Welcome to the MyCash Dashboard Mobile Assets Whitepaper. MyCash Dashboard is an expert at conducting asset reviews for organisations with the objective of discovering potential productivity, operational, cost savings and especially cash benefits.
Lazy assets are cash killers. There are considerable mobile assets within any organisation that may not be included on an asset register. The purpose of this paper is to highlight attributes of mobile assets whether or not they are included on an asset register.
Why are mobile assets important to monitor? As one example, many vans/trucks are replenished with inventory for use or work in operations – therefore the vehicle effectively becomes a mobile store. It is common that when equipment and consumables (parts used in operations) are allocated to a vehicle that the equipment and consumables are expended in the finance system and no longer tracked. From experience, MyCash Dashboard often detects mobile assets assigned to vehicles or jobs, then not consumed for the intended purpose and become unaccounted or ‘lost in the system’ rather than being returned to the asset ‘pool’. Certain mobile assets are tracked, such as the digital devices to confirm deliveries or work, however a deeper look at what makes up all mobile assets and when and how they are used can have a significant cash impact.
Mobile Assets Definition:
Mobile Assets are:
- Powered vehicles – i.e. vehicles that have an engine and can move under their own power source (examples include vans, trucks, boats, tugs, bobcats, forklifts, cars, golf carts, ride on mowers, minibuses, electric bikes).
- Trailing equipment – i.e. vehicles that can be attached to a powered vehicle for relocation (examples include dollies, water carts, mobile tanks, cherry pickers, mobile signage).
- Relocatable buildings and any all tyles of industrial machinery that requires transport to and from a location.
- Precious tools, and machinery used in services that are not fixed to a building (examples include generators, tanks).
- Medical equipment and consumables in any vehicle, permanent or temporary store (examples include pharmaceuticals, portable ventilators, crash trolleys, sterile packs, trauma kits).
- Equipment that is used in conjunction with other mobile assets (examples include tarps, ropes, winches, chains, spreader bars, ratchets wheel chocks, ladders, trolleys).
- Any portable tools in a workshop or stored with a mobile asset (examples include power tools, compressors, welders, toolboxes, oxy sets, steam cleaners, vacuum units, hydraulic power packs, brick saws, pumps).
- Any returnable packaging material (examples include specialised containers, pallets, tote bins, gas cylinders, 205 litre drums, bakery trays, airline ULDs, intermediate bulk containers).
Have you ever had to replace one of the above mobile assets?
General Risks re Assets (not exhaustive)
Some assets may:
- exist and are not registered or insured.
- not be managed from a maintenance perspective and may present a hazard when being used after a period on non-use.
- not have been identified as scrapped for accounting and finance purposes.
- have been stolen.
- be lost.
General Recommendations
It is common in organisations that the management of mobile assets is under-funded or ignored. However the value of these assets for any organisation are likely to be significant.
It is recommended that any organisation:
- Draft an action programme to locate and value every mobile asset.
- Design a system & protocol that all users of asset lists, for whatever purpose, access one database of mobile assets.
- Investigate viable tracking technologies for each class of mobile asset.
- Design a user-friendly process to track each class of mobile asset.
- Benchmark and optimise the efficiencies of the mobile assets.
Action:
This paper has been produced by MyCash Dashboard for general discussion regarding the management, use and recording of mobile assets. It is not intended to be a definitive summary of all assets with any particular organisation.
It is recommended that this paper be read in conjunction with MyCash Dashboard’s whitepaper on ‘Asset Capacity & Efficiency’. When the study and methodologies are combined MyCash Dashboard has found productivity gains in excess of a million dollars.
