We can all see the trend of business becoming more distributed. People, offices, and operations are becoming more spread out with dots all over the map. As the trend of distribution increases the challenges associated with managing operations also increases. One of the tool sets that can assist and enable the modern business environment is utilizing an asset management system.
An asset management system is generally thought of as a tool that tracks the characteristics and details of a physical asset, something more similar to spreadsheet than a modern software application. However, our experience has taught us that much more is needed to be useful in today’s dynamic environment. Here are some of our thoughts on what you should consider when selecting and implementing an asset management toolset.
Not only do businesses need to know exactly what assets they have and where those assets are located. For optimal performance, they need visibility into an asset’s operational and maintenance history. How many issues have occurred? Who was the last person to work on the asset? It’s also important to know the soft costs associated with an asset, for example, the time technicians spend on maintenance activities. These are just some of the questions that can be answered with a modern asset management system.
Are we able to respond to issues proactively or are your operations based on reactive responses? In a distributed environment, when we’re all stretched thin, businesses must have tools that allow them to make the transition from reactive to proactive. This means identifying and addressing problems before they occur, preventing failures through maintenance instead of break fixes. A proper asset management tool should provide technicians with the entire history of an asset’s maintenance activities, issues, tickets, costs, and other important attributes to enable accurate decision making. Historical trends and data analysis can allow organizations to align their opex and capex initiatives with real world results that can improve operations and reduce the emergency fire drills.
The end goal of an asset manager should be to enable your entire business, not just replace spreadsheets. This solution should be able to interface with your maintenance system, ticketing system, real-time monitoring tools, operations and accounting teams. Having access to all of the past and current information will help empower your teams to make critical decisions with confidence.
Chekhub’s asset management module offers full asset lifecycle management that gives you visibility and analytics into your assets, addressing the real challenges teams are facing today. You can see a complete schedule and history of break fixes, preventative and predictive maintenance with details such as who performed the work, when it was completed, and exactly what was done. You can also view step-by-step validation on processes and other valuable information such as technician notes, pictures, videos, and metrics collected during the procedures and maintenance. Combining all of this data together in the reporting and analytics tools provides your business the information needed to stay ahead of the game.
Chekhub’s operational technology platform empowers technicians to work smarter, faster, and with greater accuracy, allowing organizations to manage assets in a simple and streamlined fashion.