Effective inventory asset management ensures operational efficiency, enhances productivity, and maximizes profitability. In this blog we will discuss how proper inventory management allows leading companies to track and control their assets, leading to informed decision-making and optimized resource allocation.
Taking a Systematic Approach to Inventory Management
Inventory management plays a crucial role in operational efficiency by providing a systematic approach to recording, tracking, and monitoring physical assets. Key components include:
- Asset Classification: Categorizing assets based on type increases accessibility and simplifies management.
- Tracking and Monitoring: Using asset labels, such as barcodes or RFID tags, helps track the real-time location, status, and condition of assets, reducing loss and time spent locating the required assets.
- Lifecycle Management: Monitoring assets throughout their lifecycle—from procurement to disposal—ensures optimal utilization and timely maintenance.
- Maintenance Schedules: Regular maintenance checks help avoid conflicts in booking inventory items and ensure critical assets are operational.
- Disposal of Unneeded Inventory: Regular inspections assess the condition of assets, aiding in decisions regarding replacement or disposal.
CERDAAC provides a comprehensive platform for asset inventory management, enhancing strategic asset decisions through robust features. It acts as a centralized asset repository that stores data in one place, simplifying maintenance scheduling, warranty claims, and asset documentation.
It allows users to track asset locations, usage, and recent changes in real-time, optimizing maintenance, upgrade, and disposal timelines. The platform helps evaluate asset capabilities and risks, facilitating informed maintenance decisions.
Cybersecurity & Inventory Management
Cybersecurity is an increasingly important aspect of inventory management, protecting sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of asset information. Effective cybersecurity measures are crucial for safeguarding inventory data against potential threats. Asset management and cybersecurity are closely linked, as both involve protecting valuable resources and information.
Data protection ensures asset information is secure from unauthorized access and breaches, identifying and addressing potential vulnerabilities to prevent data loss or theft. Data protection also helps companies adhere to regulatory standards and best practices to maintain compliance.
CERDAAC implements robust security measures to protect inventory data:
- Encryption: Data encryption ensures that sensitive information is secure during storage and transmission.
- Access Controls: Implementing user authentication and authorization protocols to restrict access to authorized personnel.
- Regular Audits: Conducting regular security audits to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in the system.
Expanded Insights from IT Asset Inventory Management
In the context of IT, asset inventory management involves keeping an up-to-date record of all hardware and software within the enterprise, including software licenses and devices on and off the network. This comprehensive management includes both mobile and fixed assets, managed or unmanaged devices, and even IoT and ICS devices, all with associated risk profiles.
Understanding your digital environment is crucial for making key decisions about your risk posture and ensuring all assets are covered by security considerations. Critical questions to ask include:
- Do you have an up-to-date inventory of all assets across your enterprise?
- Do you have real-time visibility into your overall security posture?
- Do you know which assets are critical to your business?
- Do you have systems in place to continuously observe and monitor your assets?
Continuous and Automated Asset Discovery
Assets are continually moving targets. Effective asset discovery and inventory management must be seamless, offering complete visibility and control over all assets. This requires a platform that continuously and automatically discovers all devices, applications, and users, as well as their relationships. Comprehensive coverage across all asset types is essential for managing and securing your inventory in real-time.
Asset inventory management is foundational to a strong, robust, mature security model. A proactive and automated approach ensures an accurate and up-to-date asset inventory that is highly accessible and continuous.
Real-time dashboards and search capabilities allow assets to be tracked and analyzed across various attack vectors.
How to Kickstart Your Asset Inventory Management with CERDAAC
The first step in implementing an effective asset inventory management system is identifying your organization’s specific needs. Consider the following aspects:
- Scope of Assets: Document the types and quantities of assets you need to manage, including both physical and digital assets.
- Operational Requirements: Identify the operational requirements for asset tracking, maintenance, and reporting.
- Security Considerations: Assess the security requirements to protect sensitive asset information and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
- Integration Needs: Evaluate the need for integration with existing systems and processes to ensure seamless data flow and operational efficiency.
Implementing CERDAAC involves a 4-step integration process that ensures minimal disruption to your operations.
- Transfer existing asset data to the CERDAAC platform, ensuring accuracy and completeness. The CERDAAC professional services team can provide assistance as needed.
- Configure the CERDAAC system to match your organization’s specific requirements, including asset categories, tracking parameters, and reporting formats.
- Provide training to users on how to use the CERDAAC platform effectively, including asset tracking, maintenance scheduling, and data reporting.
- Ensure support during the go-live phase to address any issues and ensure a smooth transition to the new system.
Continuous monitoring and optimization are essential for maintaining an efficient asset inventory management system. With CERDAAC, you can:
- Use real-time dashboards to monitor asset locations, usage, and conditions.
- Analyze asset performance data to identify areas for improvement and optimize asset utilization.
- Conduct regular audits to ensure data accuracy and compliance with organizational policies.
- Implement a feedback loop to gather user input and continuously improve the system based on user experiences and evolving needs.
How CERDAAC Revamps Your Asset Management
CERDAAC offers advanced tools and features designed to improve asset management in the manufacturing industry. By leveraging CERDAAC, manufacturers can enhance efficiency, improve accuracy, and optimize their asset management processes.
- Comprehensive Asset Tracking: CERDAAC provides real-time visibility into asset locations, conditions, and usage. This comprehensive tracking ensures that all assets are accounted for and optimally utilized.
- Centralized Asset Repository: CERDAAC offers a centralized platform for storing and managing all asset data. This repository provides a single source of truth for asset information, simplifying reporting, compliance, and decision-making processes.
- Customizable Reporting and Dashboards: CERDAAC allows users to create customized reports and dashboards tailored to their specific needs.
These tools provide detailed insights into asset performance, utilization, and lifecycle costs, enabling data-driven decision-making. CERDAAC integrates with other enterprise systems, such as ERP, MES, and SCM. This integration ensures smooth data flow and enhances overall operational efficiency.
Real-World Benefits CERDAAC Offers
By providing real-time visibility into asset status and performance, CERDAAC helps manufacturers streamline operations and reduce inefficiencies. This leads to faster decision-making and improved productivity.
Comprehensive tracking and monitoring ensure that assets are used to their fullest potential. This maximizes the return on investment for each asset and reduces the need for excess inventory.
Centralized data storage and robust reporting capabilities help manufacturers maintain compliance with industry regulations and internal policies. This enhances accountability and reduces the risk of compliance breaches.
CERDAAC’s flexible and scalable platform can grow with the business, accommodating increasing numbers of assets and expanding operations without compromising performance or efficiency.
What to Look for in Inventory Asset Management Solutions
Selecting the right inventory management software is crucial for optimizing asset management processes. CERDAAC offers a range of features that make it an ideal choice for manufacturers.
- User-Friendly Interface: CERDAAC’s intuitive interface ensures that users can quickly learn and efficiently navigate the system, reducing training time and improving user adoption.
- Real-Time Data and Analytics: The platform provides real-time data and analytics, offering actionable insights into asset performance and utilization. This real-time information is critical for making informed decisions.
- Customizable Solutions: CERDAAC offers highly customizable solutions that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of different manufacturing environments. This flexibility ensures that the software properly aligns with existing business requirements.
- Robust Security Measures: With features such as data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits, CERDAAC ensures that sensitive asset data is protected from unauthorized access and cyber threats.
- Integration with Existing Systems: CERDAAC’s ability to integrate seamlessly with other enterprise systems ensures a cohesive and streamlined approach to asset management.
- Scalability and Flexibility: The platform is designed to scale with the business, supporting growth and adaptation to changing operational needs.
Aligning Your Business Needs with CERDAAC’s Solutions
Assess your organization’s specific asset management needs, including the types of assets, tracking requirements, and reporting needs. Consider how CERDAAC will integrate with your existing systems, such as ERP and MES, to ensure seamless data flow and operational efficiency.
CERDAAC’s flexible platform allows for tailored solutions that align with your operational goals. It can support your organization’s growth and adapt to changing operational demands, with scalability that ensures long-term viability and support for expanding operations.
By carefully assessing your business needs and aligning them with CERDAAC’s robust features, manufacturers can make an informed decision that enhances their asset management processes and drives operational efficiency.
We have a couple of relevant case studies to share demonstrating how CERDAACS helps businesses thrive.
Medical device leader ViewRay uses CERDAAC to enroll, track, calibrate, and manage lifesaving equipment.
ViewRay has over 1,000 manufacturing-related tools used in multiple locations around the globe, which must be precisely calibrated, tracked, and maintained. As a medical device company, ViewRay is regulated by the FDA and subject to audits and inspections. The company uses CERDAAC software to streamline its asset management processes and track its inventory.
Today, between 20-30 employees at ViewRay use CERDAAC to efficiently manage over 1,000 tools and other assets. Users range from the materials team to quality and engineering departments to management, which uses CERDAAC to view reports on tool availability. With CERDAAC, the ViewRay materials team now has all the data it needs in one single source of record. Users can access the system and instantly see the location and status of their tools, including tool availability, location, and service status.
“It’s easier to have everything, including digital signatures, in CERDAAC,” says Sidqdeep Ghoman, a Materials Planner at ViewRay. “I no longer have to create PDFs and send them to multiple people each time. CERDAAC sends notifications to the right people automatically, and each of the different stakeholders can sign and approve the forms at their convenience. Everything is tracked in one system, so we are ready whenever there’s an audit.”
FDA-regulated genetic testing company Myriad Genetics uses CERDAAC to track and manage medical device equipment.
Myriad Genetics is a leading genetic testing and precision medicine company dedicated to advancing health and well-being for all. Myriad develops and offers genetic tests that help assess the risk of developing disease or disease progression, and guide treatment decisions across medical specialties where genetic insights can significantly improve patient care and lower healthcare costs.
Wayne Findlay is Myriad Genetics’ Supervisor of the Service Engineering Group, responsible for maintaining the company’s manufacturing assets: including robot platforms, liquid handlers, centrifuges, pipettes, and more. When Findlay joined Myriad, the company was using a combination of paper and a legacy Quality Management Software (QMS) system to track and manage preventive maintenance services. “We couldn’t find things easily and we were not able to upload documents to the system or update them later. We would have to keep a paper trail and paper files of all documents filled out correctly and keep them updated,” said Findlay
Today, CERDAAC is implemented and accessed regularly by over 400 users across three different sites located in Utah, California, and Ohio. The service engineering team and the company’s individual labs track assets across multiple locations and schedule preventative maintenance. When a piece of equipment is moved from one location to another, the system is updated with the information, making it easy to locate an asset when it is due for maintenance.
“As long as the lab tells us where they moved it to or who has it, who owns it, we can track it, and we can update it easily in CERDAAC.”
Reach out to learn more about our Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) software and how CERDAAC acts as a central hub that simplifies and streamlines a company’s equipment, assets, and facility maintenance activities.
