Asset tracking is the process of recording information about your company’s physical assets and their location as well as anyone who has custody of an asset. Asset tracking is also known as asset management . There are software providers that build asset tracking software solutions for business and schools. As one of these software providers, we often get asked, “what is asset tracking?”, this blog post will help explain.
Common information collected with an asset tracking solution include:
- Purchase cost & date
- Status (working, broken – needs repair, etc.)
- Who possesses the asset
- Maintenance schedule
- General stats (warranty information, model, vendor, etc..)
- Maintenance work history.
What Are Physical Assets?
Physical assets are items purchased by your company to be used for a long time. Physical assets are also known as fixed assets or tangible assets. It is common for organizations to put an asset tag on each fixed asset. Fixed assets are different from inventory because inventory is meant to be sold or distributed in some way.
Common Examples of physical assets to be recorded in an asset tracking system include:
- Computers
- Phones
- Buildings
- Vehicles
- Furniture
- Equipment
- Machinery
The best asset tracking system should have the capabilities to log different types of assets and track them to their usage such as locations and people. Critical assets also need to be modeled, tagged with an asset label and have a defined asset lifecycle.
Why Track Assets?
The purpose of an asset tracking platform is to save time and money. Tracking assets properly ensures the company has information to optimize asset usage, prevent theft, and conduct preventative maintenance. If you have barcode labels on your assets, it lets people know where to return a lost item and helps keeps equipment organized.
For example, if your company or school is not tracking assets, how do you know where your laptops and mobile devices are? How do you keep an accurate assessment of who was given what and when? If someone requests new equipment, it should be absolutely painless to look up what equipment was issued to them and when. This way, you can avoid unnecessary purchases.
Therefore, when a company knows how its assets are used, it can improve efficiency by reducing time spent looking for assets and save money by decreasing duplicate purchases.
Who Should Use Asset Tracking?
Almost all industries can benefit by tracking their assets. For example:
Education: Loan out laptops or lab equipment to students and faculty.
Healthcare: Track computers and medical equipment. (You likely have seen a barcode attached to assets in a doctors office)
Construction: Track and record maintenance of tools and vehicle across job sites.
Offices: Keep records for employee computers and devices. Non-Profits: Improve audits and make compliance easier.
Fleet Managers: Fleet managers need to keep an inventory of their vehicles. A tracking system will be help manage these mobile assets and help stay on top of maintenance.
In short, anyone currently experiencing wasted time and energy on things other than their main business or educational goals should seriously consider implementing a formal asset management system.
How Can I Implement Asset Tracking?
There are various ways to track your company’s assets. For instance, many companies do it manually with pen & paper, while some use Excel.
However, the most efficient way of tracking assets is to use a dedicated asset tracking software. How to Choose the Right Asset Management Software for Your Company .
Asset tracking software like Reftab gives you the power to record the information you want about your assets, loan items out to employees or students, and run detailed reports on your assets. The next time someone asks, “What is asset tracking” you’ll be able to let them know precisely what it is, how it’s different from inventory and the use of barcodes in working with the best asset tracking technology available.
Reftab is free for your first 50 assets. Start tracking assets today !
