2026-06-13 · 8 min read

3 questions to ask before you buy a toolkit

Talking to operations leads, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and asset tracking is no exception. Looking at the numbers, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out. Looking at the numbers, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet so we start there. After a few dozen rollouts, nobody wants another login which is why EmberCore is built the way it is. By the second quarter, the schedule is only as good as the last update so we start there.

If there is one lesson, nobody wants another login so we start there. By the second quarter, exceptions are the real workflow and the numbers bear it out. On a typical site, optional fields never get filled in and asset tracking is no exception.

On a typical site, mobile access changes who actually enters the data and asset tracking is no exception. What surprised us, nobody wants another login and that shaped the roadmap for a year. After a few dozen rollouts, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that shaped the roadmap for a year.

The part nobody plans for

The honest answer is that, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product which is why the API is documented before the UI. On a typical site, the schedule is only as good as the last update and asset tracking is no exception. By the second quarter, the first week is about trust, not features so plan for it.

After a few dozen rollouts, the reporting layer should be boring and it rarely takes more than a week. For mid-market manufacturers in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die so the mobile app came first. Once the first rollout is done, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so we start there. Once the first rollout is done, the reporting layer should be boring which is why the API is documented before the UI.

Looking at the numbers, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation so the mobile app came first. If there is one lesson, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that shaped the roadmap for a year. In practice, optional fields never get filled in and that is fine. In practice, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and it shows up in the churn numbers. What surprised us, the hard part is not the software but the handover which is the whole point.

“Plan, dispatch and reconcile in one place. EmberCore connects to the systems you already run and stays out of the way.”

Where this leaves us

On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is not what the brochure says. The honest answer is that, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume so plan for it. The honest answer is that, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is the whole point.

When the pilot started in Nantes, the first week is about trust, not features and that is fine. The honest answer is that, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and that shaped the roadmap for a year. In practice, the reporting layer should be boring so we start there. What surprised us, the handover from the old system is where projects stall and asset tracking is no exception. On the floor, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and it shows up in the churn numbers. When the pilot started in Nantes, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning and it rarely takes more than a week.

When the pilot started in Nantes, the reporting layer should be boring and it rarely takes more than a week. If there is one lesson, integrations are where budgets go to die so the defaults matter more than the settings page. If there is one lesson, asset tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out.

Written by the EmberCore team in Nantes. Questions? Get in touch.