Asset management is one of the fundamental organizational practices. It is all about developing, operating, and maintaining the assets of the organization cost-effectively.
Most companies operate with a multitude of assets. It is only fitting that they keep track of every asset at all times. This makes it possible for the stakeholders to understand the available resources and how best to deploy them.
Assets can be fixed or current. Fixed assets are the long-term ones, while the current assets can be easily converted to money. Given the importance of assets to the organization, it must employ all ways to ensure they are well-managed.
Here is all you need to understand about asset management.
Table of Contents
The Need for Asset Management
Asset management is essential for every business. The business needs to account for its assets at all times. With a proper asset management plan in place, the company can track and manage all its assets. The stakeholders will understand where the assets are located and their conditions. With the knowledge, deployment and recovery become easier hence more revenue for the business.
Asset management also helps in identifying and managing risks. The asset management strategy involves establishing the various possible risks. The business can then come up with a management plan in case the risk occurs.
Asset management comes in handy for amortization rates. With regular checks, you can always keep tabs on the actual value of the assets. The business can also keep records on the state of the assets. Whether operational, damaged, or stolen, the organization has all the records. The records make it easier for planning and budget.
Asset Management Best Practices
You need the best asset management guide for an effective system. Here are some of the best practices to improve your asset management system.
1. Prepare an asset inventory.
The first step to creating an effective asset management system is understanding the assets available and their conditions. Create an inventory to record all the assets with an indication of the type and use.
Update the inventory depending on the changing status of the assets.
2. Understand the value of the assets
Once you have a record of the assets, the next step is to determine their value and the replacement costs. With the values in mind, you can plan for any eventuality. You can also specify the actual value of the organization.
3. Embrace predictive asset maintenance
Asset management can either be reactive or predictive. Reactive asset management means waiting to correct damage once it occurs. Predictive, on the other hand, forecast the possibility of damage then fix it beforehand.
Predictive asset maintenance is less costly and helps avoid downtime hence preservation of productivity.
4. Use the right asset management software.
Asset management is currently more data-driven. As such, there are several asset management software to use depending on your organization. The digitization of asset management helps organize computer facilities to eliminate paperwork and automate various tasks like asset reporting, data collection, etc.
The software you use should support mobile access and communication channels.
Bottom Line
Organizational assets are some of the components that determine a business value and productivity. Proper asset management helps in tracking and deploying the assets. It also helps to deploy predictive maintenance that ensures no downtime.
For the best asset management strategy, you need equally functional asset management software.
