5 Signs You Need an Asset Lifecycle Management Upgrade

Are manual processes holding you back? Tap into the full potential of your assets!

Inefficient asset management can drain your resources and hinder your competitive edge. Businesses can lose up to 30% of their annual revenue due to inefficient practices, a problem exacerbated by outdated asset management methods.

Optimizing your company's asset lifecycle management is crucial to mitigate risks, avoid overspending, and boost productivity. In this article, we'll explore five common outdated asset lifecycle management practices that could be costing you revenue and opportunities. Do any of these sound familiar? If so, it might be time for an upgrade!

1. Being a paper-chaser doesn’t mean relying on paper-based documentation!

Relying on manual, paper-based documentation systems to track assets is an inefficient form of asset management – it’s time consuming, prone to human error, and difficult to maintain accuracy. Manually recording and updating information for each asset can be overwhelming, especially in large organizations with numerous assets. Surprisingly, according to a Workflow’s report, 43% of enterprises still track their IT assets in spreadsheets.

The Risks:

• Human Error - A single mistake can have a ripple effect throughout your operations.
• Data Inaccuracy - Outdated or incorrect information leads to poor decision-making.
• Limited Accessibility - Physical documents restrict data access to those on-site, hindering collaboration and timely reporting.

The Solution:

Digitizing your asset records can help you enjoy accessible, searchable, and shareable data. With a single source of data, you can:

• Access Information Anytime, Anywhere - Empower your team with real-time data access.
• Enhance Reporting and Analysis - Leverage digital tools for data-driven decisions.
• Improve Accuracy - Reduce errors associated with manual data entry.

Such thing is possible with Asset Insider. When you log-in into your account, navigate to the Asset Register feature from the Main Menu. Explore how you could organize your portfolio and try to create a custom view. Sign-up for a 30-day free trial here.

2. Lacking standardization in asset lifecycle management processes

Without standardized processes, different departments may use their own methods for managing assets, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies.

First, this can lead to data inconsistencies making it difficult to get a clear picture of assets across the organization. Furthermore, if different departments or teams are working in isolation, they will waste time and resources due to duplicate efforts and redundant task. Finally, without documented asset lifecycle management processes, you will miss opportunities for investment or improvement.

There is an opportunity to standardize processes and automate them with Asset Insider. Some of there capabilities include:

• Guided Workflows - Ensure every employee follows the correct steps.
• Error Prevention - Mandatory conditions must be met before proceeding, reducing mistakes.
• Eliminate Conflicts - Avoid duplications, double bookings, and scheduling conflicts.

3. Siloed data is silhouette data!

Maintaining multiple systems and relying on manual data transfers between them can hinder efficiency and collaboration. Unfortunately, this is the case with many businesses. If teams and departments are not sharing asset data, it may be difficult to identify areas where the organization could improve efficiency, reduce costs, or make strategic investments. Moreover, besides the wasted resources, your efficiency will suffer from poor collaboration and your finances – from higher operational expenses. Even though all these opportunities exist, according to cross-industry Forrester research, between 60 and 73 percent of all data within an enterprise goes unused for analytics.

Asset Lifecycle Management platforms offer ways to centralize data and tools to put analytics in practice:

• Unified Data Access - Provide a single source of truth for all departments.
• Customizable Access Policies - Tailor data access to specific roles and teams.
• Seamless Integrations - Utilize over 1,400 connectors for easy integration with other systems, both cloud and on-premise.

4. Ignoring the full cost of asset lifecycle

Focusing only on the purchase price of assets without considering ongoing costs can lead to inaccurate financial reporting and resource allocation. For example, an enterprise may show a profit in the short term by not accounting for the ongoing maintenance and repair costs of its assets.

However, maintenance, operation, and disposal costs accumulate over time. Underestimating the full cost of an asset’s lifecycle can result in inefficient resource allocation. If your enterprise only considers the initial purchase price of an asset and ignores the ongoing maintenance cost, you may not allocate enough resources to properly maintain the asset. This can result in increased downtime, reduced productivity, and ultimately higher costs. Furthermore, if your business does not properly dispose of an asset at the end of its lifecycle, it may incur additional costs for environmental remediation or disposal fees.

With Asset Insider, you can track the entire lifecycle of your assets:

• Comprehensive Records - Monitor every event and related cost throughout an asset's life.
• Data-Driven Decisions - Use detailed information to optimize purchasing, maintenance, and disposal strategies.
• Enhanced Profitability - Increase margins and achieve smoother operations with accurate cost insights.

5. Depending on Reactive Maintenance can lead to only one thing

Waiting for assets to fail before fixing them can be costly and disruptive. Reactive maintenance, also known as breakdown maintenance or run-to-failure, is the process of repairing or replacing assets only after they have failed. This contrasts with proactive maintenance, which refers to the strategic approach of preventing equipment failures through regular inspections, scheduled servicing, and the use of predictive data. It includes both preventive maintenance—performing routine tasks such as cleaning, lubricating, or replacing parts at scheduled intervals—and predictive maintenance, which uses real-time data and analytics to anticipate when failures are likely to occur.

Relying on reactive maintenance leads to increased downtime and reduced productivity. Reactive maintenance lowers the performance of assets and reduces the span of their overall lifecycle. For example, simply greasing moving parts or changing filters can reduce energy consumption by up to 15%. When assets are not properly maintained, they can wear out more quickly, resulting in more frequent breakdowns and the need for more frequent repairs or replacements. This in term will lead to reduced efficiency, increased energy consumption, and reduced output. To put it into perspective, emergency repairs could be 5 to 7 times more expensive than planned preventive work.

An asset lifecycle management solution can help you take control of your maintenance and greatly reduce failures, extend the assets’ lifecycle, minimize downtime, and schedule maintenance.

For example, using preventive maintenance capabilities, you can stay ahead of potential failures and guarantee timely servicing and maintenance for your assets. Scheduled maintenance is another feature assisting managers visualize and plan resource allocation, schedule for high- or low-demand seasons, plan maintenance windows in periods with less workload or at times when assets are not in use.

This level of organization and insight guarantees reduced costs of operations and maintenance, energy savings, personnel safety and increased profits of a better running business. Give it a try with a personalized demo session of Asset Insider!

Because you truly care for the future of your business – you get a bonus!

6. Bonus: Avoiding manual processes altogether

Asset-heavy enterprises relying on manual processes for asset lifecycle management come to the conclusion that they are inefficient, error-prone, and not scalable. As an enterprise grows and so does its portfolio, manual processes become more time-consuming and complex to manage, leading to a drain on resources.

Manually managing your assets requires significant time and effort, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs. These resources could be better utilized elsewhere within the enterprise. Furthermore, manual processes can result in inaccurate reporting, which could lead to regulatory penalties and damage to your enterprise’s reputation.

Time is the most valuable asset! This is why we have designed Asset Insider to handle every related process with the highest degree of automation possible, saving you and your teams valuable time. It enables you to:

• Automate Processes: Reduce manual tasks with automated workflows.
• Reduce Errors: Minimize human errors and improve data accuracy.
• Focus on Strategic Tasks: Free up your team to work on high-value activities.

Upgrade Your Asset Management Today

Don't let outdated practices hold your business back. These were only 5 of the possible ways to modernize your asset management strategy. With enhanced automation, standardized processes, and real-time insights, you can stay ahead of the competition!