Everything You Need to Know About Equipment Inventory Management
In this day and age, keeping track of your business’s equipment is essential for the success of any organization. Equipment inventory management is a critical part of the process because it ensures that all your equipment is properly tracked, maintained, and accounted for.
Let’s take a look at what equipment inventory management really entails.
What is equipment inventory management?
Equipment inventory management (EIM) is the process of tracking and controlling assets, from acquisition to disposal. It can include anything from simple tools like a pen and paper to a comprehensive software tracking solution like Asset Essentials™.
With EIM, companies can track not only their equipment quantity but also their condition, price, location, and other essential aspects.
By keeping tabs on this information in real-time, companies are provided invaluable insights into their asset’s performance that could help improve operations and financial efficiency.
Additionally, having an organized equipment inventory lets them make more informed decisions based on accurate data.
With equipment inventory management software, organizations have increased visibility of their assets at any given time while streamlining the management processes and increasing economic efficiencies.
Benefits of an equipment inventory management system
An equipment inventory system offers a variety of benefits to organizations, such as improved accuracy and efficiency in tracking, higher visibility into inventory costs, and more timely information for decision-making.
With the help of EIM software, companies can maximize these advantages and optimize their operations. In addition, they gain the capability to forecast future needs more effectively and reduce the chance of stock-outs or overstocking.
All these features enable businesses to save time, money, and resources while managing their assets more accurately.
Know exactly what you have & why you have it
Keeping tabs on the details of your inventory can be a major challenge for any organization.
By using equipment inventory management software, businesses have complete transparency into their inventory data, such as the quantity available, cost, and relevant supplier information, as well as knowing exactly what each asset is for and why it's been acquired.
Knowing the purpose of an item allows companies to utilize its full potential and maximize their productivity.
Conversely, failing to know all the components of your inventory can lead to decreased output when assets are unaccounted for or forgotten about entirely.
To prevent this from happening and ensure your operations continue running smoothly and efficiently, consider EIM software. It will grant you a 360-degree view of each asset.
Reduce unnecessary costs
An equipment inventory management system (EIM) can be a major cost-saving tool for any organization. With an EIM in place, organizations can effectively manage their supplies and reduce both avoidable and unnecessary costs.
Without an EIM, it’s easy to experience overstocking or understocking, resulting in lost funds due to incorrectly predicted inventory needs. By stocking too much, you’ll be left with high carrying costs, physical storage space, and wasted materials.
On the other hand, not stocking enough results in unfulfilled orders, which leads to dissatisfied customers who may go elsewhere the next time they need something.
Fortunately, that’s where EIM software comes into play. It helps to instantly and accurately track inventory updates and notify when assets are running low or need replacement so nothing falls through the cracks.
Prevent equipment failure
Being blindsided by an unexpected equipment failure can put a serious damper on a business’s productivity.
Not only does it hold up deliveries for customers and cause them to become disgruntled, but the costly repairs needed to get the machinery back up and running can take a huge bite out of the company's profits.
That's why having an effective equipment inventory system in place is essential for businesses today—it provides predictive maintenance so that any equipment issues can be identified and addressed before any major breakdowns occur.
Streamline operations
Running an efficient and successful operation is a challenge that every business faces. To make it easier, many organizations are turning to inventory management software to reduce the risk of human error and streamline their operations.
From automated tracking of inventory levels and expiration dates, to equipment usage forecasting and pricing optimization, Brightly Asset Essentials inventory management system offers numerous benefits that help your organization run more efficiently.
What’s more? This software allows you to generate up-to-date, on-demand reports in various formats without having to spend hours manually transferring data from spreadsheets.
Additionally, it provides insight into stock-level visibility and audit controls – so you always have complete transparency over all aspects of your operations.
With a streamlined approach to managing inventory, tracking product utilization and status can become painless, and organization-wide operations efficiencies can be significantly improved.
Make smarter decisions
Finally, an equipment inventory management system provides predictive analytics to assist organizations in making smarter decisions. This system leverages maintenance data and sets out to forecast future needs, giving organizations the ability to make informed, cost-effective decisions.
Moreover, EIM software accesses data promptly and interprets it accurately to generate reports. These reports provide a powerful visual guide that allows decision-makers to gain an accurate understanding of the current state of the organization's equipment.
Good EIM software helps grant teams confidence that they are making well-informed operating decisions while saving money in the process.
Overall, data-driven decisions are more likely to lead an organization toward success by predicting foreseeable issues and limiting any potential regulatory liabilities.
Equipment inventory management tips & best practices
Running a successful business requires skillful management of your equipment and inventory, which can be a tricky yet essential task. It's important to create a streamlined process with organized tracking and reporting to avoid problems down the line.
Read on to learn from our experts and find solutions for successfully managing your business' inventory.
Perform an inventory audit
A complete inventory audit is a crucial first step in implementing an EIM system. Every process down the line will be more effective if an audit is conducted up-front, so take the time to gather important information such as:
- asset ID
- quantity available
- lifecycle end date
…and so on.
An audit will also help you identify any weaknesses or areas that need improvement in your current system.
Establish an equipment inventory policy
Having standardized processes in place helps ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page with regard to how they manage their equipment inventory. This includes everything from receiving shipments to tracking valuable assets and disposing of outdated resources.
Having consistent processes makes it easier to keep track of what's going on and prevent costly mistakes.
Track damage and loss
Having a defined process to track damaged or lost equipment is important, as it allows organizations to identify trends regarding which pieces of equipment commonly break down. This way, faulty equipment can be replaced quickly and maintenance costs go down.
Additionally, having an efficient system to track damaged or lost items can also help prevent costly fines from regulatory bodies like OSHA or EPA.
Implement maintenance scheduling
Maintenance scheduling is another important part of effective inventory management. The right asset tracking software can automate this process for you, helping you reduce unnecessary maintenance costs by using a proactive maintenance approach.
For example, our Asset Essentials software uses asset tagging to help you stay on top of preventive care for all your assets and ensure that they remain in good working order year-round. You can use these maintenance schedules and asset tags to plan ahead and prevent breakdowns.
Use tracking tags
Another great way to ensure your equipment inventory list is managed efficiently is by using tracking tags or RFID tags. An automated inventory management system should include asset tagging so that all your assets are easily identifiable with unique ID numbers or QR codes that are affixed directly onto the asset itself.
This helps you keep better track of all your items across multiple locations while also making it easier to locate them when needed. These asset tracking systems are valuable to keep track of your equipment inventory and condition, especially compared to traditional pen and paper systems.
Implement the right inventory management software
With the global business environment changing so rapidly due to emerging technologies and the need for quickly adjusting production and logistics, it's never been more important to have the right equipment management software for your business.
A great inventory management program should make it easy to keep track of all incoming and outgoing goods and materials, so you can ensure that each task is fulfilled efficiently. It should also offer advanced features such as barcode labels scanner integration and asset performance tracking, as well as analytics to help you better analyze trends.
Asset Essentials provides all these features plus user-friendly dashboards, mobile access, and automated emails - making it one of the most comprehensive inventory management systems on the market.
Elements of an effective inventory management software
There are many inventory management software solutions on the market. Choosing one that’s right for your business can be a daunting task. With so many features and options, it can be hard to know which ones are essential for your business’ needs.
To help you make the best decision when selecting an equipment inventory tracking software for your business, let's look at some of the key elements that should be taken into consideration.
Real-time inventory counts
Having real-time data regarding inventory lists and levels is essential for any business. By having access to real-time counts 24/7/365, everyone on the team has what they need, when they need it. This accuracy in information also helps businesses save time and money by reducing manual inventories and inaccurate counts due to human error.
Location, person, & project assignments
An effective EIM software should also allow you to assign equipment to its relevant location, person, and project. This ensures that each asset is accounted for and encourages employee accountability as well as provides visibility into who has access to certain items within the company.
It’s also useful if you want to track where each item is being used or how it’s being used throughout different projects in order to better manage resources.
Remote management capabilities
Today’s businesses need to be agile and able to respond quickly to changing conditions. An effective inventory management software should allow you to manage equipment inventory from anywhere in the world on a supported mobile device. This allows you to stay connected with your stock and make sure all transactions are being tracked accurately even when you’re away from the office or out of town.
For example, Brightly’s cloud-based EIM system can be accessed from any location so that users can manage inventory requests, transactions, etc., anytime they need.
Detailed inventory reports
A modern equipment tracking system should also provide detailed reports about your inventory performance, budgeting, equipment status, etc. These reports help decision-makers analyze the data needed to optimize operations, maintenance, and capital planning throughout their organization.
Brightly’s EIM platform provides users with easy-to-read charts and graphs that display up-to-date information about their inventories so they can make informed decisions quickly and efficiently.
How Brightly’s equipment inventory software can take your inventory management to the next level
Equipment inventory management is a critical part of running any successful business since it allows companies to track assets more effectively while saving time and money in the long run.
By understanding what an inventory management system does and how to implement one correctly, businesses can ensure they are getting the most out of their investments in their assets while also reducing theft or misuse down the line. Whether you are just starting out with implementing such a system or looking for ways to improve existing ones – understanding these concepts will help propel your business forward!
Managing equipment in an efficient way doesn't have to be complicated. With Brightly Asset Essentials, inventory management is a breeze!
This versatile software has features like easy asset search, data tracking, and analysis, plus much more. The user interface is designed to make the process of counting, tracking, and managing assets much smoother. There's even a mobile app!
Get a free custom demo to see just how Brightly can take your inventory management operations to the next level. From improving asset reporting to instant access to data, you won’t believe the difference this product could make. Take the stress out of managing assets with Brightly's innovative EIM tool today!
