What Is an Asset Management System? Benefits & Uses

Companies of all types and sizes rely on numerous assets to support their operations and drive revenue. These assets can range from computers to manufacturing equipment and everything in between, with many organizations utilizing various kinds of assets at any given time. For businesses to keep their assets in working order and maintain workplace safety and productivity, a proper system is imperative. So, what is an asset management system and how can your business create an effective one?

An asset management system is the process companies use to keep track of the items they rely on in their day-to-day operations. This system consists of an organization’s management strategy as well as the tools it uses to implement this strategy. 

In this article, we’ll explore the purpose of asset management along with tips to create your own effective system.

What Is The Purpose of an Asset Management System?

A system not only helps organizations keep track of their valuable items but also serves a greater purpose in terms of operational and financial efficiency. While goals may vary depending on an organization’s industry, there are several common objectives for creating an asset management system.

• Facilitate Efficient Business Operations: Every organization relies on some kind of asset to help employees perform their duties and maintain consistent business operations. Whether it be computers or tool kits, a system ensures your team members have access to available and functional items so you can avoid potential business disruptions.
• Reduce Wasted Resources: Without clear processes and tools to manage your assets, it’s easy for items to get lost in the shuffle. From various spreadsheet versions to improper asset assignment, a lack of strategy and centralized data can lead to lost and underutilized assets.
• Maintain Financial and Regulatory Compliance: An effective system helps you make the most of your investment and track important financial data like depreciation. Standardized historical records help you meet accounting standards and maintain clear audit trails for any industry-specific regulations you adhere to.

How to Build an Asset Management Strategy

Before you invest in asset tracking tools, it’s essential to lay the foundation for your system with a clear strategy. Whether you’re refining your current strategy or building a plan from scratch, here are some best practices to follow.

1. Take Stock of Your Asset Inventory

To create an effective system, you first need to determine what all makes up your inventory. This means auditing all the fixed or long-term assets your team relies on to conduct business, such as computers, office furniture, tools and machinery, and even software licenses. As you take stock of these items, divide them into categories that make sense for your team and record their unique identifiers like serial numbers, current location, and assignee. 

2. Create Standardized Fields

To ensure that all your unique asset data can be seamlessly uploaded to an asset management platform, you must determine which fields you’ll include within each of your categories. You’ll likely have a standard list of fields to track for all asset types, such as asset ID, location, status, and original purchase price. For more technical items like computers, you may include additional fields like model number, operating system, and MAC address to more effectively maintain these devices.

3. Account for the Full Asset Lifecycle in Your Processes

Once you’ve determined your asset fields and categories, it’s time to document your asset management workflows. Similar to fields, some of your workflows may differ between categories, while others like check-in/checkout may be the same across all asset groups. 

Whether you’re adding existing or brand-new workflows to your system, consider every step of an asset’s lifecycle:

1. Procurement: Budgeting for and purchasing your assets
2. Asset Registration: Capturing asset details like type, serial number, specifications, purchase date, warranty, etc.
3. Deployment: Distributing assets to their intended users or departments (this can include asset tagging, assignment, configuration, installation, etc.)
4. Monitoring: Routinely reporting on the status of your assets and conducting audits to ensure data remains accurate
5. Maintenance and Support: Proactively maintaining assets and tracking warranty and support service contract expirations
6. Asset Retirement and Disposal: Retiring assets at the end of their life and recycling or disposing of them properly (e.g., following environmental regulations for disposal of technology assets)
7. Replacement: Purchasing new assets to replace the ones that have been disposed of or are no longer meeting the organization’s needs in terms of cost-effectiveness and technological advancement

By having processes in place for each stage of an asset’s lifecycle, your organization will be adequately prepared to deploy, maintain, and replace inventory items.

4. Determine Key Stakeholders

Once you’ve documented your asset inventory and its relevant workflows, the next step is to determine who will be managing these items and processes. After all, what is an asset management system without people to uphold it? 

Smaller organizations may have a handful of people managing all their assets, while larger companies may have people designated to manage specific asset categories and/or workflows. Whichever option makes sense for you, be sure to document who is in charge of what and make your plan accessible to the entire organization. 

Finding the Right Platform to Power Your Asset Management System

With your processes ready to go, you may be wondering, “what is an asset management system tool that I can use to bring these plans to life?” There are various software solutions in the market that support systems; however, it’s vital to find a flexible platform that can meet your organization’s unique needs and provide an intuitive user experience. 

Here are some tips to find the right tool to implement your asset management system.

1. Customizability

As you search for an asset platform, consider a solution that is highly customizable and can fit your exact assets, categories, and workflows. A tool that matches the way you already work will create an intuitive user experience and increase adoption across your organization. 

2. Time-saving Features Like Automations and Barcoding

While one of the objectives of a system is to save your team time searching for items, it’s important to consider additional time-saving features within a platform. Conditional automations, for example, can trigger audit assignments on a set schedule so your data stays up to date. If you’ve tagged your assets or intend to, a solution with built-in barcode technology can help you create, print, and scan barcode labels.

3. Integrations

To create a single source of truth for your asset data, look for a platform that integrates into your existing tech stack. When you integrate your platform with applications relevant to your asset management workflows (e.g., help desks, network management tools, employee directories, and device managers), your team can avoid duplicate work across multiple solutions.

4. Data Security

No matter the industry you’re in, keeping your asset data secure is essential to your business operations. Consider whether a vendor is cloud-based or on-premise, if it has security certifications like SOC 2 or ISO 27001, and if it offers features like role-based user permissions and single sign-on (SSO).

5. Reporting and Dashboards

For accounting purposes and beyond, your chosen asset management solution should provide customizable reports and visual dashboards. By maintaining full visibility into your key metrics and identifying trends or anomalies through dashboards, your team can make better data-driven decisions.

6. Implementation and Ongoing Support

For a successful system launch, look for a platform that offers robust implementation support. Effective onboarding will ensure all your fields, categories, and workflows are set up correctly and provide training for your asset managers. Plus, ongoing customer support will give you peace of mind if issues arise and require troubleshooting.

Jumpstart Your Asset Management System with Asset Panda

No matter where your company is in its asset-tracking journey, creating a cohesive asset management system takes time and thoughtful planning. Whether you’re looking to streamline existing processes or build your asset management system from the ground up, Asset Panda’s got you covered. 

Asset Panda is a comprehensive platform that helps organizations of all types and sizes bring their asset management systems to life. Our highly customizable software can be tailored to track everything from computers to construction equipment in one centralized place. With unlimited users and role-based permissions, you can easily assign the right roles to the right stakeholders and enhance accountability. 

Asset Panda offers advanced features like conditional automations, AI data mapping, and multi-tenancy to further streamline your workflows. With built-in barcode technology and an easy-to-use mobile app, you can seamlessly create and scan unique barcode labels directly on your mobile device. 

Ready to see how Asset Panda can power your asset management system? Schedule your personalized demo today.