5 steps to creating an effective asset management plan

Why your business can't succeed without an asset management plan

Because your field service business needs healthy assets to perform, you can't thrive without an asset management plan. An asset management plan helps you account for all your assets and track them so you know how many assets you have, where they are, what they're used for, their current condition, and the maintenance work done on each one.

With an effective asset management plan, you can:

 

• Track your assets across multiple sites or locations.
• Keep an accurate record of assets, making it easier to determine when assets have been misplaced.
• Improve the reliability and efficiency of your assets by tracking their life cycles and implementing maintenance to keep them in good working condition.
• Cut costs by doing preventative maintenance instead of reactive maintenance, which is time-consuming and expensive.
• Track the cost of asset acquisition, maintenance, and disposal.

How to create an effective asset management plan in 5 steps

With a clear idea of asset management plans and why they're essential, you can start creating an effective asset management plan by following these steps.

Step 1: Create an asset inventory

To manage your assets effectively, you need to prepare an inventory list to know how many available assets you have. Your asset inventory should include:

 

• The total number of assets you own
• The location of all assets
• The value of your assets
• When you acquired each asset
• The current performance of your assets
• The expected life cycles of each asset

Step 2: Calculate the life cycle costs of assets

Calculating the life cycle costs of your assets is an essential part of creating an accurate asset management plan. Your calculations should include the initial costs to purchase assets, long-term expenses like maintenance, and costs to improve performance and dispose of assets.

Step 3: Set levels of service

The next step in creating your asset management plan is to set levels of service or outline every asset's quality, capacity and function. You can use this information to determine future operating, maintenance and renewal activities required to keep your assets up and running so you can deliver the best service to customers.

Step 4: Apply cost-effective management

With all the information you've collected about your assets, you can apply cost-effective management to ensure assets are used optimally to reduce expenses and maximise performance. Cost-effective asset management includes taking a preventative approach to maintenance rather than a reactive one. By performing maintenance regularly, you can find faults and address them before they become bigger, more expensive repairs.

Step 5: Create a long-term financial plan

The final step is to use the information you've collected to create a long-term financial plan to ensure you can continue to offer your services and grow your business. Field service businesses that fail to prepare for future asset management expenses won't be in a position to maintain or repair assets or have the capital to dispose of and replace ageing assets.

How to implement your asset management plan

Now that you've created your effective asset management plan, the next step is to implement it.

The most efficient way to implement your asset management plan is with Asset Management Software.

Asset Management Software is a user-friendly asset management tool that helps you keep track of your assets, manage maintenance jobs, and see when assets are being used and when they're available to be deployed. Because it's a cloud-based system, you can manage your assets in the field or wherever you are via your mobile device.

You can use the software to:

 

• Schedule preventative maintenance jobs and automate job scheduling to reduce manual tasks.
• Keep a digital asset inventory and easily update the list as assets are disposed of or acquired.
• View the location of your vehicles and equipment at all times.
• Keep an accurate record of all activities related to your vehicles, equipment and machinery, including maintenance and repair tasks.
• Attach documents to your assets, including maintenance checklists and compliance certificates.

Using one system simplifies asset management. Instead of relying on a paper system, where information can be incorrectly captured or go missing, you can keep a digital record of all asset-related activities and data.

Now that we've shared our steps to creating an asset management plan, it's over to you! Start building your asset management plan and sign up for our Asset Management Software by contacting us, or start your 14-day free trial to try our software.