The 5 main benefits of digital asset tracking

The assets of a company running field services are a resource that demands constant monitoring. We can define an asset as any property a company owns and that the maintenance company manages — elevators, industrial equipment, air and water purifiers, telecommunications, servers and so on. Having clear information about where they are in the field, how they perform and the state of the processes they carry out is vital to running operations well. 

Just as we give ourselves headaches (and some inefficiency!) when we lose track of our phone, losing the ability to see our assets clearly — and with them the field service deployed — works against our business interests. A significant part of our field performance comes from our ability to reach, monitor and track assets. That is achieved through the digitization a management software provides.

Below, we set out 5 key benefits of asset tracking. 

1. Better maintenance

Knowing the state of our equipment, its current and past performance, its history of upgrades and repairs, lets us plan its maintenance. Preventive maintenance — unlike the kind that waits for a failure before acting — lets us schedule maintenance and carry out routine repairs at the right time. That comes from constantly monitoring performance, the demand received and each asset's prior history; that information is captured through digitization and processed by a management tool like the one we design at GoDoWorks. 

At GDW we also manage and develop preventive maintenance plans and execute corrective maintenance plans, which secures better ongoing performance. For corrective maintenance it is essential to meet the SLA agreed and  to organize the workflow and the field workforce, gaining transparency and trust and keeping the service reliable, smooth and responsive. 

The advantage of this kind of maintenance is that it extends assets' useful life and improves their availability, through scheduling and planning, so the workflow is not interrupted and demand is met.

2. Efficiency across the whole operation, and higher productivity 

Whether for the field workers who need a tool at hand or the supervisors who need a clear, complete view of the operation to guarantee it runs, digitized asset information streamlines processes. It saves time, both in recording work and through fewer omissions and losses.

The efficiency achieved — through the administrative simplicity of the digital tool, the end of paper records, and the systematization that digital processing brings — produces productivity gains of close to 30%.

3. Traceability

Digital processes provide assurance to field workers, supervisors and managers alike. Omissions caused by human error in recording and gathering information fall, and transparency is created around valuable resources such as fuel or other energy sources. Those supplies, essential to keeping core assets running, can be easily traced through the operation thanks to digital tools. 

4. Better decisions from having information available

Digital tools like the ones we develop at GoDoWorks compile operational information to surface the key statistical and performance elements that make analysis easier. 

For managers, having a clear, complete view of operational performance, current or historical, means better decisions. 

Opportunities and challenges also become visible immediately, thanks to information captured in real time.

5. Precision and safety

The precision that comes from digital records extends assets' useful life, and not only by preventing losses. It also  minimizes the chance of human error by systematizing administrative processes. That streamlines those processes, makes the work easier for the people carrying them out, and provides operational safety for everyone involved and in how assets perform. 

In short, one of the smartest decisions when deploying valuable and expensive resources in the field is to digitize the information about where they are and how they are working. Digital asset tracking —  along with the ability to design, execute and control asset maintenance plans, monitor an asset's incident history and trace interactions through software like the one we design at GoDoWorks — creates the processes that centralize that information and brings efficiency to our field operations.