Windmill Software Inc. :: Maintenance Management Software for Senior Living

The Importance of Asset Data

Spotting Equipment and Digging for Data

The cornerstone of any successful asset management program is the data itself. Without asset data, you’re running blind, and could be wasting money, or missing opportunities for cost and time savings.

In this article you’ll find out why you should collect and enter your asset data, which asset data you should be searching for, and how to pull it all together.

Eight Good Reasons to Collect Asset Data

So that all assets are fully and properly maintained, to achieve compliance and good fiscal governance
To analyze the cost of all maintenance (repair & PM) and make informed business decisions about asset replacement. Note that assets must be linked to Work Orders to perform this analysis
To keep a detailed reference list for operational efficiency (instant look-up vs. physical inspection)
To produce an accurate Capital Plan (5 yrs+) and for Capital Reserve Planning
To give your finance department details of retired assets for write-off
To help your CFO with depreciation reporting. PM Worx includes depreciation capabilities
To establish replacement value for insurance purposes
To comply with legislation governing assets provided as donations

How to Spot an Asset that Requires Data Collection

One with a dollar value above a certain threshold. This is commonly north of $1,000 but your CFO may disagree. Check first
One that requires PM — e.g. an A/C unit, even if not listed as a capital item
One that interests the regulatory bodies. You have to show history to achieve compliance
One that’s part of the Capital Plan
One that’s on the books, so you can account for depreciation, writing off capital equipment etc.
One that must be returned to a resident

How to Collect Asset Information

Here are a number of suggestions for collecting asset information. Use them individually, or in combination:

Use existing electronic/manual lists. You might find an electronic list of equipment to export from your financial department’s accounting software
Check blueprints for general scope and then add nameplate data later when available
Record assets while doing inspections and PM
Get your contractors to provide detailed itemizations
Gather data the next time you do unit inspections

Equipping maintenance staff with Mobile Worx allows them to capture asset information easily while maintaining equipment in the field.

To make asset data entry manageable, think of some creative ways to spread the load:

Manual Data Entry:

• Staff on light duty

• Night staff

• Reception staff

• Volunteers

• Low-cost/high-speed typist

Electronic Import:

• Accounting software asset list

• Excel sheets maintained by maintenance, finance or other departments

• Generic import of common information based on type of room

For example, Windmill can import say a fridge and stove for each independent living room, along with common information like manufacturer or model. This works best for sites that have purchased similar assets in bulk.

Did you know that Windmill offers an Excel Asset Data Entry template that allows you to input your data into Excel, then have Windmill import it into PM Worx?

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