How do you keep track of loaned and leased assets?
Assets in this context means the management and tracking of your purchased physical assets that are borrowed by other employees. But it can also include the tracking of equipment you have loaned to others, such as visitors and contractors. It is therefore important to record who borrowed what, date of issue and when they are to be return. So you don’t lose them.
An asset management system is a tool for your organisation to record and track all asset movements, not just allocated items needed to run everyday operations. Effective asset tracking transforms loaned and leased assets from potential liabilities into strategic business assets, providing comprehensive insights that drive operational excellence.
Asset issuance in business
Many organisations issue assets, whether on loan or leased to different departments or locations, but often lack formal processes for tracking their return. These assets can range from simple items like keys and access cards to more expensive ones like laptops, vehicles, radios, and PPE. For example, a business may provide a server room key to a contractor or an access card to a visitor for temporary entry.
While seemingly mundane, these asset exchanges represent important logistical transactions that enable business operations. Despite their frequency, these transfers are commonly unrecorded, potentially creating gaps in organisational asset tracking and security management. Hardcat solutions allow for quick allocation of borrowed items. Recording asset issuance within your asset management system to reduce asset loss.
- Check-Out: issue the item to either a location or a person
- Due Date: record the date (and time if required) item is due back
- Check-In record the date (and time if required) item was actually returned
- Overdue: when the item is past the due date system should alert you
Tracking your loaned commitments and managing them in an easy-to-use work flow, we provide your organisation with insights into all asset data in one accessible platform that is easy to find and update, enhancing overall efficiency. Maintaining a record of safety checks and maintenance activities carried out is paramount for ensuring compliance and worker safety.
Are your loaned and leased items being returned?
Managing the loaning and leasing of assets streamlines equipment sharing, enabling quick allocation of borrowed items for temporary or extended use. This reduces the need for additional purchases and saves your organisation both time and money. The organisation should have a clear overview of asset allocation, showing who has which items and their return dates, alerting you to overdue returns.
Effective loan management prevents double bookings, minimising asset losses and administrative errors. Monitor individual assets and their movements via a building, department, or individual, giving you a tidy audit trail of who has what and where it is being used. This is incredibly helpful in streamlining operations, as you’ll be able to indicate to your team that assets are either available or unavailable to loan for a period of time.
Benefits of tracking loaned and leased out assets
Below are just some of the reasons why you should be tracking not only allocated assets and equipment but also items that you have loaned temporarily and leased asset that are borrowed for an extended time.
Financial Management and Cost Control
- Precise Cost Allocation: Comprehensive asset tracking enables businesses to accurately monitor the financial impact of loaned and leased assets. This includes tracking rental costs, usage rates, and overall return on investment. By maintaining detailed records, companies can make more informed decisions about asset acquisition, renewal, or replacement.
- Budget Optimisation: Tracking assets provides insights into utilisation patterns, helping businesses identify underused or unnecessary leased equipment. This information allows for more strategic budgeting, potentially reducing unnecessary expenses and reallocating resources more effectively.
Risk Management and Compliance
- Enhanced Security: Systematic tracking creates a clear chain of custody for assets, reducing the risk of loss, theft, or unauthorised use. This is particularly crucial for high-value or sensitive equipment that moves between different users or locations.
- Regulatory Compliance: Many industries require detailed documentation of asset movement and usage. Comprehensive tracking helps businesses meet legal and regulatory requirements, avoiding potential fines or legal complications.
Operational Efficiency and Accountability
- Improved Maintenance Management: Tracking allows for proactive maintenance scheduling, ensuring leased equipment remains in optimal condition. This can help avoid unexpected breakdowns, reduce downtime, and potentially lower repair costs.
- Streamlined Inventory Control: A robust asset tracking system provides real-time visibility into the location, status, and availability of loaned and leased assets. This transparency improves operational planning and resource allocation.
- User Accountability: When employees know that assets are carefully tracked, they tend to be more responsible in their use and handling of equipment.
Strategic Decision Making
- Negotiation Leverage: Comprehensive usage data can provide stronger negotiating positions when renewing leases or discussing terms with equipment providers. Understanding exact usage patterns can help secure more favourable lease terms.
- Performance Analytics: Detailed tracking generates valuable data about asset performance, usage patterns, and cost-effectiveness. This information supports strategic decisions about future asset acquisitions, lease renewals, or equipment investments.
- Identify every leased asset and manage lease contracts
- Track who has the item and track every lease schedule
- Stay in compliance
- Share visibility across your organisation
- Manage loaned assets at scale
- Reduce operating costs by sharing assets
- Track duration and return dates
- Efficient tracking to prevent loss or misplacement
- Issue and return (check-out and check-in) equipment via mobile apps
- Allow for booking loans of equipment in advance and ensure no double bookings of loaned assets
Manage qualifications, certifications, training and expiration dates
Our enterprise asset management utilises personnel certifications, accreditations, courses and impairments for controlling asset restrictions. The system can be integrated into your existing HR application to easily loan equipment through Barcode/RFID scanning. Identifying personnel qualifications and impairments during the issuing process saves time and creates diligence around the responsible check-out of assets. Meeting safety and compliance requirements and ensuring only personnel with the correct certification can have access to certain assets.
Reduce resource consumption
By identifying underutilised equipment and allowing colleagues to utilise them (optimising usage), businesses can eliminate unnecessary purchases and reduce resource consumption, thereby lowering their environmental footprint. Achievement of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) objectives is imperative to the success of any organisation.
Powering the Circular Economy: How Smart Asset Management Drives Sustainability
Ready to optimise your asset management?
Hardcat’s software solutions keeps track of items that are temporarily on loan or leased. Track all of your lease commitments and manage them in an easy-to-use work-flow. Lease management provides your organisation with insights into all lease data in one accessible platform that is easy to find and update, enhancing overall efficiency.
Maintaining a comprehensive record of safety checks and maintenance activities is paramount for ensuring the reliability and safety of assets. Our enterprise asset management solutions enables organisations to document and track safety inspections, maintenance schedules, and service history, providing crucial insights into the condition of all assets needed to run everyday operations.
