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What is asset management?

Posted by Gordon Brown on Jan 17, 2019 1:00:00 PM

asset-management

Every business wants to maximise profits and minimise losses. And when a business runs on a fleet, there are special challenges that come with meeting those goals. 

Today’s fleet managers must constantly keep vehicles on the road, stop accidents before they happen, and limit budget blowouts. Despite the overwhelm of it all, one key approach can bring all the pieces of the puzzle together, for the good of the business as a whole: asset management. 

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In this blog, we’ll explain what asset management is, and its importance when it comes to your fleet. We’ll also share how SurePlan can assist fleet managers in implementing effective asset management for lower costs, fewer risks, and a better company outlook.

Learn all you need to know about Fleet Risk Management here.

 

What is an asset manager?

An asset manager is someone who reviews all of a company’s assets — namely, everything ‘belonging’ and of value to the business, including fleet vehicles, equipment, procedures, and even employees — and makes sure they are monitored, used, upgraded, and eliminated as needed for the best operational efficiency and highest profitability.

That means an asset manager must understand both the big picture and the finer details of how the company runs every single day. 

In order to know when and how assets should be added, removed, or changed, an asset manager (or an outsourced asset management partner) should have access to all relevant asset data, and a deep insight into the company’s administrative and financial processes.

An overview of how asset management works

Asset management involves evaluating assets over the course of their useful lifecycle. For example, where fleet vehicles are considered ‘assets’, this means assessing each vehicle’s performance from time of purchase, through servicing for safety or fuel efficiency improvements, to the point the vehicle is replaced with a newer, more reliable model. 

Then, using spreadsheets or software, an asset manager creates a plan to ensure assets are working well, are being used in the most cost-effective ways, and are contributing to long-term business profitability and growth.

Data analysis also helps with asset cost/benefit analyses. This helps inform decisions on what to do with assets to streamline operations and control costs. 

Why asset management is important to fleet managers

Some potential benefits of good asset management include:

  • Lower risk to the business,
  • Reduction of costs due to malfunctioning, unreliable, or outdated assets,
  • Better legal compliance,
  • Fewer admin hassles,
  • Stabilised company revenue and growth,
  • Full visibility into the performance of equipment, employees, and other assets from a single access point.

For fleet managers, those benefits are particularly important. A broader, ‘asset management’ approach allows you to manage drivers, vehicles, and overall operations with the view of ensuring your fleet remains a high-value corporate commodity — one that reliably drives profits and protects the company against legal and financial risk. 

A guide on developing an asset management plan, and how SurePlan can help

Developing an asset management plan requires a few key steps:

  1. Establishing specific asset management goals in line with the corporate mission
  2. Defining assets and collecting and analysing asset data, including number and type of assets, and each asset’s value, projected ROI, performance, and maintenance needs
  3. Developing a plan to achieve defined goals after analysing data
  4. Minimising risk by taking remedial action on the most vulnerable assets first
  5. Constantly monitoring assets and the overall plan so the most cost-effective financial and operational decisions can be made

SurePlan can be a fleet manager’s most important ally when it comes to asset management. As your outsourced partner, we help to secure your company’s ‘people, property, and profit’ through a range of strategies, such as conducting comprehensive fleet risk assessments, helping you implement a solid fleet policy, enabling better real-time fleet visibility via cloud-enabled transparent reporting, and up-skilling your drivers through top-shelf driver training

With SurePlan, you can rest assured that all your fleet-related assets will be thoroughly maintained and managed...enabling you to make smarter decisions that can enhance operations and boost your company’s bottom line.

Asset management is key for cost-saving, low-risk fleet operations. Read here about some essentials of asset management for fleets, and how SurePlan can help.

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Topics: Fleet Risk Management

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