How Equipment Checkout Software Can Support Your Agriculture Clients

Renting agricultural equipment offers many advantages for farmers around the world, especially for smaller organizations that are more subject to economic supply and demand.

Many agricultural organizations don’t have room for long-term storage when it comes to larger pieces of equipment. Seasonal needs require different machinery and storing items that aren’t being used that season can get complicated fast.

Leasing equipment often means balance sheet improvement, which is appealing for farmers who have a narrow profit margin. Your clients turn to you because they know you have the machinery and tools they need to plant, tend, harvest, and package their goods.

However, it doesn’t make sense to just trust that those clients who lease your equipment will return items on their own. While it’s nice to give people the benefit of the doubt, it’s no way to run a business. Instead of trying to remember who has what, or rely on spreadsheets for cumbersome tracking, it makes business sense to implement equipment checkout software.

How Equipment Checkout Software Serves Them

Check-in/check-out procedures are great for your clients. When you have a clear idea of who has your assets at any given time, you can show your customers what’s available with confidence.

Plus, you can inspect your equipment as part of each check-in and check-out process, collecting signatures to keep you protected in case of damage and your clients protected with knowledge of existing issues. When your clients know that equipment status is going to be re-evaluated when they return your machinery, they’re going to be more motivated to take care of your assets.

These procedures ideally will also give them a specific time when they need to have your assets returned. When they know how long they’ll have access to specific tools, your clients are better able to plan out their work schedules. They can prioritize getting the tasks that use this machinery done first, so they won’t be infringing on usage regulations and accruing penalties for late equipment returns.

How Using This Software Serves You

Using a check-in/check-out process in conjunction with your asset tracking database will help you get your items back in good condition. It’ll also help you see where all of your assets should be located at any given time. These procedures can help you see which clients are using what assets, how long they’ve had them, and when you can expect to receive them back.

That way, if an asset goes missing, you can go directly to the client who last had access to it.

Keeping closer tabs on your equipment also means you can better track specific asset lifecycles. Farming equipment often depreciates quickly, and that can mean some assets don’t last as long as others.

Tracking how many specific assets have been used will also help you when it comes time for maintenance. Your clients rely on you to provide functional equipment, and you simply can’t do that without relying on regular maintenance. You can set up your system so it notifies you after a certain number of check-outs have happened. Tracking asset usage in this way creates a consistent level of quality your clients can come to expect from you and can help extend the life of your equipment.

Asset Panda’s tracking software comes with easy check-in/check-out procedures. Each asset can be looked up with a quick barcode scan when your clients check something out. That lets you immediately update your database with client and lease duration information, which sets you up to receive notifications when something is coming due. These notifications can also be automatically sent to your clients, which makes another aspect of your business more streamlined.

Along with this check-in/check-out feature, you can track maintenance through your database as well. It’s easy to attach specific maintenance requirements to individual assets. This can help you keep equipment regulations for the agricultural industry, which can turn into another enticing feature for potential clients to work with you.

Relying on checkout software is a great way to automate your agricultural equipment leasing business. When you streamline different areas of your company, you can provide better customer service, and improve your bottom line.