Asset Management
Assets can be 'fixed' or 'roaming'. Assets in a fixed position include items such as air conditioning and heating systems; production
machinery; and any equipment that is fixed permanently in position.
Roaming assets on the other hand may move on a frequent or even an occasional basis. Examples include vending machines; watercoolers;
silos for the construction or chemical industry; plant & equipment that is rented or hired to customers; refrigerated cabinets;
and coffee machines. Basically, it includes any equipment that can be provided to a customer on a chargeable or non-chargeable basis.
Our 'Talking Asset' technology enables you to manage even the most basic piece of equipment and to monitor all of its activity
from acquisition, to provision to customers, and to eventual disposal. It is therefore possible to calculate its life cost
and to compare that to its life revenue.
Within the Enterprise edition of this software, assets can be tightly integrated with contracts to allow for functions such as
automated invoicing for rental, hire purchase or sales contracts.
Unique Features
This module can be used to manage even the most basic piece of equipment. The unique features of this module include:
- Acquisition to disposal - all activity associated with an asset from acquisition to disposal can be captured and analysed
- Handheld integration - ideally handhelds are used to track all activity - however the solution will work without out them, but the risks of inaccuracies are increased
- Retagging - an asset can be given a new serial number if for example it has been recladded - its details can be retrieved by querying any of the serial numbers that have been associated with it
- External assets - equipment supplied by third parties can be maintained
- Attributes - attributes such as colour and branding can be associated with an asset
- Components - the components that make up an asset can be recorded and monitored
- Scrapped asset history - history is maintained for all assets, even those that have been scrapped
- Conversions - assets can be converted from one type to another, but the history is still maintained
- Contracts - assets can be linked to contracts for billing and service contract purposes
The remainder of this page contains further information on the features and functions of the asset management module.
Current Asset Location
Knowing the location of each asset is a simple task when using OnePosting. There are a number of ways to access an asset:
- Serial number - input the serial number of an asset and its current location will be displayed
- Customer - all assets on-site with a customer can be displayed
- Warehouse - view all assets in a warehouse
A key feature when retrieving an asset is that it can be retrieved using any of the serial numbers by which it is current or
by which it was previously known.
Reports can also be run to show the location of assets.
Asset Attributes
As well as recording the serial number and model of each asset, there is other information that can be recorded about each one.
This includes:
- Attributes - these are user definable values and can include items such as colour or cladding
- Components - discrete components within an asset can be recorded, and can be serviced or replaced
- Accessories - these are items that are attached to an asset but are not an integral component - examples include point of sale equipment attached to an asset
These attributes make it possible to examine all assets clad in a specific branding for example, or to report on the reliability
of specific components.
Asset Functions
The system supports many types of asset activity including:
- Registration - assets can be 'registered' (recorded on the system) as they are discovered - this is particularly useful in
situations where assets have been acquired from a third party, or where control of assets was lost before the implementation of the system
- Audit - unless handhelds are used to record all asset movements, errors can be made with serial numbers - the audit function enables these errors to be corrected
- Conversion - an asset can be converted from one model to another with a history maintained of the changes made
- Scrap - when an asset is beyond economic repair, it can be scrapped - the reason for scrapping is recorded
- Missing - if an asset goes 'missing' it can be recorded as such until such time as it is found or scrapped
- Third party equipment - any third party equipment that is serviced or maintained can be recorded on the system
- Move account - in some situations, equipment may have to be ported from one account to another, e.g. a new business
taking over from an existing one - the equipment and its history can be moved, while a link and history is maintained on the
original account
- Change configuration - change the components or accessories associated with the asset
- Change serial number - apply a new serial number to an asset - the history of previous numbers is maintained
These attributes make it possible to examine all assets clad in a specific branding for example, or to report on the reliability
of specific components.
Asset History
The history of an asset begins when it is acquired or registered for the first time. It is then updated with each activity
with which it is involved. The use of handheld computers greatly increases the accuracy and timeliness of information.
Events recorded in asset history include:
- Acquisition - manufacturer; date of manufacture; date of receipt
- Customer delivery - customer; date of delivery; driver & vehicle that delivered; customer signature
- Customer collection - customer; date of collection; driver & vehicle that collected; customer signature
- Warehouse movements - date of movement; source warehouse; destination warehouse
- Service - date and time of service; service engineer; fault reported; fault found; parts replaced; customer signature
- Exchange - date of exchange; customer; asset in; asset out; driver & vehicle; customer signature
- Sanitisation - date and time of sanitisation; sanitiser; customer signature
- Swap - date and time of swap; driver & vehicle; asset out; asset in; customer signature
- Sanitisation swap - date and time of sanitisation swap; sanitiser; asset in; asset out; customer signature
- Scrap - date and time scrapped; reason for scrapping; operator who scrapped asset
- Conversion - date and time of conversion; original model code; new model code; operator who converted asset
- Audit - date and time of audit; operator who undertook the audit
- Write Off - (only used as a last resort when an asset cannot be located) - date and time of write-off; reason for writing off; operator who wrote off
Service Activity
The process of logging a service call is very straightforward.
- Retrieve customer - locate the customer on the system using the 'Fast Find' function
- Review asset list - all assets associated with the customer are displayed
- Select asset - tag an asset, or if the number is unknown, record a service call without specifying the exact asset
- Record reported fault - select from a list of fault codes and add free format text
- Assign call to engineer - the service call is then assigned to an engineer either when taking the call or later by a scheduler
The handheld application linked with OnePosting displays the service call, and also displays all assets at the customer site
when the engineer visits. The engineer records the actual fault found; time on site; and parts used. This information is uploaded
back into OnePosting and updates the asset history.
Contracts
If assets are supplied to customers under contract, the contract terms can be recorded on the system in the Contract Management
module. When displaying an asset onsite with a customer, it is possible to view the contract under which the asset was supplied
to the customer. In fact, a contract can contain multiple assets, each of which may have different rental, sales or hire purchase
charges.
Reports
Examples of the reports that can be generated from information processed through this module include:
- Assets OnSite - lists all assets onsite with customers for a defined period of time
- Assets in Warehouse - lists all assets in one or more warehouses
- Audit Required - lists assets that have been recorded in two locations at the same time