Develop Inventory
It is important for each organization and in particular each asset group to work up the type of inventory system that they require for their particular asset types.
The next stage is to develop preliminary inventories for each of the asset groups. By this stage we should have some idea of the quantities that are involved so that we get a feel for the total size of the ultimate inventory.
The preliminary inventories are best developed by actually going to the various facilities and listing all of the assets and major components that will need to be implemented into the asset management system.
The next phase is to work on detailed or quantified inventories. Here we present the inventory for each individual asset group or facility and the various components We will quantify this inventory substantially so that we have an idea of the size of the numbering system that will be required in the ultimate coding or asset numbering system.
The organization needs to consider the numbering system it will use to identify the individual assets and their components. Numbering systems fall into three major categories, namely:
- Unintelligent (random sequential numbers)
- Semi-intelligent (numbers that may indicate the type of asset, department, or responsible organization and may identify its approximate location but then use an unintelligent sequential number for the balance of the number)
- A fully intelligent number (that will have a detailed structure so that it can indicate the type of asset, the location and other issues uniquely).
As each system has benefits and disadvantages, it is very important that the organization looks through the options and chooses one that will suit their needs.