We’re living in an era of compliance; building managers and field service operators across every sector are needing to demonstrate greater levels of compliance and accountability than ever before, with the premise of a central, golden thread of information being pivotal to this.
Software that facilitates easier, smarter and more intuitive reporting and asset maintenance is critical to helping deliver in this new era, and in this post, we’ll be exploring exactly what that software is and what it looks like.
What Does Asset Maintenance Software Include?
Anyone involved in building management and maintenance knows just how complex a facility can look when viewed through the lens of its assets; not only the number, but the variety of assets that can be present. It can be at best a daunting task trying to organise them all, and at worst, downright overwhelming.
Asset maintenance software helps take all those assets that need to be maintained, and organise them in a centralised fashion that’s easy to navigate, understand and interact with. In practical terms, that looks like easy to pull asset registers, assets which can be grouped as necessary, as well as viewed individually.
Easily Manage Multiple Sites from One Location
One of the biggest benefits of asset maintenance software is that you can manage assets across multiple sites from one centralised location. For field services companies, this means being able to see the full picture across your entire service portfolio. Rugged Data’s central web app, The Hub, features all the information you could possibly require about your sites- it enables you to view compliance from a macroscopic site level, and to drill down in a hierarchical way to the minutest detail.
If you’re looking for ways to better align your processes into one streamlined workflow, then using asset maintenance and reporting software like Rugged Data is the way to go.
The Importance of Tracked Changes
It can’t be overstated just how important it is for facilities managers, inspectors and contractors to be able to track changes centrally when maintaining or inspecting assets in a property. Not only from the perspective of ensuring an asset can be properly looked after, but for audit and accountability purposes, too.
With Rugged Data’s Hub, for instance, you can view a complete log of changes recorded on an asset, complete with the date and time those changes were recorded, as well as what the changes themselves were. This ensures that asset data can’t be tampered with or falsified in any way. In other words, it helps reinforce that “golden thread” idea.
What About the Reporting Aspect?
Equally important to asset maintenance is the reporting component of the software. After all, it counts for very little if you can look after your assets more easily but are still bogged down in laborious, paper-based reporting processes. Technicians need to be able to fill out forms on a mobile device whilst on the job so this makes a mobile app an essential part of asset maintenance and reporting software.
Industry-leading reporting apps makes technicians' lives easier and more intuitive, enabling them to fill in forms both quickly and accurately on their mobile devices. When looking for reporting software, make sure you check for efficiency boosting features like:
- Offline working– even in buildings with little or no signal, your field team shouldn’t have to hit pause on productivity.
- Simplified form filling– Features like pre-populated form fields reduce typing, minimising the risk of mistakes. Smart forms, where form questions are determined by the technician’s previous answer, mean your team only sees the questions relevant to the job they are doing.
- Streamlined schematic management– adding marked up schematics and floor plans to reports after they have been completed takes time. To really realise the benefits of reporting apps, technicians should be able to annotate schematics in their mobile app on the job.
Communication that Goes Both Ways
What’s more, the reporting process should be two-way rather than merely one-way. What do we mean by this? Well, with a one-way reporting software, a technician in the field creates a form in their mobile app and types all of the details needed to submit the report to a central point. With two-way reporting, any information held centrally about a job or asset is automatically pulled into the mobile app, ready to be used by the technician on the job.
With asset maintenance and reporting software, Rugged Data, relevant customer, site and asset data is automatically pulled through from the central Hub to the Mobile App, so your technicians have access to everything they need on the job. When your field team have finished a job, and submitted a report, information in The Hub is updated so your office team have a real time view of what’s happening out in the field. If there is a problem with a job, or an asset doesn’t meet compliance standards, the office team know straight away and can resolve it proactively.
Perfect reports every time
With traditional reporting apps, field teams can submit their report in the app, but once it’s submitted, it’s submitted – i.e. the completed form can’t be directly edited.
So, if your technician has misspelt something or populated one of the fields incorrectly, then there’s no easy way to change it; your admin team may the have to download the report and use PDF editing software or something similar to create flawless, professional reports for your customers. Hardly an ideal way of working!
With Rugged Data’s asset maintenance and reporting software, your admin team can directly edit completed forms in The Hub, even after they’ve been submitted, with changes tracked to ensure audit worthy records. This saves both time and hassle back in the office.
Whilst it’s crucial that your reports are accurate, it also helps your reputation if they look the part too. When using asset maintenance and reporting software, your reports should customised to your brand, showing your company logo, colours and accreditations, with a smart front cover and tail sheets to match.
Faster Fieldwork 28 Day Sprint
Of course, it’s one thing to tell you about the benefits of software like this – but talk is cheap. That’s why we offer our Faster Fieldwork 28 Day Sprint; we’ll implement a reporting process for you and get it live within four weeks.
If we don’t? We’ll refund your setup, as well as build the form entirely for free. That’s how confident we are in our offering.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it – what asset maintenance and reporting software is, as well as how it benefits field services companies and facilities managers in this era of compliance. If you’d like to find out any more about Rugged Data software, then we’d love to hear from you. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!
