23 Jun Mobile Process Improvements for Enterprise Asset Management

Editor’s Note: This post was updated March 29, 2018.

When your field technicians are receiving new or returned assets, they are at a loading dock, receiving office, or at a central facility, away from their desk, and away from the back-end enterprise asset management (EAM) application. How are asset records created for these new assets? Are these new asset records tied appropriately to the financial system/purchase order?

When your field technicians are on location, installing and deploying new equipment, shipping refurbished equipment to waiting end-users, performing a yearly physical inventory, or supporting a move, how quickly and accurately are these changes reflected in your back-end enterprise application? What is the process for making sure new information on existing assets gets recorded?

With mobile apps for EAM, field workers can access a backend database directly on their mobile devices – smartphones, barcode scanners, tablets, or other appropriate device – and instantly process and report information to the back-end system. Data is accurate, current, and timely, allowing for better decision-making and complete asset visibility.

Enhanced Enterprise Asset Management Process Examples

Your mobile workforce, equipped with a barcode scanner that allows them to create new asset records, scan in associated PO number, serial number, and newly attached asset tag, immediately capturing these relationships and storing them in your enterprise asset management application.
Imagine the process for capturing new location information during a move of 200 various pieces of asset and equipment: the field technician selects the new location and simply scans in the asset tag of each asset being moved. In a matter of minutes, the scanned data is processed and synchronized directly into the CMDB.

An effective mobile software solution can provide process and efficiency improvements for many EAM operations, including receiving assets on the dock, performing wall-to-wall physical inventories, managing move/add/change operations in the field, and processing mass asset changes.

Benefits of Flexible Mobile Apps for EAM

A few of the immediate benefits of deploying an effective, secure mobile ITAM solution include:

Efficiency/Productivity

• Provide data access and data capture at point of action
• Use barcode scanning to quickly capture barcoded data
• Optimize user experience with advanced UI features
• Eliminate duplicate efforts and unnecessary travel time

Data Integrity

• Use of barcode and/or RFID scanning removes tendencies for “fat-fingering” or mis-typing data entry
• Data entry errors are minimized with client-side validation of data
• Ability to enter data at the point of action provides real-time updates to the CMDB

Operational

• Enforce best-practice processes for daily enterprise asset management
• Enforce HIPAA, ITIL, Sarbanes-Oxley or other regulatory compliance

Tips for Evaluating Mobile EAM Solutions

With the almost daily influx of new devices and mobile operating systems, selecting an effective mobile solution can seem daunting and extremely complex. The following tips will help you make a more informed evaluation of the different mobile technologies on the market today. The mobile solution should:

• Accommodate your existing system(s) and application(s) as well as allowing for future growth in your organization, supporting additional users, additional applications, and additional mobile platforms/devices
• Have proven security features that meet the information assurance requirements of your organization (these vary from simple to government-endorsed security levels)
• Accommodate specific exposure requirements for forms, fields and tables in even the most complex environments
• Feature a crisp, easy-to-use experience, resulting in rapid adoption by mobile users
• Be easily deployed with no “gotchas” during the implementation phase
• Allow flexible control and validation functionality in the mobile user interface to ensure high-quality data capture and effective error detection
• Operate in both online and offline environments to enable real-time updates when connectivity is allowed and available, but also provide full functionality when connectivity is limited or unavailable

 
In conclusion, a mobile solution can help transform enterprise asset management with increased efficiencies, increased data integrity, and reduced costs. However, be sure to carefully evaluate mobile software solutions at the outset, as proper due diligence will reduce your chances of delays and false starts.