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In today's business world, efficient fixed asset management has become a fundamental pillar for resource optimization and strategic decision-making. But what does smart fixed asset management really entail? It is the organized and systematic process of managing, maintaining and renewing a company's physical assets throughout their life cycle.
Smart management not only allows for maximizing the value of these assets, but also contributes to reducing operating costs and minimizing risks. From the variety of assets that can be managed to the most advanced technological solutions, such as specialized software, fixed asset management has become an essential tool for any organization seeking to remain competitive in the market.
What is intelligent fixed asset management?
This management refers to the monitoring and maintenance of an organization's physical resources and equipment. To carry out this task, many companies use tools such as barcodes, QR codes, RFID technology, IoT technology, Learning or even Machine Learning, which can be easily scanned or monitored using mobile devices. These assets cover a wide range, from vehicles and computers to furniture, machinery and even real estate.
By implementing an efficient asset management system, companies can achieve the following objectives:
- Manage and locate fixed assets accurately.
- Supervise equipment and machinery located in different locations.
- Reduce costs associated with maintenance.
- Improve efficiency in daily operations.
- Properly record assets that have been discarded, sold, lost or stolen.
This effective management approach allows organizations to monitor the status of their equipment and vehicles, ensuring they are operating properly, thereby reducing inventory loss, equipment failures and downtime, while extending the useful life of assets.
Benefits of intelligent fixed asset management
Intelligent fixed asset management offers a number of key benefits that contribute to the success and operational efficiency of companies.
- Loss prevention: Prevent the loss of assets within the company through effective control and constant monitoring.
- Proactive Maintenance: It allows constant maintenance of assets, ensuring their good condition and prolonging their useful life.
- Time Optimization: Reduce monetary losses due to equipment downtime by keeping it in optimal condition.
- Knowledge of the State of Assets: Provides the company with detailed information about the status and location of its assets.
- Maximizing Life Cycle: By properly managing assets, their useful life cycle is maximized, optimizing their performance and value.
- Timely Response to Failures: It facilitates rapid attention to any fault or problem that may arise in the assets.
- Integration into Strategic Plans: Include the asset life cycle in the company's strategic and financial development plans.
- Agile Decision Making: Reduces response time for management decisions and generation of reports related to fixed assets and real estate.
- Advanced Control with RFID and Barcodes: It facilitates asset control through technologies such as RFID and barcodes, simplifying inventory taking and reducing associated costs.
- Process Automation: It allows for the automation of data collection, control of the entry and exit of assets, and the generation of automatic records.
- Detailed and updated information: It offers technically structured reports linked to different ERP business management modules, providing a clear view of the real business situation.
- Focus on Core Strategies: It allows the company to direct its efforts towards the main business strategies, delegating complementary activities to specialized consultants.
- Productivity and Cost Reduction: Maximize the productivity of personnel involved in asset management and reduce operating costs.
- Improvement of Departmental Interrelation: It promotes communication and collaboration between finance/administration and operations/production departments.
- Adaptability to Accounting Standards: Facilitates migration processes to new accounting and financial regulations, ensuring compliance with them.
- Normative compliance: Helps to comply with current accounting and financial regulations and administrative procedures.
- Information for Financial Decisions: Provides objective data for insurance contracting, sales negotiations and financial decisions.
- Added Value in Corporate Negotiations: Facilitates the closing of negotiations that generate added value for investors.
- Optimizing Trading Strategies: Helps determine the best trading strategy to get maximum profit in transactions.
What types of systems are essential for intelligent fixed asset management?
In intelligent fixed asset management, several types of systems are essential to optimize the control, maintenance and utilization of an organization's physical resources.
Some of the most important ones are highlighted here:
- Fixed Asset Management Systems (FAMS)
These systems are essential for centralizing and organizing all information related to fixed assets, including their location, status, maintenance history and accounting value, facilitating the planning of the life cycle of assets, from their acquisition to their disposal.
- ERP Systems (Enterprise Resource Planning)
An integrated ERP enables asset management to be linked to other critical areas of the business, such as finance, accounting, purchasing, and human resources. This ensures that asset information is aligned with the company’s financial and operational processes.
- Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
CMMS is key to managing asset maintenance, allowing all preventive and corrective maintenance activities to be scheduled, tracked and documented. It helps to maximize asset life and minimize downtime.
- Inventory Management Systems
These systems allow you to control and track mobile assets and the inventory of spare parts and supplies needed for maintenance, and are especially useful for companies with assets distributed across multiple locations.
- Advanced Analytics and Machine Learning Systems
These systems allow the analysis of large volumes of data generated by assets, identifying patterns and trends that can predict failures or maintenance needs. This enables the implementation of predictive maintenance, thus optimizing the operation and total cost of ownership of the assets.
- Identification and Tracking Systems (RFID, QR codes, GPS)
These systems facilitate real-time asset tracking and management, improving the accuracy of resource location and security. They are essential for managing assets that move frequently or are distributed across multiple sites.
- Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) Systems
These systems help manage the entire life cycle of assets, from acquisition and operation to renewal or final disposal, including evaluating the performance and cost of assets over time, ensuring that they remain aligned with the company's strategic objectives.
These systems, when implemented in an integrated manner, form the core of an intelligent fixed asset management strategy, enabling organizations to optimize the use of their resources, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency and return on asset investment.
Techniques for the identification of fixed assets
The main techniques for identifying fixed assets through labels and plates are:
- tags
The information on the labels is free to choose according to the needs of the company, mainly they should be included: description, asset code and barcode, as well as the company logo.
It is an economical and easy method because the labels can be printed when a new asset is entered into the system, however, care must be taken when entering information to avoid creating codes and printing labels that do not correspond to an asset.
- Barcode
The use of barcodes as identifiers makes it possible to keep complete information at your fingertips and, in this way, to have control of a large number of assets, since movements and changes of assets can be recorded quickly and without need for documentation.
They can store information such as asset valuation reports, depreciation amounts, location, and any other necessary reports, keeping everything within reach of a portable terminal.
However, the initial cost of the equipment needed to implement bar code control must be taken into account.
- Metal plates
The metal plates contain the same information as the labels, however, they guarantee greater durability and resistance for a higher cost. They can be manufactured in a wide variety of materials, the most common being silver polyester, plastic, aluminum and steel.
The company that wishes to implement metal plates as a means of controlling its assets must take into account that they are printed one by one, unlike labels, these cannot be printed when a new asset is entered into the system.
- dialing
This method can replace metal plates on most media where a self-adhesive security label with printed barcode is sufficient to cover the needs. Helps reduce manual audits and inventory time.
- RFID tags
They are small, self-adhesive devices that contain antennas that allow them to receive and respond to radio frequency requests from a transmitter – RFID receiver. Passive tags do not require internal power, while active tags do.
QR or Quick Response Code, is the evolution of the barcode. It stores the information in a dot matrix or in a two-dimensional barcode. It is a low-cost tool that allows access to a greater amount of information in less space.
Fixed asset label and tag materials
A general catalog is shown of the different labels and plates that we make in ANEPSA. All are subject to the customer's needs: labels with QR codes, TAG (RFID) and barcodes.
Steel Plates
- Caliber: 22 and 26
- Steel Type: 304
- Finish: Low relief
- Color: All black or color logo
- Standard Dimensions: 2.5 x 5cm, 1.5 x 5cm, 2.5 x 5cm
- Adhesives: 3M 468 or 300LSE
- Durability: 5 to 10 years
- Environmental Conditions: Suitable for temperatures between 15°C and 60°C
- Recommended for: Machinery and equipment in aggressive conditions, including locations with caustic materials.
Aluminum Plates
- Calibers: 32, 30, 28 and 26
- Process: Anodized or photo-etched
- Inks: All black or with color logo
- Standard Dimensions: 1.5 x 5cm, 2 x 5cm and 2.5 x 5cm
- Adhesives: 3M 468 or 300LSE
- Durability: 5 to 10 years
- Environmental Conditions: Suitable for temperatures from 15°C to 60°C
- Recommended for: Industrial offices, workshops and laboratories.
- Use in: Places with caustic materials for short periods of time and in lower concentrations.
Imported Aluminum Plates
- Calibers: 0.005 and 0.008
- Process: Photoanodized
- Finish: Mate
- Inks: Up to three colors
- Standard Dimensions: 1.5 x 5cm, 2 x 5cm and 2.5 x 5cm
- Adhesives: 3M 468 or 300LSE
- Durability: 5 to 8 years
- Recommended for: Office equipment. Resists low concentration cleaning products.
tags
- Material: Acetate and polycarbonate
- Caliber: 0.05 mm
- Process: Digital and screen printing
- Colors: All black or with color logo
- Standard Dimensions: 1.5 x 5cm, 2 x 5cm and 2.5 x 5cm
- Adhesives: 3M 468 or 300LSE
- Durability: 5 to 8 years
- Recommended for: Office equipment. Resists low concentration cleaning products.
- Not Recommended in: Places with caustic materials.
Smart Fixed Asset Management Solutions
Intelligent fixed asset management offers a range of advanced solutions that enable organizations to optimize the use, maintenance and management of their physical resources. These solutions not only improve operational efficiency, but also help reduce costs and extend the useful life of assets.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Smart management enables continuous monitoring of assets using technologies such as sensors and tracking systems (RFID, GPS). This provides real-time information on the location, status and performance of assets, facilitating decision-making and rapid response to any incident.
- Predictive and Preventive Maintenance: Advanced solutions use data analytics and predictive algorithms to anticipate failures and maintenance needs before they occur. This allows companies to schedule preventative and predictive maintenance, reducing the risk of unexpected failures and minimizing downtime.
- Asset Life Cycle Optimization: Intelligent management tools help manage the entire asset lifecycle, from acquisition to final disposal. This includes performance evaluation, renewal or replacement planning, and depreciation management, ensuring assets are used efficiently and profitably.
- Inventory and Resource Control: Smart management facilitates the control of asset and spare parts inventories, ensuring that the necessary resources for maintenance and operation are always available. This helps to avoid interruptions in operations due to the lack of critical components.
- Advanced Data Analysis: The use of analytical tools allows companies to interpret large volumes of data generated by assets. This advanced analysis provides insights into asset performance, identifies usage patterns and helps make informed decisions about resource management and optimization.
- Integration with Other Business Systems: Smart asset management solutions integrate with ERP, financial and HR systems, ensuring that asset information is synchronized with other business functions. This facilitates coordination between departments and improves decision-making efficiency.
- Regulatory Compliance and Audit: Intelligent asset management ensures that all assets comply with local and international regulations. It also facilitates audit preparation by providing detailed and accurate records on the status and history of assets.
- Improving Sustainability: By optimising asset use and reducing energy consumption, smart management contributes to environmental sustainability, solutions enable companies to monitor and reduce their carbon footprint and manage the environmental impact of their assets more effectively.
- Security and Loss Prevention: Tracking and monitoring technologies improve asset security, reducing the risk of loss or theft. The ability to locate and verify asset integrity in real time helps protect company investments.
- Operating efficiency: Smart asset management automates many of the processes associated with asset management, such as maintenance scheduling, inventory recording, and reporting. This improves operational efficiency by reducing manual intervention and human error.
Essential features of smart asset management software
Comprehensive Asset Information Management
An asset management system automates and centralizes information related to each asset, offering details such as condition, location, performance, acquisition cost, contractual terms, maintenance history and depreciation. This system identifies underutilized assets, allowing for more efficient management and providing a complete view of each asset's life cycle.
Asset Maintenance Management
Every fixed asset requires regular maintenance, and some have specific requirements to maintain their warranties. Management software allows for detailed tracking of services performed, dates, assigned technicians, and parts used. It provides clear information on upcoming maintenance, cost and downtime histories and trends, making maintenance planning and execution easier.
Reporting and Data Analysis
In addition to collecting data, it is critical to analyze it to gain valuable insights. An efficient asset management system should generate detailed reports on asset performance, downtime, repair history, and life expectancy. These reports should be easily accessible and shareable for informed decision making at all levels of the organization.
Asset Data Security
Protecting asset data is essential to ensure business continuity. The system should incorporate robust security measures such as role-based access controls, encryption, regular updates, disaster recovery, and scheduled backups. These measures ensure data integrity and strengthen confidence in the system.
Integration and Adaptability
Modern asset management systems must be mobile-friendly to facilitate field work. Additionally, it is crucial that the system is adaptable and customizable to meet each organization’s specific needs for asset data, work orders, and documentation.
He SAAF software provides comprehensive asset information management, eliminating the need to manually manage assets. It automates tracking and provides details on condition, location, performance, acquisition cost, contractual terms, maintenance history and depreciation. It also identifies underutilized assets for more efficient management, providing a complete view of each asset’s lifecycle.
Future Trends in Intelligent Asset Management
The future of intelligent asset management is being shaped by several emerging trends that promise to transform how organizations manage, monitor and optimize their physical resources, among these trends, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are revolutionizing the field by enabling predictive analytics and more proactive management. These technological advances make it possible to identify hidden patterns in large volumes of data, helping to anticipate failures and improve operational efficiency through predictive maintenance.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sensors are expanding real-time monitoring capabilities, as by integrating connected sensors into assets, companies can continuously collect and analyze data, facilitating remote management and allowing a rapid response to emerging problems. This approach not only improves monitoring, but also optimizes asset management by reducing the need for manual intervention.
The blockchain technology It is also beginning to play an important role in fixed asset management, as its ability to offer an immutable and transparent chain of custody is particularly useful for tracking the ownership and transaction history of valuable assets, improving security and transparency, minimizing the risk of fraud and errors.
In the field of training and maintenance, Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are gaining relevance. AR allows relevant information about an asset to be superimposed on the user’s field of view, while VR offers immersive simulations that can be used for staff training. These technologies help improve efficiency in maintenance and training, facilitating more effective asset management.
The Advanced analytics and big data are playing a crucial role in enabling companies to process large volumes of data generated by assets. These analysis tools provide detailed insights into asset performance, helping to identify opportunities for improvement and optimize resource utilization.
Automation and robotics are transforming asset maintenance by performing repetitive and dangerous tasks more accurately and without human intervention, automation also streamlines asset management processes, reducing administrative burden and increasing overall efficiency.
Cloud platforms and web services are facilitating remote access and integration of asset management solutions, the possibility of accessing these platforms from anywhere and at any time improves flexibility and collaboration, as well as facilitating scalability and integration with other business tools.
In terms of sustainability, management practices are evolving to focus more on energy efficiency and waste reduction, the adoption of strategies that promote sustainability not only improves environmental impact, but also helps companies comply with corporate social responsibility regulations and objectives.
Customization of asset management solutions is on the rise, with platforms tailored to the specific needs of each organization, intuitive and customizable user interfaces improve the user experience, facilitating the adoption and effective use of management tools.
Finally, the integration With other emerging technologies, such as 5G, it is expanding monitoring and communication capabilities, as 5G connectivity allows for faster and more reliable data transmission, improving the effectiveness of IoT-based solutions and real-time analysis.
Together, these trends are shaping a future landscape in which intelligent asset management becomes more efficient, proactive and adaptive, enabling organizations to maximize the value of their physical resources and remain competitive in a dynamic business environment.
SAAF - Fixed Asset Software, how does it help your company?
SAAF It is a customized solution that adapts to the specific needs of each client, using a state-of-the-art platform, SAAF facilitates the administration and accurate monitoring of fixed assets, covering aspects of management, maintenance and financial or fiscal compliance according to the user's requirements.
SAAF offers clients a high level of trust, and the company currently employs customized methodologies and technological tools to meet the specific demands of each client.
With all your information, you will be able to generate real-time reports on all your operations and who is authorized to manage them. Your file monitoring will remain up to date, which increases control and reduces costs.
You can access the file file by scanning QR codes from any device with an Internet connection. The system allows you to control changes with authorizations and permissions adapted to the user profile, and offers a customizable dashboard. In addition, you can generate barcodes and QR codes, customize the formats of the modules according to the needs of your company, and opt for a cloud application or a web service.
The system also supports uploading of photographs, invoices and documents, as well as the creation and management of multiple companies and users/profiles, including a change history per asset, the import and export of fixed asset databases, and the issuance of security vouchers per user.
