The customer has already registered the property. He therefore did not suggest that he had no knowledge of it. The problem arose when he needed to find something quickly. Typically when an employee was leaving, changing positions, or returning equipment they had received over time.
The notebook was usually easily traced by the company. But gradually other things were packed around it – a monitor, docking station, phone, accessories, sometimes even licenses or other small things. And these often remained scattered in various records, notes or just in people’s memories.
“The biggest problem was not with the main facility. We mostly tracked that down. Worse were all the smaller things around it, which the staff added gradually and then you couldn’t be sure if you’d forgotten something.” (says customer representative)
(The customer wishes to remain anonymous, therefore his name is not mentioned.)
Where the problem showed up most
The problem was most apparent when the employee exited. The company needed to quickly find out what the employee had to return and what he had already returned. Instead of a quick check, however, it often came down to searching through records, looking at older records and checking with colleagues. It wasn’t a dramatic problem every day, but an annoyance that came back regularly and took up time unnecessarily.
In addition, the customer was dealing with operational assets that needed to be monitored for revision and inspection dates. A typical example was fire extinguishers and other equipment where it is important to know about an upcoming deadline ahead of time, not when it is due.
“We used to have some things in our records and some things on the side. It was similar for revisions. If the system doesn’t keep an eye on it, it’s easy for something to just stay on a spreadsheet or one person’s calendar.” (says the customer representative)
What the customer needed to change
The customer needed two things in particular. First, he wanted to quickly see what assets were assigned to each employee. Second, he wanted to get control of the deadlines associated with the assets so he didn’t have to rely on manual monitoring.
So it was not a question of making a new list of assets. It was about making the records help in specific situations that actually occur in the company. So that when an employee leaves, no one has to look for what they have to return and so that it is clear when an audit or other inspection is coming up for the assets selected.
How the SmartFP platform has helped
In SmartFP, we deployed the Asset Management module for the customer so that the records are linked to daily practice. For each item, you can see who it is assigned to, where it is located, what its history is, and what dates or documents relate to it.
As a result, today, the customer does not sort assets backwards from multiple sources when an employee exits, but from a single report. Likewise, the system also has alerts for upcoming reviews and inspections so important dates are not lost outside of the master records.
“We used to rely a lot on someone remembering and tracking everything down when an employee exited. Today, we have an overview right away and know what has to be returned. That’s the biggest difference for us.” (says customer representative)
What has changed in practice
After deploying the solution, the customer gained more certainty. Not in the sense that everything will suddenly magically solve itself, but in the sense that important information is no longer scattered in several places. When returning assets, it is easier to verify what the employee is carrying. With operational items, it’s easier to keep an eye on what’s coming up and what needs to be addressed in a timely manner.
That was the biggest benefit for the customer. Not more “records”, but a system that reduces blind spots and helps in situations that are unnecessarily unpleasant in traffic.
Result
Today, the customer uses SmartFP as a place to keep track of both assigned employee assets and selected operational assets and associated deadlines. As a result, he has simpler employee outputs, less reliance on manual tracking, and better control over items that used to be easily misplaced.
At the customer’s request, we publish this case study anonymously.