Equipment Management in Construction: 5 Immediate Benefits of Asset Tracking Software

Modern construction projects move fast, and you need to have an accurate tool and equipment inventory to keep the project on time and on-budget. For construction and repair companies that manage a large amount of assets, tracking equipment can be very difficult and time consuming.

In addition to the IT equipment used by staff and employees, there are assets that need to be tracked like trucks, heavy equipment, tools, machines, and building infrastructure. The combined value of all these assets represents a huge chunk of a company’s bottom line. For this reason, it is crucial that construction and repair companies effectively manage and track these assets.

Without an effective plan to manage these assets, a construction company risks losing assets, being the unknowing victim of theft, or falling behind on project deadlines.

What is Equipment Management?

What does it mean to “manage equipment”?

Equipment management is the process of organizing and managing how equipment is acquired, used, maintained, and disposed of. Specifically, equipment management includes tracking not only what equipment you have, but also where it is, who is responsible for it, and how it is being used. Companies with heavy equipment that is frequently used must also ensure that equipment is properly maintained so that it doesn’t break down or malfunction during usage and cause injuries to your employees.

Through tracking information about assets, a project manager is better able to make decisions about how to use the equipment, when to repair or replace it, or whether additional equipment is needed for a new project or new employees.

How Does Asset Management Software Help You Manage Equipment?

Managing assets can be overwhelming when you are dealing with a large amount of assets spread across many different worksites or locations. It is a tedious and error-prone process. Asset tracking software can help streamline this process by automating many of the error-prone aspects of asset tracking, like entering data and maintaining audit trails.

With asset tracking software, tracking tools and equipment becomes much less tedious and time-consuming, and removes the errors associated with manual tracking using a spreadsheet.

What are the Benefits of Using Asset Tracking Software?

Using asset tracking software can offer valuable benefits to a construction or repair company including the following:

1. It makes checking out equipment fast and easy. It is extremely easy and quick to checkout equipment to a user or location and transfer responsibility for that item. The software will also maintain a checkout history for each item and automatically track when items become overdue. If desired, you can also require recipients of equipment to sign acknowledging their receipt of the equipment and their signature is automatically maintained in your system and attached to the relevant checkout. Having employees sign for equipment increases accountability.
2. You will spend less time locating equipment and tools. You will no longer need to spend time combing through records or making phone calls to track an item down. You can easily look up an asset and determine where it currently is, who is currently using it, and the contact information for the user. With automated audit trails, you can also easily look up every place the item has ever been and every user that has ever used it. This is handy when locating equipment that is needed for a project, that needs repair, or that needs to be reassigned to a new user or location.
3. It helps you quickly create a centralized and accessible inventory list. The first step to managing equipment is knowing what you have. Asset tracking software helps you quickly organize your tools and equipment into an inventory list. If you have been tracking your equipment with a spreadsheet, you can quickly import your spreadsheet into the software to get started. Built-in scanners help you scan your equipment and add it to your inventory list in a matter of seconds. With cloud-based asset tracking software, your inventory list can be accessed from any device and from any location. Assetbots even offers an offline mode so you can manage your equipment in remote areas or areas with a poor internet connection.
4. You can easily collaborate with your team. If you would like multiple employees to have access to your equipment database, you can enable permissions for those employees. For example, you can allow employees to view your data but not edit it. With permissions, you can have more employees using the software without worrying about accidental deletions or corruption of your data. Collaborations by team members are instantaneously incorporated into your inventory list. With Assetbots’ activity feed report, you can easily view what actions your employees have taken with respect to your assets. For example, you can view how many assets a particular employee has added, deleted, or checked out.
5. You can reduce theft. While it might not be that common, theft of heavy construction and other equipment does happen. However, taking actions like assigning unique barcodes to each piece of equipment, capturing signatures for checkouts, and monitoring check-in/checkout status can increase accountability and reduce theft.

One Final Tip for Success

There are many different asset tracking software options out there. Some of these options are not very user-friendly or are geared toward users with IT experience.

Choosing asset tracking software with a simple, user-friendly interface is essential to the success of your asset management process. This way, any user of your team can use this software – no IT or technical experience needed.

When a system is easy to use and understand, your employees become comfortable adopting it. Because inventory lists are fluid and must be periodically updated to ensure that they remain accurate, the cooperation of your employees is essential to the success of your equipment management process. With easy-to-use software, your team will be motivated to keep your inventory list up to date and accurate.

If you are looking for an equipment management solution, try Assetbots today. Assetbots aims to be the easiest-to-use asset tracking software available. We offer many free and affordable plans and can help you keep track of your equipment’s location and user history as well as streamline your equipment management workflow.