4 Tips for Setting Up an Asset Tracking System
Learn more about the importance of proper asset management and how to benefit from deploying an Asset Tracking System.
An Asset Tracking System is a valuable tool for managing and tracking your assets. These assets can include equipment, machinery, load carriers, and vehicles. Proper maintenance and knowing where each of these assets is located and how it is used are essential for any business. After deciding to invest in an Asset Tracking System, you must now deploy it correctly.
Which companies can benefit from an Asset Tracking System?
An Asset Tracking System is necessary for organizations of all kinds. It is especially important for companies that heavily rely on their assets. Companies in manufacturing, transportation, construction, rental, information technology, healthcare, etc., need to monitor and maintain assets. In these industries, a lack of inventory tracking leads to revenue losses and potential damage to customer relationships. An Asset Tracking System has proven to be an effective solution for companies to accurately monitor and verify their resources, equipment, and vehicles.
4 Tips for Successfully Implementing and Using an Asset Tracking System
1. Conduct training for your team during the introduction of the Asset Tracking System.
Conduct comprehensive training for all administrators and users. You will find that your Asset Tracking applications are adopted much faster. Show administrators how to add and remove users, create relevant reports, and customize transaction details, such as alerts and return dates. Inform users about how to efficiently log in and out of devices, report issues, and complete custom checklists.
2. Keep your asset register up to date
An asset register is a resource that details the various assets a company owns and manages, essentially showing which assets the company possesses. This includes institutional facilities, buildings, hardware, software, digital files, etc. Keeping track of the various assets in an organization's inventory can be a daunting task. It contains the value of the assets, the date of acquisition and disposal, and other relevant details, and is essential for better asset planning, accounting, and performance measurement.
If assets are not managed properly and systematically, it can have fatal consequences. When assets are transported from one location to another, they can be lost during transit. Many companies struggle to track the location of their assets, retrieve previous orders of these, or determine which physical assets have been properly decommissioned.
Poor asset management can therefore lead to financial losses or the purchase of unnecessary acquisitions. To mitigate these risks, it is important that asset records are accurate and up to date to monitor the location, condition, and lifecycle of the asset from procurement to disposal.
The first step in creating an accurate asset record is to define and create an inventory of all IT assets. Additionally, a policy and procedure should be established in the asset management and tracking system to ensure that this asset record is kept up to date.
Below are some best practices to keep the asset record up to date:
- Companies must maintain formal processes and standard operating procedures to maintain an accurate asset record.
- Software updates should be included in the inventory record, and all inventory record logs should be automatically and accurately updated to reflect these updates.
- A formal asset hierarchy can help in maintaining an asset record as it is easy for operations and maintenance personnel to handle.
- An annual asset validation should be conducted. This ensures that all newly acquired assets have been logged and old assets have been decommissioned and removed from the asset record. It also confirms that all recorded asset data is correct.
Some benefits of an up-to-date entity record include:
- Complete transparency for the company's stakeholders
- Ensuring that all assets comply with regulatory standards
- Providing an accurate audit trail
- Assisting in tracking and identifying assets
- Preventing loss or theft of assets through accurate location data
- Calculating depreciation
- Estimating maintenance and repair costs
- Determining the total cost of ownership over the entire asset lifecycle
3. Utilize all software features of the Asset Tracking System
The Asset Tracking System software is a digital Asset Tracking System, a centralized system that allows your company to track important details about each asset in real-time. This reduces administrative costs, improves service, and gives your company better insight into resource usage, costs, and maintenance. Each item has a detailed profile containing everything you need to know about that item, including images, product manuals, key contacts, and contract terms.
The Asset Tracking System software with Asset Tracking solutions is equipped with a mobile application that allows managers to check asset information wherever they are, even when they are not in the office. Conveniently from a mobile device, you can search by owner, location, type, or serial number, organize files (to correct owner or location information if needed), take a photo of an item, scan asset information via the barcode scanner, and more.
With applications of the Asset Tracking System software for mobile asset management, you can keep equipment operators, maintenance technicians, managers, and purchasing managers informed so that everyone has the latest information. If it turns out that costs have increased significantly, they can get to the bottom of the causes. The purchasing team can also view the repair history of each vehicle and consider this information when deciding on the next model.
With an Asset Tracking System software, reports on location, usage, and costs can be created quickly and easily. Administrators can also add contract terms, rental, or maintenance information to the reports.
4. Make the most of integrations
In medium-sized and large companies, there are many assets. When asset management is integrated, a comprehensive overview of the assets can be obtained:
- You can make better decisions about assets regarding the asset lifecycle, maintenance, etc. This way, you can automate a task to extend the asset lifecycle. Your equipment runs efficiently, and productivity increases.
- Minimizing downtime can be very helpful in optimizing asset performance.
- An integrated asset management and tracking system helps collect detailed information about assets. It contains details that help organizations make business decisions. These details are very important for companies.
- Errors can affect the accuracy of the data. Without accuracy, data is of no use to companies. However, if you have an integrated system, the likelihood of errors is reduced. When errors are reduced, your financial reports are accurate, and you can also achieve depreciation and tax benefits. Additionally, paperwork is reduced and converted to an automated process.
The importance and impact of proper asset management and tracking system deployment processes
Implementing a single asset management and tracking system can bring numerous benefits to your company. The impacts can vary greatly depending on the business area. As mentioned earlier, these systems should be used throughout the company and not just in specific departments. For example, if you are trying to transfer assets from one business unit to another, it would be better to implement the system in all departments.