subject: Choosing an Asset Management System - Part 1 [print this page] Choosing an Asset Management System - Part 1
Deciding to incorporate an asset management system into your organization's business process is an important step towards controlling your fixed assets and driving significant cost savings. When evaluating and purchasing the right fixed asset management software for your company, it's important to understand both the demands of your organization and the benefits of such software.
That's why E-ISG has created this non-vendor biased guide to provide the essential information any organization needs to make the most informed decision.
Presented in three parts, this guide presents the significant advantages of implementing an asset management system into any business model. You'll learn how to:
Create an effective deployment plan
Ask the right questions
Identify the challenges
You may ask, "Why would a software company like E-ISG distribute a guide that doesn't promote its own products?" We strongly believe that consumers should have the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding an asset management system. We are confident that the more you know about asset management solutions, the more likely you are to seriously consider and ultimately choose an E-ISG solution.
Understanding Asset Management Software
Successful asset management is just as much a business model as it is an automated software process. Mastering the business aspect of fixed asset management ensures that staff-members can leverage an understanding of how property is used, where it is used and how much it is worth. A good asset management solution creates value for your business by increasing the efficiency of asset usage and resource management. Essentially an effective asset management process makes it easier for everyone to do their jobs.
Understanding your company's needs and preferences will help you to:
Reduce time spent searching for items.
Increase the efficiency of the entire staff
Provide value-added services such as fleet tracking using GPS/GPRS RFID tags, data center tracking using active RFID tags, asset movement tracking, and locating computer, audio, and video equipment.
Avoid management and employee frustration resulting from lost equipment and from time-consuming inventory processes that have to be repeated each year.
A robust, yet cost-effective visual asset management system effectively automates these management tasks, improving staff accountability and driving productivity. Productivity is improved by eliminating duplicated process and centralizing asset information on a singular database, accessible by all departments.
Efficient asset management services provide staff members with the tools necessary to quickly and easily capitalize on the organization's assets and resources maximizing productivity. Asset Management best practices will achieve:
1. Reduced capital and expense purchases
2. Reduced depreciation expenses
3. Reduced property insurance costs
4. Increase profits from the sale of excess idle equipment
5. Reduction to repair and calibration expenses
6. Reduced outsourcing costs for equipment calibration and maintenance
7. Reduction to materials and parts to support test equipment
8. Reduced sales tax
9. Reduced property/personal property tax
10. Reduced purchase order processing costs.
11. Reduced interest expenses
12. Reduced inventory expenses
13. Reduced warehouse square footage and cost requirements
14. Improved personnel productivity improvements
15. Reduced calibration and maintenance cycle times
16. Reduced acquisition and sales costs
17. Reduced calibration and maintenance square footage and cost requirements
18. Reduced audit non-compliance risk.
19. Reduced production stoppage risk by ensuring the right assets will be in place when they are needed
20. Reduced IT support costs for legacy, non-integrated asset management systems
21. Reduced software licensing costs for legacy asset management systems
22. Reduced training expense and operating costs through the implementation of standardized asset management business process best practices.
This post, the first of three parts, was designed to introduce the business aspect of cost-efficient asset management software. The following posts will continue to discuss how to the process of selecting the most beneficial asset management system, including what questions to ask vendors, how to evaluate your needs and much more. Stick with us to learn all you need to know to make an informed and educated decision about your future Asset Management System.
