Asset tracking is a great way to keep stock of everything within an organisation, preventing it from going missing, keeping track of the maintenance and keeping a record of every person who has used a piece of equipment, allowing for complete transparency and accountability.
Aside from warehouses and factory floors, schools, colleges and universities are also great places that can utilise asset tracking systems. Educational equipment can be very valuable to the educational experience, but expensive to lose or not be able to hold someone accountable for breakage. Here are all the reasons that asset tracking makes a great addition to the classroom:
Access Control
With asset tracking, an educational institution can utilise student ID cards to provide access control to specific assets. Students often already possess ID cards, so the addition of access control which allows them access to certain materials or pieces of equipment provides a quick, efficient and cost-effective way to monitor which students are being loaned what pieces of equipment.
Levels can be adopted to ensure that only the right kinds of students have access to certain types of assets. For example, laptops might only be loaned out to older students that have reached a particular year, so using ID cards to control who can have access to certain assets is a great way to protect the assets and ensure that the students who need them have access to them.
Preventative Maintenance
With preventative maintenance software, such as fault logging, you can manage the assets to ensure that they remain safe and in perfect working order, to prevent breakdowns. By using a maintenance checklist for the assets, you have better control over expensive replacement costs, helping to save the institution money overall.
Easy Reporting
Without tracking your institution’s assets, how will you know your asset’s maintenance schedules, their location, or who is currently in possession of them? By using a simple paper and pen spreadsheet for checking out assets, it’s easy to run into errors and mistakes as people forget to check something out or check something back in.
With asset tracking software, assets are tracked in real-time; you will always know where they are and who was the last person to have them, making it easier than ever to locate the assets and keep an eye on their quality.
Provide Accountability
With a comprehensive check-in, check-out system, students are aware that they have a responsibility to take care of the assets they are borrowing, and they will be more inclined to be careful if they’re aware that they will be held accountable for any breakage or loss of the assets.
With a barcode system for asset management, teachers can scan the assets and the student ID cards, which will automatically record the data, giving clear information over who has which asset. If the asset goes missing or breaks, the institution will easily be able to identify the student responsible.
Track Asset Depreciation
Assets can depreciate quickly, especially if they are pieces of equipment like laptops. Old laptops will work slower and may no longer be suitable for student use. An asset management system can calculate the depreciation of an asset with metrics to give an in-depth insight into its status. It allows you to schedule maintenance to maximise the asset’s working life.
Asset Loss Prevention
Lost assets can cost an educational institution a substantial amount, and that money would be better suited going back into the school for the students. However, an asset management system can help save on costs by preventing the loss of these assets. With the information available of its whereabouts, assets can be sought out and re-collected from the persons who may have misplaced them or tried to prevent returning them.
Allow Transparency
With asset management, you not only give the students a sense of responsibility, but it provides the teachers and staff members with the security they need, knowing exactly where the assets are going and who they’re with.
They can track assets from anywhere with various devices, like on a school computer or even through a smartphone if they’re away from the school. If any update occurs, such as a return, the information is updated in real-time using the cloud, so the changes don’t need to be manually input, preventing errors.
At GSM Barcoding, we have been working with educators for over 40 years, providing asset tracking systems and complete barcode systems with wireless networking and stock control software that integrates seamlessly into your school’s IT system. Contact us today for more information.
