Learning Zone
Why Asset Management is important
There’s no two ways about it – managing the assets in your operation will help make your business more efficient.
We’ve put together this guide to highlight the benefits of asset management – and how to go about it.
What is asset management?
It’s basically a simple, centralised way for you to monitor and manage your businesses’ assets. Buildings, plant machinery and equipment tools – in fact, anything that is tangible or intangible, can be managed from one central point.
The great news is that, if done properly, you can make productivity and efficiency savings within your department.
We view asset management as another string to the fleet manager’s bow. If this sounds daunting, don’t worry – there’s clever software already out there to help!
Why should I do it?
In our opinion, you’d be daft not to! Having such a system in place will let you track the overall performance of your assets. The data you get back will allow you to make sure assets are being utilised efficiently, and gives you the power to review performance and highlight additional unnecessary costs.
What is an asset manager?
An asset manager monitors and maintains things of value within a business. If you adopt an asset management plan, you can develop, operate, maintain, upgrade and dispose of your assets cost effectively.
This means having your fingers in several pies – administration, finance, capital and operations – and a good grasp of your company’s strategic and operational processes.
And if you don’t want to take on the extra work, there are external specialists you can bring in. These consultants will look at the assets, cash flow and finances in your company and recommend how you should reinvest to maximise profitability.
How does asset management work?
We like to think of it in this simple way… picture a piece of equipment your business uses and then factor in all the decisions you make about this item, from market research, initial purchase, implementation into your business, servicing and upkeep all the way through to getting rid of the asset when it has reached the end of its useful life.
Although asset management can be implemented through spreadsheets, nowadays, specialist software that can collect and analyse data is generally used for asset management, allowing you to make the right decisions for your business.
What are the benefits?
In our opinion, there are lots! In order for an asset management plan to be effective, it needs to be supported by a system that’s able to monitor and maintain things of value. They are similar to fleet management systems, but can be implemented on a much wider business scale.
By working across other business departments, locations and facilities; assets such as vehicles, tools, equipment, processes and even people can be reviewed and managed efficiently from one central ‘hub’.
We think this way of working helps your business to reduce overall capital expenditure and operating expenditure related to your assets.
The right asset management software for your business can:
- Keep track of all assets
- Manage assets from different locations
- Provide an opportunity to plan against financial, operational and legal risk
- Define the service levels
- Organise the asset portfolio
- Create a more efficient operation with the ability to track performance
- Improve time management
- Measure and monitor lifecycle costs
- Promote the economic stability and growth of your company
