Key Takeaways
- Select asset identification methods and durable label materials that can withstand the typical operating environment of your assets to ensure readability throughout the lifespan of your assets.
- Leverage preventive and predictive maintenance practices to reduce equipment downtime, extend the useful life of your assets, and optimize asset performance.
- Centralize asset data and implement robust data governance practices to streamline data access and ensure accuracy to support efficient decision-making.
Effective asset identification and labeling are critical components of asset management. Establishing clear and consistent identification practices simplifies asset tracking, ensures accurate data collection, and streamlines maintenance processes.
Proper labeling supports both preventive and predictive maintenance, providing visibility into asset utilization, condition, and performance. Additionally, a comprehensive labeling strategy helps to minimize downtime, improve compliance, and extend the useful lifespan of your assets.
This article outlines best practices for asset identification and labeling, covering everything from choosing the right identification method and label materials to implementing advanced maintenance strategies. Logical and consistent asset identification processes provide a foundation for lifecycle asset management, supporting the operational best practices discussed later in this article.
1. Decide on Using a URL vs. Just a Serial Number
An organization can identify assets in several ways. It’s crucial to choose an asset ID method that doesn’t complicate workflows but instead enables employees to quickly confirm an asset’s identity and easily access its history and details. URLs and serial numbers are two commonly used asset identification options.
Which is more appropriate for your application? If your application is web-based, we recommend using a URL. This will provide a seamless connection to your asset management application and put all essential asset information at your team’s fingertips. The downside to this method is that the URL must remain unchanged.
2. Understand Sequential vs. Asset-Specific Serial Numbers
Asset-specific serial numbers are preassigned prior to label manufacturing and often include asset descriptions. These can be helpful for employees who need to quickly identify whether an asset is part of a particular category, such as assets assigned to a certain business unit or manufactured by a specific company.
Sequential numbers are assigned as tags are installed on the asset. We recommend implementing sequential numbering to easily add to the existing order as assets are added to the database.
3. Select Labels with Excellent Durability
Organizations will want to get the correct label material the first time, select a label material that will last the life of the asset.
Metalphoto® photosensitive anodized aluminum is a highly durable printed aluminum substrate used across various applications. Metalphoto provides resistance to sunlight, harsh weather, extreme temperatures, corrosion, abrasion, and chemical exposure while remaining readable throughout the asset’s lifespan.
These characteristics make Metalphoto an ideal label substrate for tagging assets with prolonged exposure to harsh environmental or operating conditions. Metalphoto labels support item-unique serialized data, one-of-a-kind instructions, or barcodes of any symbology, reducing data entry errors and speeding up asset tracking.
4. Determine Your Asset Label Use Cases
In addition to satisfying work order requirements, labels can be used to capture predictive/preventative maintenance data, operator rounds for data collection, accounting information (depreciation, warranty information/coverage), condition assessment, and much more. Understanding the intended use case will help your organization better articulate your needs to the label manufacturer.
5. Optimize Preventive Maintenance
Implement proactive maintenance schedules based on asset usage and condition data. Preventive maintenance offers numerous benefits, including cost savings, reduced downtime, increased efficiency, improved safety and compliance, and a greater return on investment from capital investments. It helps businesses save on costly repairs and replacements by addressing issues early, prolonging asset lifespan, and reducing frequent replacements.
Well-maintained assets operate more efficiently, increasing productivity and reducing energy consumption. Additionally, regular maintenance identifies potential safety hazards, ensuring a safer work environment and reducing accident risks.
6. Integrate Predictive Maintenance
Leverage predictive maintenance techniques, such as condition monitoring and analytics, to proactively anticipate asset failures and schedule maintenance. Predictive maintenance allows for the early detection of potential issues and enables maintenance teams to address them before they escalate into major problems.
Maintenance can be scheduled in advance by predicting when equipment failure is likely to occur, reducing the chances of unexpected breakdowns and costly repairs.
This proactive approach to maintenance can help minimize downtime and extend the lifespan of assets, ultimately leading to significant cost savings. Additionally, predictive maintenance can help optimize asset performance and reliability, ensuring that assets operate safely, efficiently, and at their full potential throughout their lifespan.
7. Centralize & Standardize Asset and MRO Data
Use centralized Master Data systems to consolidate and standardize your asset and MRO data, thereby enabling comprehensive lifecycle management and analysis. Centralized Master Data systems consolidate and standardize asset and MRO data, enabling comprehensive lifecycle management. By managing all data in one system, stakeholders can quickly find information without sifting through multiple systems.
This governance ensures data flows into core asset management systems like ERP and CMMS. The streamlined process saves time, reduces errors, and allows organizations to analyze trends, make informed decisions, and optimize asset performance, resulting in reduced downtime and cost savings.
8. Implement Data Governance Practices
Establishing a robust data governance framework, ensures the quality, accuracy, and reliability of asset data, supporting effective decision-making. Reliable data is essential for informed asset management, resource allocation, and strategic planning.
Strong data governance practices optimize asset management processes, identify inefficiencies, and reduce costs related to data errors and inconsistencies, minimizing the risk of costly mistakes and enhancing operational efficiency.
Drive Operational Success with Proven Asset Identification & Labeling Practices
Implementing best practices for asset identification and labeling establishes a strong foundation for efficient asset management and maintenance. Clearly defining use cases and selecting the appropriate ID methods, and choosing durable label materials enables organizations to develop a comprehensive asset tracking system that supports operational goals.
Integrating preventive and predictive maintenance practices further enhances asset reliability and longevity, while centralized data management and robust governance practices ensure consistency and data accuracy.
When executed properly, these strategies not only streamline asset management workflows but also provide valuable insights to drive decision-making. Ultimately, this helps to reduce operational costs, minimize downtime, and optimize asset performance. Investing time and resources in establishing an effective labeling strategy yields long-term benefits and positions organizations for continued success.
Table of Contents:
- Decide on Using a URL vs. Just a Serial Number
- Understand Sequential vs. Asset-Specific Serial Numbers
- Select Labels with Excellent Durability
- Determine Your Asset Label Use Cases
- Optimize Preventive Maintenance
- Integrate Predictive Maintenance
- Centralize & Standardize Asset and MRO Data
- Implement Data Governance Practices
