Every business invests in fixed assets and these can range in cost from expensive equipment to disposable items bought in bulk. Whatever equipment you are using, it is important to maximize its usage. You can do this by setting up asset management goals to optimize output and extend the lifespan of your assets. Businesses need to set up these goals in alignment with their workflows and needs to achieve the best possible ROI.
Set specific, realistic and measurable asset management goals
Make sure your goals are:
- Specific: Goals that are specific, realistic, and measurable are crucial in setting your business on the path to profitability. The specificity of a goal details what needs to be done and how your employees should go about doing it.
- Realistic: It is just as important to set goals that are realistically achievable since incomplete goals have the potential to bring employee morale down. Unattainable goal setting can have an adverse effect on your business.
- Measurable: Likewise, ambiguous goals create great confusion for your team. You should be able to draw perimeters around your progress and be able to compare it to a starting point.
For example, aiming to bring your production up by 20% by the end of the year is a specific, realistic and measurable asset management goal. This goal specifies that your employees need to focus on improving asset efficiency in a certain time.
Here are 5 important asset management goals – and how tracking software can help you achieve them.
1. Maximize the utility of your assets
Your asset management goals should be geared towards attaining the maximum return on investment. Companies often need to outsource their equipment needs due to a lack of visibility into what assets are available at what location. They may spend large sums of money renting or even buying equipment which may already be available in house.
An asset tracking software enables you to gain complete visibility into your assets so you can know what equipment is available at what location, warehouse, and down to a single shelf. This ensures you maximize the utility of in-house equipment, and save money on unnecessary purchases or rentals. Maximum output from your assets ensures growth and a positive return on your investment.
2. Improve efficiency and identify waste
Asset management goals should focus on ensuring that each asset is being utilized to its full potential. An asset that is overproducing or one asset that is lying idle are both harmful for your business. One is deteriorating quickly and the other is consuming storage and maintenance costs while not providing output.
For example, an aging machine can cause your business more harm than good. Where it might be losing its productive efficiency, it will also demand more money in fuel and maintenance than a new machine would. Therefore, knowing when to replace a piece of equipment is essential in boosting efficiency and saving costs.
An effective asset management plan should point out such waste in your workflows. It helps you reduce the idle time, defects in the quality of service, and overproduction in your workflows. Getting rid of it ensures that all your assets and functions are providing the optimal output for your business to grow.
3. Keep data at the center of your decisions
In order to achieve your goals, you need a tool to measure performance and outcome-based on data. Your goals should be customized to your business needs and monitored via data-driven analysis.
An asset tracking software allows you to use leverage your data to improve efficiency and save cost. For example, you can pull out reports on how your employees have been engaging with equipment. Have they completed maintenance tasks assigned to them and whether they have misused certain assets. This way you can have increased transparency in your organization and achieve your goals like better budget control and less time consumption.
Involving data in your asset management goals also enhances your purchase decisions. Trends determined through the analysis of data determine what assets will have the longest lifespan, efficiency, or be the most useful for your workflows. These well-informed decisions save you from risky investments while maximizing the efficiency of your existing assets.
4. Ensure timely maintenance and lifecycle management
Maximizing ROI and managing the lifecycle of your equipment should be at the forefront of your goals. Well-maintained assets have a prolonged lifespan, saving you from replacement costs and expensive reactive repairs. Conversely, poorly maintained items can not only cost you thousands of dollars in downtime cost but also put your teams at risk for injury.
Also, it is important to note that assets have a finite useful life and the decline in their usefulness needs to be recorded. An asset tracking system lets you know the value of your asset at any given time by performing depreciation calculations accurately.
Under a well-established lifecycle management plan, the need to replace an asset will not come as a surprise to you. Timely maintaining and replacing assets will keep your workflows efficient and ensure growth for your business.
Be open to change in your workflows and pivot as needed
Finally, always be open to pivoting and adjusting your goals based on market conditions. This can either happen as a consequence of an unprecedented crisis, causing a shift in priorities, or the discovery of a plan that will enhance your workflow more than your current goals. Therefore, rigidity with your plans and expectations could make you miss out on the opportunity to increase your operational efficiency.
The best practice in setting up asset management goals is to frequently reevaluate them. Measure how much progress you have made and assess the track you have put your business on. Since no asset management plan is perfect, improvements along the way strengthen your ability to make the most of your assets.
About EZOfficeInventory
EZOfficeInventory is a leading asset tracking software. It allows you to track, maintain, and report on inventory from anywhere, at any time. We offer a free 15-day trial – no credit card required!
