Many of you have probably heard the term “asset management” before, but you may not have an idea of ​​what it really is. Asset management is a broad term. It can be defined as a process that guides the acquisition of assets, as well as their use and disposal in order to make the most of the assets and their potential throughout their lives. While doing this, you also manage and maintain the costs and risks associated with the assets. It is not something you can buy, but rather a discipline you must follow to maintain your assets.

Asset management can be used for a variety of things. Most use asset management to keep track of their cash or “liquid assets.” Banking institutions are considered a form of asset management (savings accounts, certificates of deposit, mutual funds, money market accounts, etc.) along with investments. Another example of assets: companies often have a product to sell. These products are considered active. The right asset management system can be used to make the product more available, easier to produce, cheaper to ship to customers, etc.

Asset Management Resources:

Product tracking and insurance is also a form of asset management. The product is an asset to the business and essential to its survival and financial stability. Therefore, maintaining and managing this product is of the utmost importance.

There is another type of asset that many people don’t think of when they think of the term “asset management.” This good has to do with public and shared goods such as: the construction and maintenance of streets, highways, water treatment plants, sewage, electricity, natural gas, clean air, etc. All these are goods that everyone on this earth needs. Typically, your city or local government uses asset management to maintain the cost of these assets.

They also use it to produce some of these assets more efficiently and profitably. Natural resources such as: water, electricity and natural gas are managed so that they can be constantly renewed and therefore available at low cost.

Asset Management Resources:

There are many different means of asset management. It often depends on the type of asset involved. There are companies and software products available to help with asset management. Whichever method you choose, there are many similar things your asset management system should include:

1. Optimize asset usage and manage all maintenance efforts involved by making assets as accurate, reliable and efficient as possible.

2. Reduce the demand for new assets and thus save money by using demand management techniques and keeping current assets.

3. Use a form of asset tracking: Know where the asset is at all times, how much the asset is worth, and how much the asset cost you to start with. You must also incorporate this throughout the life of the asset.

4. Always try to achieve better value for money by evaluating the options of the asset: the cost of maintenance, production, use of the asset, etc.

5. Always provide a report on the value of the assets, along with the costs involved in maintaining the assets.

We hope that you now have a better understanding of the many forms of asset management. There are so many different things that can be defined as assets, therefore there are so many different means of asset management. Now that you understand it a bit, you can decide what your assets are and how you can best maintain them to make them more advantageous to you!