Ghost assets are components that are lost, stolen, or unusable… but are still listed as active in the fixed asset database. You want to maximize spares and avoid paying taxes on ghost assets you don’t possess, so the vanquishing of ‘ghosts’ is critical for your CAPEX optimization.
Ghost assets: How to Find and Remove Every Single One:
In the movie Ghostbusters, they vanquished the ghosts through the use of multi-pronged triangulation. That same approach can be done for finding ghost assets, where you hunt them with multiple different solutions. The most common and pervasive is the use of mobile solutions to scan valuable physical assets, inventory, and infrastructure throughout their lifecycle. On top of that, you can hunt them with OSS, BSS, and ERP systems, as well as e-polling technology.
When you have refreshed all connected system databases, you can then audit and reconcile the main asset database of record using a holistic solution like CATS from Fulcrum Technologies (www.Fulcrum.net). This will accurately update asset status for any assets that have vanished and do not appear in the audits. The reconciliation process can even match lost to found items – like if someone along the supply chain changed the label or if an asset comes back from repair with a different label. In that case, it wouldn’t necessarily be a ghost asset, as reconciliation would discern the match.
The best practice for keeping ghosts at bay, according to Fulcrum CEO Jami Oster? Scanning with a customized mobile solution at every possible transaction point; receiving, warehousing, transfer, placed into service, sent to repair, and decommissioning / retirement / disposal.
Handheld scanners are a key component of an end-to-end asset lifecycle management strategy. Designed for use in industrial settings, warehouses, and field locations, they provide volumes of critical data to be reconciled and utilized as actionable data and business intelligence.
The great thing about barcode scanners and inventory capturing apps is that they’re often compatible with your existing software, and many are available with cross-device compatibility. That means your team could be using their personal smartphones to scan barcodes on the job, with a minimal additional cost to your organization, provided security can be adequately mitigated with a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy. After scanning, reconciling the data will ensure the accuracy of every connected system, as well as the asset database of record.
That’s how you vanquish your ghosts.
CFO/Accounting and Finance Managers, Supply-Chain Executives, and Network Operations/Engineering Executives and Managers can all become Ghost Busters with powerful, intelligent, flexible Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM), saving their company millions of dollars in CAPEX.
A successful ALM implementation starts by identifying key areas and key performance indicators for improvement and creating a strategic long-term vision. According to the Gartner Group, a company that effectively and efficiently implements an automated ALM program can anticipate a saving of 15-20 per cent of the Total Cost of Ownership.
That is because ALM is the complete end-to-end management of equipment through each of the lifecycle stages, from acquisition to receipt, return, warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation, installation, maintenance, sparing, repairs, decommissioning, redeployment, and finally retirement.
Hello ALM, goodbye, ghosts!
