Overview of Asset Inventory system
MembrainPAS AM is a package product which manages an asset register using handheld scanners / PDA’s
It offers the following functions:
- Automatically generates lists of assets and inventory instructions
- Supports all commonly sold scanners / PDA devices for taking the asset inventory
- Supports almost all ERP and Helpdesk systems through standard as-set inventory functions
- Can inventorise assets on or off line
Ready-to-run Interfaces for:
- Remedy AR
- Helpline
- Materna Service Desk
- SAP
- Microsoft Dynamics
Asset Inventory in SAP/R3, Remedy and other systems
Creating and maintaining an Asset Register is usually a costly and painful process which generates mountains of paperwork both before and after. First you have to create monstrous lists and print them out, then send to the relevant cost centres. These are then ploughed through manually, with a large margin for error. These incorrect lists of assets are then carefully input – by hand – back into the master system, such as SAP/R3 or Helpline.
Membrain has developed a package solution which deals with this whole cycle for various backend systems (such as SAP/R3 or Helpline) using a modern IT infrastructure. Generating the asset lists for the asset count is done automatically from the backend system. This is transferred to the mobile devices over the network. The solution is really simple to implement and can be rapidly expanded.
To put it in a nutshell, after creating the necessary data records, first of all labels are printed on a label-printer, with the asset codes as barcodes, and these are then stuck onto the assets or the inventory list. Using mobile terminals (handheld-scanners or radio-scanners) the asset codes are then read and the matching cost-centres are also scanned and it is all stored on the mobile equipment (hand-held scanners).
How it improves the asset inventory:
- Makes the asset inventory simpler to carry out
- Less – even no! – paper
- Eliminates errors by using barcodes
- Gives a total overview (if done in a disciplined way) of where each asset is located
Creating new assets / installations and printing labels
Labels are printed directly out of SAP/3, Helpline, Remedy AR or other backend systems. Uniqueness is guaranteed. The label printer can be any standard machine. For the fixed asset inventory the barcode is known and tied to the asset either immediately or when linked to it.
Options for initial tagging and first asset inventory:
In the leading back-end systems (SAP/R3, Remedy AR, Helpline, ...) you select the function for creating asset inventory lists and print the relevant labels. Labels and assets are linked to each other. Disadvantage: each label then has to be attached to the right asset.
You print the labels „on spec” and link up the label and its asset when you attach the label. The advantage here is of course the certainty that the asset has got the right label.
Taking the inventory of assets:
The local database on the handheld scanner (or mobile input device, or PDA for manual entry) is loaded up with the assets to be checked (per cost centre or location) from one of the leading systems (SAP/R3: BAPI, Helpline database query). The transfer of the inventory list is done via the WLAN or via a PC interface. The handheld scanner or PDA is accessed using a user id and password. Then a room is scanned, for example. The theoretical list of what is there can be shown if wished, and then all the different bits of the assets in the room can be scanned in any order you like, without having to stick to any particular sequence. Using a special interface, any new assets which are discovered can be entered, and if the device supports it, they can be photo-graphed too.
When the inventory is complete, the scanner / PDA is again synchronised with the PC and the software system (SAP/R3, Helpline, Remedy AR, …). This may be done directly, so the data is transferred into the system without further checking, or it can go via a control centre, where the accounts department can recheck and approve it. Both reductions and transfers are also registered, then the asset data are updated.
