Asset Management is important for any organization to make management more efficient and unlock accountability. To be able to manage assets one needs to know the nuances of asset management so that one can choose from several options and decide on the most convenient management for their business organization.
In order to implement the asset management best suited for your venture, you need to take into account the nature of the business organization, the skill groups that constitute the entire workforce, and also the general client it deals with.
Managing assets is imperative for decision-makers in the supply chains, Chief Operating Officers, and other executives in companies that deal with physical assets, an organization that conducts fieldworks, which involve regular lending out of equipment. In short asset management becomes important when the organization deals with various equipment on a day-to-day basis.
The management of assets is as diverse as the number of equipment that the organization has at its disposal. Therefore, it is important to have an all-encompassing knowledge about which management model is suitable for the totality of manageable assets that the organization has.
What is Asset Management?
The term asset management is an expansive one. It tends to be for the most part used to talk about types of wealth, however, for our explanation, we’ll characterize asset management as a model of managing, overseeing, and increasing the output from equipment, assets, and holdings.
Management of assets is coordinated across departments and specific levels of organizational involvement: From Operating Officers and managers to engineers and accountants to system operators and professionals in the IT sectors.
External autonomous bodies such as clients and contractors can also use asset management to maximize the efficiency and productivity of their organization by making sure the assets are deployed in a sustainable manner, retaining their use value for a much longer time period.
Management of assets, if it can be used judiciously, can help decision-makers, executives, and stakeholders to actually predict the longevity and efficiency of the asset that is in use.
Asset management mostly encompasses- overseeing assets, making the right investment decisions, maintenance and service schedule organization, regularly scanning the items that are used, update and maintain inventory. It is important to record and organize the maintenance and investment data on the company’s overall assets. Data management is pivotal, as the accuracy of the data collated and analyzed can prove useful to strategize an efficient model of asset management.
The Importance of Asset Management
Other than economic benefits, organizations are able to derive a range of benefits that improve the overall functionality of the company.
A well-implemented asset management model allows a stream of data on inventory, service schedule, etc. that allows real-time asset tracking. This also increases the accountability of the employees regarding the resources that they are using. This also helps improve the maintenance scope of the equipment that is in use.
Digital asset management is an updated model of management that is more efficient and accurate than the previous modes of management. Instead of relying on inaccurate data from a manual survey, it is better to digitally assess the integrity of the assets in order to know if they are functioning properly.
Centralized location and traceability of the asses reduce the scope of mismanagement and problems created from inaccurate data management. Proper data management allows for all the departments and sectors of the company to be under a common governing body that takes the responsibility of the asset spread across different sectors and departments within the company. A centralized managing body even allows for synergy within branches and sectors located internationally in different time zones.
Thus asset management also helps to make production time efficient and sustainable. It saves resources and the overall time required by the company.
The cost allotted for operating is substantially reduced. Due to well-planned services, automated alert system, the capital invested for maintenance is cut down drastically.
Digital asset management is much more reliable than a manual mode of data entry, where the number of ghost assets in inventory is reduced. This is made possible due to the traceability of every piece of equipment digitally, therefore making every user accountable for the resource that they are in charge of. This significantly reduces the scope of theft and loss.
Such a system comes of use in the implementation of risk and regulatory performance plans.
By improving overall output, and moving towards increased efficiency, the company can check on the adverse environmental impact. Proper management makes the system of production more sustainable. It improves safety and the overall reputation of the organization.
Asset Management- How it works
Asset management is a process that works on multiple gradual levels. It is an automatic process, which requires manually setting up the initial procedures. Once it is set into motion the process of recording inventory, tracking equipment, providing service reminders, and all the other levels function independently.
The initial preparation of the automated asset management process also has certain benefits. For example- the tagging of item. In this process, every article or equipment has labelled and provided with its own unique identification code, for example, a barcode or a quick response (QR) code, which can be scanned in the future to track its daily performance. During labelling, it is possible to locate redundant duplicate stocks or locate a missing article. In this manner, capital and resources are not squandered, by putting more stress on the asset inventory management.
Asset Management- types and characteristics
To find out which model of asset management suits your venture the best, we provide you with some of the dominant models of management and their specifications. If your company has a large in-house inventory, investing in asset management software like GPS tracking might not yield any output to your venture. Hence, it is important that you decide on an appropriate model for your organization.
- Digital Asset Management (DAM) – Digital media is one of the foremost industries that primarily produce non-tangible digital content. DAM aims to manage digital content and media. It is a method of efficient storage and processing of digital content.
The primary activities are management and storage of intellectual properties (IP), creating proper contingency storage for copies, and so on.
- Fixed Asset Management- Fixed asset management is important for almost any kind of company. For example, it is necessary at a rudimentary level even for a supply chain industry.
What constitutes fixed assets are the primary installation and the tools that are used to generate the company’s revenue through production. These are mostly the tools and equipment that directly or indirectly augment production. Fixed assets constitute appliances, plumbing and are often referred to as PPE (property, plant, and equipment).
- IT Asset Management (ITAM) – this management model focuses on the efficient deployment and use of software and hardware.
The primary assets this model works with are tangible assets such as computers, printers, routers, accessories, and intangible assets such as software like the operating system, or industrial grade software and the periodical renewal of a license, etc.
Asset management helps to manage a range of assets that the company uses to produce products and services. Since these assets are the primary objects alongside the workforce, efficient management and allocation of resources are important for the organization’s growth.
