How Asset Tracking Can Help Your Business

Asset tracking is one of those things that we’ve all heard about, but we might not understand the ins and outs of and why it’s so crucial to get right for a business to thrive.

Think about how many assets you come into contact with daily while at work. You’re likely to have a laptop, charger, a desk phone and a monitor in addition to your desk and chair. Maybe you also rely on other equipment, perhaps a range of power tools and machinery to get your job done. For you, it’s a small handful of assets, and you might know where these assets are, but if you scale this up and think about the many hundreds (or thousands!) of assets your company relies on and that these assets are exchanged between staff and locations very frequently, it’s easy to see why asset tracking can become an extremely challenging task if not handled correctly.

What is Asset Tracking?

Asset Tracking is the process of tracing and monitoring where the tools, equipment, assets, plant and machinery that the business owns are at a given time.

Asset tracking involves keeping up to date records of essential details such as location, owner, manufacturer, condition and maintenance history of all assets in a central database.

Asset tracking also commonly encompasses monitoring the total cost of ownership of all equipment and assets in the organisation, no matter whether these assets are lab equipment and computers or drills and large machines.

How has asset tracking evolved in recent years?

For the past 30 years, we’ve all relied heavily on Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheets to keep track of just about everything in our lives, not only for tracking assets but planning holidays, creating budgets for our personal finances and so much more. In 2006, the Google sheet, part of the Google Drive suite, launched and finally, businesses were able to take advantage of collaborative asset management. Now, multiple members of a team could assist with the asset tracking processes at the same time.

The latest technological advancements have resulted in an even smarter way to keep track of business assets. Now, organisations, utilise centralised cloud-based asset tracking solutions that record all asset-related activities along with location, owner, manufacturer and maintenance history. The best asset tracking software allows you and your team to monitor and track your business-critical assets using an asset tracking app as well as a desktop portal. This means asset registers are updated in real-time, rather than quickly becoming outdated, something that the Excel spreadsheet is infamous for.

What Types of Assets do You Need To Track?

Asset tracking helps businesses keep up to date asset records and provides the business with a complete picture of asset utilisation, costs, and maintenance. Therefore, companies must track all of their critical assets.

Here are just some of the assets you may need to consider tracking:

1. IT Assets

• Printers
• Software licenses
• Laptops
• Desktop computers and accessories
• Mobile phones
• Tablets
• Other IT Equipment and digital assets

2. Employee Personal Assets

• Safety equipment
• Radios
• Badges
• Uniforms
• Keys

3. Facility Assets

• HVAC equipment
• Signs
• Lighting
• Break out and kitchen room appliances
• Toilet facilities
• Boilers
• Communal Printers and Photocopiers

4. Transportation Assets

• Company car fleet
• Vans
• Plant and Machinery

The Benefits of using Asset Tracking Software
In this competitive era, every organisation wants to surpass their competition and increase ROIs. Tracking your assets with great software not only prevents losses and reduces costs but also provides you with countless opportunities to grow your business and surpass your competition.

Here are some of the key benefits of asset tracking software that your company could benefit from:

Prevent Losses

A lost asset can cost a company hundreds or thousands of pounds to replace. Having the information on all equipment and assets allows you to have a solid grasp on asset whereabouts to minimise theft and asset loss. With an asset management system, you can keep an eye on all your assets by using GPS systems and locations. This will encourage your employees to look after assets more carefully, minimising potential losses.

Easy Reporting and Auditing

How can you quickly access the most crucial asset information such as location, costs, depreciation, maintenance schedules, and more if you are not tracking your assets? Asset tracking software provides you with an excellent opportunity to report all these things immediately and access them from anywhere, anytime, using a cloud-based system. Moreover, asset tracking software lets you access all of this in real-time, which means easier audits and evidence of regulatory compliance.

Extend the Life of Your Assets

Organisations that have plenty of heavy-duty equipment and machinery know how important it is to keep these assets running well for years to come. With asset tracking, you can get an idea of the present condition of your assets at all times. Moreover, asset tracking systems strengthen maintenance scheduling and allow you to report any issues against uniquely identifiable assets. Thus, you can save potentially large sums of money for your business by utilising automated maintenance, replacement, and warranty alerts. All that’s left is for you and your team to keep up with the recommended maintenance and safety schedules.

More Efficient Resource Allocation

Resource Allocation is one of the challenging tasks for growing companies. As positions and duties change, it is normal for schedules to fall by the wayside and for work to be abandoned occasionally. It is for this reason that an asset tracking solution is such an excellent tool for operations that are in the process of scaling.

When all the necessary people can access and track company assets, there is a significantly increased probability that your business’ asset register will be up to date and accurate.

Since asset management is a crucial task where a small mistake can have a significant knock-on effect, make sure that you have the right asset tracking software solution that is capable of managing your assets efficiently.

If you’re looking for an easy to use but powerful asset tracking system for your organisation, get in touch with us today.

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Asset Tracking is crucial for restoration and remedial work. Equipment tracking can help you keep track of fans, ozone machines, hoses, dehumidifiers, PPE Equipment and anything other assets that either need to be tracked or managed.

What kind of restoration or remediation companies can asset tracking assist? Any. It can be flood restoration companies such as Action Dry, fire restoration companies, restoration companies that restore any damages, or any restoration companies that work on bespoke buildings, such as Jack Tighe.

What problems do restoration and remediation companies face?

Assets move around frequently. They can be large assets or small assets, but all will be moved around a lot, often in bulk, and the assets themselves are often very expensive. Without asset tracking there is no accountability or audit trail relating to these assets.

As well as this, without asset tracking, the accountability employees hold is minimal. It may be that historically assets have been left behind, whether this is due to human error or a lack of understanding related to the consequence of an asset becoming unaccounted for.

Without an asset tracking system, money is lost when expensive and sometimes crucial assets go missing, further slowing the effectiveness your company can work at. If a company is working on a project with another, then tools may be swapped or misplaced causing a further lack of clarity surrounding which assets your company owns and which you can use.

Further to this, not knowing where to find assets that need to be retrieved can cause more lost money and time, and the travel has a negative effect on the environment. Without asset tracking, the efficiency a company can run out is minimised and the scalability is capped.

Why is asset tracking such an important solution?

Asset tracking will allow you to know where your equipment is and who had it last, whether it’s at a job site, in the warehouse, or in transit. With an effective asset tracking app, equipment tracking is simple because it only takes a simple scan with a smartphone for your employees to update the audit trail.

With asset tracking, you’ll be able to optimise the efficiency you use your assets. Knowing where your assets are and what they’re doing means that you can use them more effectively and retrieve them sooner. If a dehumidifier needs to be left running for four days, knowing exactly when it’s done means that you can retrieve it faster and use it again sooner.

You’ll also be able to minimise asset loss with the use of asset tracking. Equipment loss may currently be worked into your road maps or financial planning, but it’s still possible to minimise the amount. The ability to run reports on your assets will help you see where everything is and what needs to be retrieved instantly. You’ll be able to save the money that would otherwise be written off.

More time also gives you a greater ability to focus on customer service. Not only can asset tracking generally help with this as jobs will be completed more efficiently, but will also minimise the disruption restoration can cause. The sooner equipment can be collected when it has done its job, the sooner you can minimise the stress a customer may be under.

Not only this, but it’ll also be possible to save over £1,500 a year. Asset tracking means more accountability and transparency, which means less lost assets and less time spent retrieving them.

Other examples of asset tracking in Restoration and Remediation

Asset tracking can help with the general tracking of equipment for the day to day jobs, but can also assist with more specific examples.

For a start, if one person needs flood restoration it’s quite likely multiple other houses need the same service. Knowing where your assets are can increase the efficiency at which you work, meaning you can take on more work.

Bespoke restoration, such as for ships or landmarks, can also benefit from asset tracking. If a restoration company uses asset tracking to maintain their efficiency, the day to day running of these places doesn’t have to change. A great example is that Avengers Endgame was filmed in Durham Cathedral while it was still undergoing restoration work.

Asset tracking can also help with the tracking of PPE equipment to ensure compliance. Tracking your hard hats and safety equipment will keep your workforce safe when they’re running their maintenance jobs. Not only is employee satisfaction therefore higher, a safe workforce is an effective workforce.

itemit can assist you with all your asset tracking and asset management needs. With the use of QR code or RFID asset tags, assigning users to assets only takes a single scan. Last seen location will be instantly updated in real time and your asset register will remain up to date.

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Everything You Need to Know About IT Asset Management

What is IT Asset Management (ITAM)?

According to The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers, ITAM is “a set of business practices that incorporates IT assets across the business units within the organisation.” What this means is that ITAM is the coordination of IT assets across an organisation so that there is more clarity and accountability surrounding them.

What are your IT assets?

There are four main types of IT assets. Software, hardware, mobile devices, and the cloud. As IT assets are not all tangible, it’s necessary to utilise a system that can allow for the effective management of any IT asset type.

You will need an ITAM database to track not only your IT assets but also each piece of information relating to each asset. Once you have an up to date database of assets, you can monitor the stock of your mobile devices and have clarity on when hardware requires PAT tests, inspections or maintenance.

In addition, your ITAM database will assist with auditing, insurance and warranties, ensuring you are always ahead of the curve when it comes to renewals and audits. This increased clarity with regards to finances as a result of your ITAM database can also assist with your knowledge of what your company can afford to invest in.

Having a contractual aspect of your ITAM database can also assist with compliance information and a contract management system. This will help with B2B purchases and selling and complement the financial elements of your ITAM database, lending a greater clarity to your business relationships.

What are the types of IT Asset Management?

There are five main types of IT Asset Management:

Physical: This is how you track your physical IT assets, such as laptops, PCs, copiers, USB sticks. Inventorying and monitoring these assets will increase time effectiveness, as well as creating a greater level of clarity whenever remote work is needed.

Mobile: Tracking mobile devices can be complicated in terms of ITAM, especially as any software updates or changes may need to be reviewed. Mobile devices may continuously be used in the field, which means more diligent IT asset tracking is required.

Software: The tracking of an intangible asset introduces further complexities, especially from an ITAM perspective, due to license requirements and the risk of compliance issues. This is why an asset tracking system that updates in real-time will always be more effective than a spreadsheet, as software is constantly updating and changing.

Digital: Digital tracking will include the monitoring of all your data, including photos and scanned in contracts.

Cloud: IT asset management of the cloud is also possible. Using IT asset management, you will be able to add software, data, and digital assets, that have been uploaded to the cloud, to your ITAM register. Creating wider accountability and transparency with regards to the cloud is imperative due to compliance and security measures, and so a capable IT asset management software is a must.

How Can itemit Help?

itemit can assist with your IT asset management efforts by offering an effective and established asset tracking software that will suit your needs.

Instead of using a spreadsheet for the most effective ITAM, it’s a lot more effective to create real-time customisable reports. The second something changes, a spreadsheet will become out of date, rendering ITAM unmanageable. As IT assets are frequently changing in status, condition and location, they must be closely monitored. This is to ensure GDPR compliance and to maintain an effective data flow across all your devices. This is where itemit can really help you to take back control of your IT assets.

You will be able to implement IT asset management for your tangible assets with the use of our unique QR code asset tags. If your IT assets are moving from site to site itemit can offer you greater accountability over your assets as well as improving the efficiency of transporting them between locations.

You will also be able to create an ITAM register for all of your tangible and intangible assets and filter them through the powerful itemit reporting features. Make IT asset management easier by linking your physical IT assets to the data they hold and set reminders for when vital maintenance is needed.

Any information can also be added to your assets, meaning that all financial, contractual, or user information can be tracked and managed effectively.

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Using metal QR tags to track your equipment, tools, and machinery

For busy and growing construction companies, it’s paramount that teams know firstly, which assets they have available to them and secondly where those assets are. This knowledge allows teams to move quickly and efficiently from one job to another.

One of the most effective ways of tracking plant and machinery across construction sites is to tag construction assets using hardy metal QR asset tags. Combined with the right asset tracking system, you’ll be able to track and manage your asset register, from your phone. What this means is that moving equipment from site to site and knowing who has it and whether it requires attention is a breeze.

Not only does an asset management system give you the full real-time visibility of where your assets are and who has them, you’ll also be able to track maintenance, report issues, and set reminders for inspections or servicing is due.

Essentially:

• Tag critical assets with hard wearing QR asset tags
• Scan a tag to view that asset’s unique profile
• Every scan updates the asset’s location, who has it and when
• Full audit trails of where assets have been, digital records accessible by your whole team, from their smartphones

To get a system up and running that will prove to be a success and help your business to grow, it’s crucial that you have the right tags for your assets.

The Problem with Regular Stickers

Some assets require a different, hardy tag. Assets that are stored permanently outdoors, those that are exposed to harsh chemicals or those that just get thrown around in the back of vans on a daily basis need a tag that can withstand these harsh environments.

Imagine you want to track a box of tools. With this it’s a simple process of using a QR code sticker and you’re ready to go. It’ll stick on and the wear and tear and weathering it will endure will often be minimal as it’s stored indoors and is heavy enough that it doesn’t get thrown around the van in transit.

What if you want to track a pneumatic drill, however? A basic sticker tag won’t cut it. You’ll find a simple QR sticker will fall or peel off and you’ll regularly need to apply a new sticker. This won’t give you the time savings you hoped for.

The same goes for many of the larger assets that will be exposed to the elements. You need something that will last.

The Solution of Metal QR Codes

Track your critical tools, equipment, plant and machinery with metal QR tags. At itemit, we know your assets have different requirements and that’s why we offer a range of tags to suit each asset. Most of our construction clients opt to use our unique anodised aluminium tags, available in 2 sizes as standard – for even greater flexibility. Custom tags can also be made to satisfy all of your requirements. All of our metal QR tags have a 3M adhesive on the back, making it quick and efficient to stick tags onto assets.

Using weatherproof, durable, and super sticky tags from the start means that you won’t have any worries about needing to replace tags anytime soon.

Another great reason to use anodised aluminium tags with itemit is that you can use all of itemit’s features offline. If you’re in a sparse and remote location with no signal or wifi, you’ll have both the app and the tags you can trust in order to simply scan and update your assets!

Wouldn’t you like to see at a glance where your assets are and who has them?

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Insuring Your High Value Collections Properly

Insurance for your high value collections is crucial. As high value items are defined as something that exceeds £1,000 in cost, normal contents cover won’t be able to insure it. Because of this, normal insurers won’t be the right fit and you’ll need to look elsewhere to cover your bespoke collections and assets.

Luckily, there are many insurers out there that can help cover your high value collections. Choosing the correct one is crucial, however, as the type of cover you’re paying for needs to cover the entirety of your collection and needs to be reasonable in terms of risks.

If, for example, your assets are moved from site to site or exhibition to exhibition it is crucial that your cover includes items in transit. If your assets have any chance of moving or if they are on display or out on loan, your cover should reflect this as this is where most of the risk is.

As well as this, your cover should take into account what your high value collection contains. If you are a wine collector, it’s most helpful to seek out specialists in wine cover. This way you’ll be able to include cover for both individual bottles or an overall cover limit.

Your high value collection may contain artwork, musical instruments, jewellery or gems. It can be photographs or collectors items such as stamps or coins, or it can even be fine furs.

No matter what your collection contains it will always be important or valuable to you, whether you’re working with a museum or if you have your own, personal collections. This is why choosing a comprehensive insurance policy is a must.

What will you need to insure your high value collections?

Since it’s not the same as insuring your contents, you will need a lot more supplementary information to ensure you’re not liable for loss or damage. Of course, this makes sense because the assets you’re insuring are much more valuable both in terms of cost and rarity.

With contents insurance cover, if something is stolen, goes missing or is damaged and it isn’t your fault, it will be much easier to replace. If you have something either extremely rare, like a vintage wine collection, or even unique, like a piece of artwork or a famous artist’s guitar, it’s not a simple matter of getting an insurance company to pay out and to find a replacement.

Of course, there are a lot of details you’ll want to track anyway when it comes to owning and managing high value collections. This will invariably be helpful should the worst happen, as the more transparent you can be with an insurance company that you have been meticulous, the chances of a dispute minimise greatly.

If it’s a collection that is exhibited to the public, there are more likely to be records of details anyway. If it’s a personal, bespoke collection, you may not have transparent written records. For example, if your wine collection is shown to business partners and investors, you may have knowledge of each bottle in your mind and the information may be printed onto the bottle’s label. If the bottle smashes and the label itself is damaged you may find yourself in a situation where you’re discussing the supplementary information with an insurance company as the full amount hasn’t been translated onto an asset register.

Either way, to ensure transparency with your insurance company, you will need to have records of supplementary information, should the worst happen.

How Can itemit Help?

itemit works to help complement insurance.

As mentioned before, it’s important for your high value collection insurance to cover items in transit, but you still want to minimise the possibility that you’ll be liable for losses in transit. As itemit is an asset tracking software, you will be able to use RFID or QR tags to increase accountability when high value items are in transit, minimising the chances you’ll be blamed for asset loss. You’ll be able to track who has been handling the assets and where they’ve been.

You may not want to use QR codes and it may not be feasible to add them to packaging. In this case, if the QR code cannot be placed and used anywhere else other than on the asset itself, you’ll be able to use RFID tags, instead. If you have a collection where tagging would need to be as discreet as possible, you’ll be able to hide RFID tags. If it’s a painting, for example, you will be able to place it on its back so that it will only need to be taken off the wall once and nobody will need to touch it again.

RFID tags require a third party reader that you can hook up to your smartphone with bluetooth to read. They don’t require line of sight to be read, however, meaning you can turn your high value assets into smart objects without affecting the quality or value of the asset. As well as this, itemit’s QR and RFID tags have an advanced adhesive that won’t leave marks if they have to be peeled off.

itemit can also help with all of the other supplementary information you may require to show your insurance company at some point. You can add purchase price, value, purchase date, date of creation, anything. You can also set reminders for appraisals and then add this information subsequently.

Should the worst happen, itemit’s reporting feature helps you get all the information you need to your insurance company in order to show total, complete transparency and meticulous accountability. You will be able to download a pdf. of your entire asset register as well as add filters to create and export reports that show all the information you need to show. As well as this, you’ll have all the information you need in your pocket for any time you should need it. If something needs to be stored safely, therefore, all you’ll need to do is get out your smartphone.

Find out more by filling in the form below, or by emailing the team at team@itemit.com

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As a business, you’ll have many different assets that are necessary to keep your business running smoothly. For each business, these assets will be different but can include IT assets, such as laptops and phones as well as tools, equipment and machinery.

No matter what your critical assets are, there are things you need to know about them. For example, with your IT assets, you need to track and monitor each to ensure your business is GDPR compliant. Whereas with critical tools and equipment, you’re likely to want to know where these are, who has them and when they are due for servicing or inspection. As a business, it’s crucial you know what assets you have and their current status and that this is all recorded on an asset register.

Many customers we help come to us with an existing spreadsheet of assets. It can feel like a daunting task to replace this spreadsheet, even though it’s likely to be out of date and fairly unhelpful, at least it’s something. However, it’s worth making the jump to a system built for helping you manage your assets. In the long term, using an effective asset tracking software is a lot more useful than using a spreadsheet and it will stay up to date!

We speak to people like you every day who are trying to figure out how best to switch to a better system, and that’s why we’ve broken it down into 3 easy steps that will get you up and running with your new system in no time.

Step 1: Identify your critical business assets and the information you need to record

First of all, you’ll need to know which assets need to be tracked and managed. Your existing spreadsheet will give you a good idea but you should bear in mind that things may have changed in the business since your spreadsheet was first created and it’s better to find this out at the start.

Similarly, we’ve worked with enough businesses to know that once you start internal discussions on improving your company’s asset tracking processes, you’ll quickly find that different departments will also have some assets they need to be tracked and monitored. It’s important you make sure the system you choose can support the needs of everyone in the business. However, we do recommend starting with your most important assets and rolling out the system to more assets over a period of time.

The key assets to track are those that are necessary for your business to make money and those that must be tracked to ensure your business is compliant.

It’s necessary to also think carefully about what information the business needs to know about its assets. Knowing this from the start, ensures consistency and standardisation across all assets in all areas of the business. This will include key asset identifiers such as asset name, asset type, serial number, manufacturer, model and even a photo. This is crucial not only so it is quick and easy to identify your assets but this information will also help you to repair and maintain your assets quickly as you can have more information in advance and at your fingertips.

In addition, you may need to include key dates, such as PAT test, inspection and maintenance due dates. We always recommend including a user manual for any relevant assets – this can either be a pdf attachment or a link to an online manual. What this means is that no matter who uses your assets, they will have access to its manual at the touch of a button and right when they need it!

You can provide an even more complete picture of your assets if you also include financial details, such as purchase price, current value and insurance details. However, you may wish to add this at a later date or may wish to consider integration into an existing system that currently manages this information.

Once you’ve completed step 1, all of your asset information will then be easily accessible and all in one safe place. The more transparent and smart your business’ assets are, the more you can get out of them.

Step 2: Tag your assets

Once you’ve identified which assets need to be tracked and managed, we recommend that you tag them.

Tagging your assets is so useful for so many reasons. If you stick a QR code asset tag on to each of your assets, you are then able to simply scan a tag to identify it uniquely. Even if you have 2 assets that look identical, they are not. Each will have its own unique history which should be recorded and accessible.

QR code asset tags can also help as a theft deterrent, as showing that your assets are tracked can stop thieves from stealing your tools and equipment.

Asset tagging can also help you quickly identify which assets are yours. If your business operates across multiple sites in a variety of locations, it’s incredibly helpful to instantly be able to see which assets are yours and which belong to someone else. This way, less assets will be mistaken as somebody else’s, also, and you’ll therefore have less of your assets go missing.

Step 3: Track and monitor your assets

Once you’ve completed the first two steps, you’ll have created an up to date and accurate asset register for your business. So, the only thing left to do is to start using it!

With the itemit app you’ll be able to share your assets with your team and choose their permissions. They’ll be able to view, scan, and interact with your assets while they’re on the go – straight from their mobile devices. Scanning asset tags is fast and effective, and will update the last seen location of the asset as well as who scanned it. itemit also allows users to report any issues to do with your assets, simply by scanning the asset’s tag.

itemit is not only available as an app but also comes with a web portal where your office based team can monitor asset usage, location, run reports, see assets on a map, and view which assets haven’t been seen for a while, all from their desk.

With these 3 tried and tested steps your asset tracking and management is easy with itemit.

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