Asset Management - Keeping tabs on your assets

With the increasing number of IT equipment and other teaching aids it is becoming more and more important to keep track of all valuable assets.

Like other organisations you are no doubt facing a significant challenge keeping track of location, quantity, condition and maintenance status. The most popular approach to track assets is to number each item with its own unique number, maybe incorporating a barcode which will also save time when making an inventory.

An asset register will contain name, description, serial number, value, warranty and other specifications such as service and maintenance schedules. Also location and user, beginning or ceasing employment.

It is good practice to keep an asset register in case of fire or theft to prove ownership – indeed it might even be a condition of the insurance cover - and an asset label may also discourage ‘asset misappropriation’, theft and fraud.

Asset label materials suitable for security marking range from inexpensive vinyl through more durable materials such as aluminium foil and polyesters – always look for a quality material backed by reputable supplier such as Dantech Ltd. to provide the best all purpose asset label with a superior adhesive.

One special security material is described as ‘ultra destructible’ or tamper evident which means that the material will break into small pieces if removal is attempted – a good deterrent if anybody try to remove the label or switch it to another asset.

Creating an asset management system is the key to get the maximum value out of each asset while keeping a track of its whereabouts.

BARCODES – do we need them?

Barcodes are a machine readable representation of alphanumeric data. A number or letter is represented by bars and a scanner 'reads' these bars and the data can later be retrieved and entered into a spreadsheet or asset software program. It saves time and reduces human error when collecting a string of letters and digits.

If your company only has few assets, mostly stationery or used by a few people, then barcoding is really unnecessary and when tracking your assets it is a lot easier to read an asset label with a number only which is generally a larger size than the readable number below a barcode. You can of course pre-print these numbers in a spreadsheet so it is only a question of 'ticking' the box when doing an audit.

Expresslabels are supplied with a symbology called Code 39 – or Code 3 of 9 – which is a widespread industry ‘standard’ because of its simplicity and versatility and can contain both letters and numbers.