5 Reasons Why Lean Companies Are Using Smart IT Asset Management Systems

“Lean” is a philosophy that focuses on delivering value from the customer’s perspective while eliminating waste and continuously improving business processes. The ultimate goal of this methodology is to achieve zero downtime. Many companies adopt the lean philosophy to radically change how they do business to stay ahead of their competition.

Though the goals of lean thinking may seem simple, execution is a different story because it requires trusted systems and tools to be used across the organization. A smart asset management system is one of the tools that can benefit companies looking to go lean. This post will discuss five reasons companies use smart asset and inventory management to improve their lean performance.

Process Automation

Because automation simplifies and streamlines complex processes, it’s easy to see why it’s a significant factor in going lean. Automation helps reduce waste and errors in an organization’s processes. One such complex process is equipment management.

An IT asset tracking solution automates all the time-consuming tasks usually involved in asset management. This includes assigning and collecting assets, tracking their complete lifecycle from initial receipt until disposal, and generating insight reports. You can automatically schedule customized reports or reminders to be emailed to yourself and the appropriate personnel.

Centralization

This is a crucial factor in applying lean thinking principles because when you manage all of your company’s equipment from a single point, you reduce variance and increase efficiency. Because smart lockers are networked, you’ll be able to control access and monitor the performance and usage of specific lockers in certain locations.

A smart locker system does everything from a single management dashboard. It doesn’t matter if the assets are assigned to a person or location. It doesn’t matter if these assets constantly move in and out of the organization.

Wherever you are and whatever device you’re using, with a centralized cloud-based system, you can manage assets on multiple locations using site codes, countries, and any other custom attributes. Additionally, you’d also be able to regularly generate custom reports based on your business’s specific needs.

Accurate Record keeping

When an organization understands what has happened in the past and what’s happening currently, it creates a continuous improvement cycle.

An IT asset management system provides better record keeping because it’s digital and cloud-based. It offers excellent value by generating large volumes of business intelligence gathered from its network of monitoring tools built into the smart lockers.

From the data gathered, you’ll be able to compile insightful reports, set better benchmarks, and track performance alongside your KPIs. The result – Errors are reduced, and insights are generated more efficiently.

Increased Accountability

Accountability is vital in lean thinking because it requires every level of the organization to buy into and support process control.

Zero downtime can’t be achieved if one department or employee doesn’t play their part. This is why going lean needs accountability and transparency for it to work. Everyone has a role and responsibility to follow, from the CEO to the IT team, the equipment manager, and the employees signing assets in or out.

Smart enterprise asset management promotes accountability by ensuring that everyone authenticates themselves at the smart panel before they can receive company equipment. Equipment managers can then keep track of the asset’s location and return dates. If an employee fails to deposit the asset on time, the system notifies all relevant parties – Asset managers, IT teams, or upper-level management. This can be done via email or mobile push notifications.

Improved Trust In The Process

After accountability comes trust, which leads to everyone pulling in the same direction. Every person needs to understand and believe that the organization’s process improvements will ultimately be for everyone’s benefit.

Hardware asset management encourages trust because it makes everyone’s lives easier while saving the company money. This is all possible by ensuring everyone has all the tools they need to do their job right every day.

With a smart locker system’s easy sign-in and sign-out procedure, work staff can quickly get back to work and stay productive. They don’t need to line up and wait for the equipment manager to officially check out a laptop, a smartphone, or any other equipment they need to perform their jobs. When you genuinely and systematically address a problem or need in an organization in this way, you can quickly build a solid foundation of trust.

Conclusion

Even though it originated from the manufacturing sector, from the Toyota Production System specifically, any organization from any industry can benefit from going lean.

Beyond building better products, lean is about improving reliability, efficiency, and the value of a company’s processes. Smart asset management supports all of the above in the five specific ways outlined in this article. If you want to implement the lean philosophy in your company’s processes, the best IT asset management solutions like Teqtivity can help you get there.