Online portal to address asset management challenges

Asset management is a real challenge to many businesses, regardless of their size and nature. The previous two articles in this series have given readers some insights into the nature and scope of these challenges, as well as how they can be addressed through a proper and effective asset tracking system.

‘At RentWorks, we offer all of our customers full sight of their rental contracts online, through the Rental Enterprise Asset Management (REAM) portal,’ says Jane Cartwright, the organisation’s Chief Operations Officer. ‘REAM is a customer-centric and secure user interface, which can be accessed from any device with an internet connection,’ she adds, ‘and with one click of a button, our customers have access to the full, real-time detail of their rental contracts in one place.’ This is possible even outside a particular network

‘Customers have been really impressed with the fact that they are able to see inventory data at any time they like,’ says Cartwright. ‘Through the portal, they are able to quickly make informed business decisions on the basis of predictive analytic tools. Customers can do automated live asset verification against their rental contracts whenever they need to, and this assists greatly with reporting requirements, as well as any potential insurance claims and auditing processes. In addition to being able to access live, real-time data, RentWorks customers are able to access historical data,’ says Cartwright, ‘and in this way, they really do have a 360° view of their assets.’

The landing page on the REAM portal will give customers an overview of all of their asset rental contracts, as well as all related information. The analysis page then takes customers to their own, customizable business intelligence dashboard area and this is where most of the magic happens. According to Cartwright, customers can view real time data from multiple sources on this page and are able to access a visual display of the current status of metrics and key performance indicators of the company’s asset base. ‘The lease contract summary page then summarises all active contracts for our customers,’ says Cartwright.

‘The asset data solution has been designed for non-sophisticated integration with customers’ existing data systems and processes,’ explains Cartwright, ‘and the beauty of this is that companies don’t need to provide additional training on how to use new systems and tools if they prefer their existing approach.’ Not only are systems integrated through the portal, but departments within an organisation are integrated too since, for example, staff from procurement, IT, management and legal will be able to see one holistic picture of rental contracts at a particular point in time.

All RentWorks customers are automatically able to access their rental contracts online, but REAM takes this a step further, by offering upgraded enterprise asset lifecycle management and tracking (including the management of non-rented assets) in a seamless manner. Examples of additional value-added services include access to products that:

• remotely secure computer data by freezing or wiping data from the rented device;
• report on particular assets which have associated contracts that are about to expire;
• use an asset’s serial number to determine where the person that owns the asset sits in the company;
• grant intelligence on where an asset is located at any point in time;
• flag potential asset-management challenges and enable proactive risk management; and
• manage leased-asset refresh cycles and anticipate when assets are at the end of their leasing terms.