Organizations prioritize the management of large fixed assets, such as factories, large machinery, and buildings. But what about the smaller, more numerous assets used in daily operations? These assets are administrative assets, such as laptops, projectors, office furniture, printers, mobile phones, software, and many others. These assets are the backbone of every organization's daily operations.
The lack of an effective system for tracking assets and performing periodic inventory counts leads to damage, loss, and misuse of these assets. This negatively impacts operational efficiency. This is in addition to the inability to determine the number of devices in use, who owns them, whether they require maintenance, and much more.

This article highlights the importance of administrative assets and how they can be tracked and managed to achieve operational efficiency. We also highlight the role of digital tools, such as DocSuite Asset, in implementing an asset management system more effectively and efficiently.

Administrative Assets and Their Importance
Administrative assets are everything organizations use daily in their operations. Whether tangible or intangible, they include the following:

Mobile devices: cell phones, tablets.
IT equipment: printers, servers, network devices, computers, monitors, fax machines.
Licenses and subscriptions: software licenses.
Office equipment: furniture, projectors.
The size of these assets varies depending on the size of the business within each organization. Failure to regularly track these assets and determine their operational status leads to:

Loss or theft of assets, due to the absence of a recording system that facilitates asset tracking.
Increased costs, resulting from the purchase of new equipment without considering the number of unused assets within the organization.

Delayed maintenance, the absence of an asset management system, and the absence of regular maintenance. This leads to these assets being exposed to breakdowns due to delayed maintenance, thus impacting workflow.
This is why it is essential to implement an asset management system that facilitates tracking, inventorying, and maintaining them. This is where digital transformation systems come in, with their tools that help companies improve asset management and enhance operational efficiency, such as the DocSuite Asset system.

How to track, inventory, and utilize administrative assets effectively?
Effective asset management begins with three key processes: inventory, asset tracking, and optimal utilization.

Accurate Inventory
To accurately implement inventory, you must have a comprehensive list of all administrative assets, both used and unused. This list includes a number of pieces of data that facilitate the inventory process. These pieces of data include:

The serial number of each asset.

Purchase date and price.

The asset's location within the organization, including the department and the employee responsible for its use.

The asset's condition (in use, in maintenance, in storage, or obsolete).
By using digital solutions such as DocSuite Asset, this data can be easily and accurately generated. Additionally, assets can be categorized based on their type or location within the organization. This facilitates efficient and effective inventorying, as well as facilitates the process of searching for any asset to obtain information about it when needed.

Effective Asset Tracking
Some administrative assets are non-fixed, meaning they may move from one department to another. Or they may be used outside the organization, for example, in the case of remote work. Therefore, an effective system must be implemented to track assets effectively and efficiently, ensuring that the organization's assets are not exposed to any causes of loss, damage, or theft. The asset tracking process relies on the availability of the following up-to-date data:

The current location of the asset. Is it in the possession of the employee responsible for its use, is it being maintained, or is it in storage?

Recording all dates related to the asset's movement and who is responsible for its transportation?
By tracking assets periodically and continuously, this ensures that they are not lost for any reason. It also provides a clear view of the condition of all the organization's assets, which contributes to enhancing asset management and making responsible decisions about when any of these assets should be replaced or updated. This is done to improve operational efficiency.

Achieving Optimal Utilization
Implementing a robust system for inventory and asset tracking contributes to enhancing asset management and ensuring optimal utilization. This is achieved through the following:

Improving asset allocation by identifying the needs of each department within the organization and determining the number of unused or stored assets. Then, assets are redistributed in a balanced manner, ensuring optimal utilization.
Manage maintenance schedules. Administrative assets, like any other asset, always require periodic maintenance procedures. This ensures uninterrupted operation and minimizes sudden breakdowns. Therefore, maintenance data, schedules, and the results of each maintenance must be documented. This contributes to more accurate and clear asset tracking.
Anticipate future needs: By providing accurate data on the condition of administrative assets, management has a comprehensive view of future needs and when to update existing assets or replace them with new ones.
Enhance asset lifecycle management: This is achieved through inventorying, efficient asset tracking, and the availability of real-time, accurate data on the condition of each asset.
The role of asset management in improving operational efficiency through digital solutions
Traditional methods for managing the lifecycle of administrative assets are not as efficient and effective as required. This is due to the lack of accurate data and the difficulty of tracking assets in real-time, as well as monitoring maintenance and inventory processes. This negatively impacts operational efficiency.

That's why relying on digital solutions in asset management is the first step toward professionally improving operational efficiency. One of the solutions that...