Track Educational Assets with Barcode
Colleges, Schools, Universities, Vocational Education, Kindergarten…. Educational facilities of all types and sizes…..they all have one thing in common. They are entrusted with using, assigning, maintaining, and accounting for the educational assets that have been provided for their use. Not assets in the form of dollars and cents, well not strictly speaking; but, fixed assets in the form of materials, items, furnishings and even vehicle fleets. For accounting purposes, educational facilities all need to track educational assets.
Often, assets are barcoded, then simple tracked manually. While there may be a label attached to the asset (quite possibly a barcode label), the user might just write the asset tag number down manually, then hand the sheet of scribbled notes to another person to enter the data into an electronic database – at best. At worst, they may simply placed the handwritten notes into a file folder which is then placed in a storage drawer. Or, they may even bypass barcode labels and simply hand etch an asset number directly on to the asset. All, in all, neither of the latter processes is the optimum solution to the problem – how to track educational assets.
Barcode Software for Asset Tracking has been around for decades, but depending upon the particular barcode product, the degree of user-friendliness, coupled with the ease of installation, plus the potential cost, may deter facilities from implementing it. Fortunately, a good barcode software solution is not difficult to implement and is an invaluable time-saver in an era when time is indeed, Money!
The following are offered for consideration as the key components of a barcode software solution for tracking educational assets, that, when implemented with planning and forethought, will provide not only accurate accountability for educational assets, but also free up valuable time currently wasted trying to find missing assets:
• Someone has to be in charge - No person is an island, but assets don’t track themselves and very few employees volunteer for extra duty. There’s barely enough time in the day to fulfill their immediate responsibilities. So, assign someone to champion the cause. Someone has to understand the barcode software, the barcode hardware, and the overall inventory control management application.
• Make every person who uses or has responsibility for educational assets accountable - It’s pretty much a given, unless that person is totally dense, that if one is personally accountable for something, they’ll take much better care of it. With a good barcode software application, you can assign assets to users – accounting for both their location and the asset’s condition.
• Purchase a good asset tracking software and IMPLEMENT it – It is of little use to purchase a barcode tool, but then not use it. Much like comments about having children – there’s never going to be a “perfect” time – you simply have to put the plan in motion, or the end goal will never be accomplished.
• Assess the method by which you want to identify assets - Barcode labels, RFID tags, RFID implants, Barcode dots…. There is a very large range of options for identifying assets. The variety of materials – from paper to metallic labels – available to use for barcode tags is broad. The consideration also includes the adhesives used on the labels – allowing for the tagging items from the most delicate to the challenging, such as oily, sticky maintenance tools. If a particular item can’t be individually tagged, there are options to tag groups of items in a “bin” or a “kit.
• Monitor and Manage the Data - A good asset tracking software application is going to provide all necessary and basic information on each asset. This included online, anytime documentation in the form of reports on assets available, asset locations, asset conditions, asset costs…..basically, all historical information on each and every asset! Accountability on demand – for regulators, auditors, accountants, and each department that uses those assets!
At GigaTrak Barcode Solutions, we understand processes - whether they’re asset tracking processes, inventory management processes, or business accountability processes. Our Barcode Software Solutions are designed to be practical, robust and user-friendly. We know if it’s not practical, it’s not going to be applicable. If it’s not robust, it’s not going to survive. If it’s not user-friendly, no one’s going to use it! GigaTrak Barcode Solutions, we provide barcode solutions to help educational facilities manage their assets in the most practical, efficient way possible – via barcode asset tracking. Call today and speak to an experienced GigaTrak Representative: 877-204-9237. Ask for an online webinar, or download a demonstration version to see for yourself how simple and effective barcode asset tracking can be.
Learn More