Asset Management And Tracking Software

Practical tips on selecting asset management software

Got expensive assets? Are they valuable regarding business operations? Asset management and tracking software are designed to help organisations efficiently track and maintain the resources they own. Compiling data on asset value, to assist in reducing purchasing and maintenance spend, while increasing utilisation of the assets you already have.

When an organisation grows, assets are added regularly, and now with assets (especially IT items) being delivered to employee’s homes, it is even more important to keep track of where your assets are located, and who has ownership for accountability.

However, there’s nothing more frustrating than trying to use asset management software that doesn’t meet the requirements of your business needs. Everyone has unique needs, processes and operations. So it makes sense that your asset management and tracking system should be completely flexible around your requirements.

What is modularised software?

Modular software is flexible, allowing organisations to add the business intelligence they need when they need it. Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system’s components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. Choosing a system with modular architecture will make implementation flexible, scalable and most importantly affordable.

A modular software design technique emphasises separating the functionality of a program into independent, interchangeable modules, such that each contains everything necessary to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality.

What is asset management?

Asset management software is also known as asset tracking software or asset management tool. Asset management is a process of monitoring and maintaining assets (i.e. a useful or valuable item). Asset management software is a dedicated application which can manage different types of assets. It provides information about assets, their movement, storage locations, current user and the way they are being used.

See more: Asset register software advantages over spreadsheets

Asset management software records and tracks an asset throughout its life cycle from deployment, operating, maintaining, upgrading to eventual ethical disposal. Once an asset is tagged and deployed, asset management software records maintenance activity and enables easy regular audits, until asset retirement.

In this competitive world, asset management software needs to be able to meet new expectations and your expanding needs. Be able to incorporate new business processes, and grow with your business. If your current solution is unable to leverage the latest technologies, it could be harming your competitive edge.

Signs you’ve outgrown your existing asset management software

What is asset tracking?

Investing in asset tracking software can save your business money in the long-term. The ability to access the right information about your assets at any time makes processes more efficient.

Asset tracking software can be accessed online or through mobile apps and offers a user-friendly interface, that makes it easy to work from anywhere. In other words, everyone on your team (with security access) will be able to access information about assets, on-demand, from any device.

Asset tracking software also frequently offers unlimited fields and configurability to keep up with the changing needs and demands of expanding businesses. The asset tracking platform can help businesses of any size meet their asset tracking goals or solve problems.

Simple integration with legacy systems also allows businesses to import data from existing spreadsheets and create customisable reports.

Enterprise ERP systems often lack functionality and specialised capabilities

What to look for in asset management and tracking software

While many businesses try to use spreadsheets or accounting software for asset management and tracking tasks, they are not designed for this use. Asset management and tracking software provide cost-effective and accurate peace of mind. But not all asset management tracking software offerings are equal, in terms of features and user-friendliness.

Firstly, look for a system that includes elements such as apps for iOS and Android, and Windows devices. Mobile asset management apps make it easy for offsite and after-hours users to access the asset information they need.

Mobile tracking technology

All-inclusive asset management and tracking solutions

A modularised asset management system allow you to:

• plan for productivity
• understand the lifecycle of your assets
• optimise the utilisation of assets
• capture associated costs, record time and money spent
• perform asset audits that are essential for verifying what assets your organisation owns and where they are located
• perform easy check-in/check-out which can greatly improve movement accuracy and reduce the time spent issuing and returning assets
• track multiple quantities of identical assets
• security; not every user should have access to everything

An accurate, real-time asset tracking system is more important than a lot of organisations realise

An accurate, real-time asset tracking system is more important than a lot of organisations realise. For those who do not have control of their assets typically lose considerable amounts of money and time before they begin to seek a better solution. So we put together some of the most important features to look out for in an asset management solution.

Thanks to the cloud and mobile technology, there is a better way. And all that’s needed to track your items in real-time, 24 hours a day, is a mobile phone or tablet app.

Tag, monitor and track all aspects of your assets, tools and equipment across their entire lifecycle, from location to condition and more.

Use RFID and other cutting edge asset tagging identification and tracking technology to drive efficiencies and mobilise your workforce.

Remove the risk of unscheduled breakdowns with preventative maintenance insights and manage faults and service problems with the most efficient mobile tools possible.

Automate check-ins and check-outs to reduce asset misappropriation and minimise asset loss and theft.

See more: Create business value with asset management software

Choosing the right fit for your organisation

When it comes to asset management, certainty depends on a single source of truth. The reliability of your data lives or dies on the quality and integrity of your asset register. It also houses all the fundamental activity of every asset in your business. That’s why a centralised database is critical in helping you make informed decisions and to take complete control of your assets.

Cloud or Web-based asset management

Cloud-based software (can also be called Web-based software) offer many cost and time-saving benefits. For instance; your Information technology people do not need to install the software, perform updates or patches.

Enterprise asset management

Enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions are large-scale enterprise software packages that support business processes, information flows, reporting, and data analytics in complex organisations.

Customisable Data Fields

As mentioned earlier, asset management software is designed to register many different types of assets from different industries. While the software often comes with pre-named data fields, these may or may not apply to your business. Look for software that allows you to change those names as well as create unlimited new fields of your own, so you can record and report on the data that is important to you.

Good asset management software communicates with its users

Trial software with notification/alert functionality and in-app notifications for specific events. Helpful when users need to be notified about past-due actions, maintenance, incidences, audit due and other issues that are important to your organisation.

Customisable reporting

Most asset management software offerings come with a collection of pre-formatted reports. But there will be times when a customisable report is needed. Look for software that allows you to easily create your own reports. It is also useful to have asset management software that allows you to schedule your reports and set up who should receive them.

Look for asset management solutions that allow for images (and your company logo) to be displayed on individual reports. With the use of mobile phones, you should be able to capture images of anything that is important to your operations. Even better if you can associate images for:

• Problems
• People
• Locations
• Suppliers
• Assets, machinery, tools and equipment
• Stock, asset and problem types
• Cost centres, regions, maps, groups
• Tasks
• Products

See more: Choosing asset management and tracking solutions; important considerations

Hardcat asset management and tracking software

Saves you time and money

Controlling your assets will make real savings by enabling you to reduce capital overspend by eliminating unnecessary asset purchases, reducing your overall maintenance costs, and reducing processing costs for purchases and disposals.

Improves your business forecasts and budgets

Improved asset information will enable more accurate planning of future projects and provide more accurate budgeting and forecasting of capital and maintenance expenditure. Knowing the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your asset base, you will be able to allocate funds to other business opportunities with confidence.

Provides peace of mind

Hardcat can help your organisation meet its regulatory compliance obligations by providing accurate and up to date asset information that you can rely on. Our proven project methodology is used around the world to provide asset audits and asset register health checks.

In-built access, function and data security, coupled with comprehensive audit trails ensures the accuracy of the information maintained in the Hardcat system.

Enforces organisational standards for efficiency

Use of integrated software modules and processes delivers organisational efficiencies by enforcing standards across different business functions, which reduces bottlenecks, provides for more efficient ‘hand-overs’, and reduces overall labour costs and time to completion.

Manages risk

Accurate asset information will enable your organisation to reduce the incidence of asset ‘leakage’ or theft with improved tracking and reporting capabilities. Accurate and consistent management of asset maintenance schedules ensures the risk of injury and subsequent litigation is minimised.

Maximises your investment

Hardcat’s modular approach allows you to purchase only the functionality and licences you require for your immediate business needs, without having to purchase functions and seats you do not need. Additionally, Hardcat can interface to other applications so that you continue to benefit from your investment on other critical business systems.

Cost savings at an organisational level

Hardcat software solutions take control of all your asset types and assists in growing your business.

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