private networks, LTE-M operates over public cellular infrastructure. This enables seamless roaming and mobility, ideal for enterprises needing real-time visibility across distributed operations without the complexity of managing private network infrastructure.

In short, stronger coverage and fewer outages help ensure timely deliveries, reduce delays, and enable more accurate asset monitoring, no matter where your equipment travels.

Solving the Battery Problem at Scale

Battery performance is one of the most significant determinants of tracking system success at scale. Frequent recharging or battery swaps introduce operational friction, increase costs, and risk asset visibility gaps.

Modern asset trackers are designed with intelligent power management features that maximise battery life. Devices now utilise sleep modes and event-triggered transmissions to reduce energy consumption when assets are idle. When combined with LTE-M connectivity, which is inherently more energy-efficient and tailored to IoT needs, features such as Power Saving Mode (PSM) and extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX) can support battery life of three to five years or more.

Some trackers even incorporate solar panels to recharge autonomously in outdoor environments. The result is fewer service calls, less downtime, and significantly lower total cost of ownership—key enablers for scaling asset tracking across thousands of units without operational disruption.

Building for Scale With Smart Architecture

To deploy asset tracking at scale, businesses need solutions that are built from the ground up to grow. Cloud-native platforms with global cellular support allow organisations to standardise deployments without worrying about region-specific hardware or manual configurations.

Just as important is integration. Scalable solutions should seamlessly communicate with logistics platforms, ERP systems, and analytics tools. Devices built with open APIs and modular firmware support this level of interoperability, simplifying IT management and ensuring that asset data feeds directly into existing workflows.

Configurability is another pillar of scalable tracking. A flexible solution allows businesses to fine-tune reporting intervals, sensor settings, and power profiles based on the requirements of different asset categories. Whether it is mobile equipment, temperature-sensitive goods, or fixed inventory, the ability to adapt tracking parameters ensures better performance and alignment with business goals.

With the right architecture, scaling becomes not a liability but a strategic advantage. A modular approach combining robust hardware, flexible software, and resilient connectivity allows enterprises to manage asset tracking across large, diverse fleets confidently.

Make Asset Tracking a Long-Term Advantage

Asset tracking is not just another IT solution—it is a long-term strategic investment. When implemented effectively, it delivers tangible business outcomes: cost savings, increased agility, improved customer service, and reduced risk.

However, the key to success lies in choosing solutions that function reliably in real-world conditions. That means prioritising platforms that can operate at scale, with minimal maintenance, and in the diverse environments through which your assets travel.

So, the next time you evaluate a tracking platform, resist the temptation to focus solely on standout features. Instead, ask the difficult question: Will this system still meet our operational needs when there are 50,000 devices in the field, and can it consistently support the service levels we promise to our customers?

The author is the Product Marketing Manager at Sony Semiconductor Israel.