The education industry bears enormous losses each year through damaged or misplaced assets. This risk is magnified if the educational institutes lack a proper school asset management system to overcome such challenges. A study by Quality Education Data shows that lost or damaged items cost schools nearly a quarter of a million dollars each year which includes $80,000 for technology malfunctions alone. The research further revealed that manual tracking of assets is one of the main reasons why schools suffer from such losses. It gets worse when school districts use multiple systems for tracking rather than a single solution.
The absence of a robust inventory control system makes it difficult for schools to manage assets within their budgets. Often times, a poor asset tracking system means that teachers and students remain deprived of the resources they need to meet the minimum standard of education. While trying to deal with such issues, a majority of schools end up deploying more inventory instead of tackling with the root cause of the problem. What the schools really need is a cloud-based solution that can centralize management of resources more effectively. That’s where asset tracking software for the education sector comes in!
What to expect from an asset management software for schools?
Schools have numerous items in stock. Taking care of these assets can be a complex task without the help of an advanced inventory control system. School asset management software enables you to implement organized practices to control costs as well as increase efficiency. Here are a few ways how can tracking assets help you optimize performance while cutting costs:
1. Streamlined resource management for flawless school activities
To ensure seamless school timetables, it becomes necessary that teachers and students have the required assets whenever and wherever they need them. Say, for example, you want to arrange a presentation for students in the main auditorium. First, you have to list down all things you would need to arrange for the event to run it smoothly. You would need to check if an auditorium is available, whether the projector is free and if the mic is working properly. The list goes on and on.
To make your job easier, educational asset management software lets you reserve assets in advance. With the help of availability calendar, you can check if your asset is available on the day you need it. What if the item is sent to the maintenance department, or another user has checked it out for another event in the school? You can also cross check to see if any other events are taking place on the same day through the dashboard calendar to avoid any conflicts. This way you will never have to cancel due to unavailability of resources at the last moment. You can plan, book and carry out activities right on time!
Book resources before time to plan hassle-free school events
Read more: Using the availability calendar with asset tracking software
2. Stay within the budget with seamless inventory management
When you plan your asset stock in advance, you are better positioned to draft its required budget in the future. This gives the school management a chance to allocate funds towards respective departments in time. By doing this, you can also avoid last minute additional costs associated with asset shortages.
In order to conduct efficient procurement practices, school asset management software lets you prepare automated purchase orders. This way you can keep track of all your stock orders from various vendors at one place. You can also set minimum asset thresholds for frequently used items e.g. school stamped stationery items in your inventory to ensure that you never understocked. Whenever you reach the set threshold, an automatic purchase order will be created for the specific asset. Advance procurement plans allow you to stay within the set budget for inventory while helping you save time as well!
Read more: Inventory Control Software – A Necessity for K-12s
3. Availability of reliable and accurate data helps remove inefficiencies
Schools are very likely to misplace assets daily. Be it a laser pointer, teachers need for their class or something as simple as a chalk box. What if you could save time spent on locating lost assets before the class begins? This will raise productivity as well as enable teachers to carry out their lessons hassle-free.
Educational asset management software provides you with a centralized system which updates all items in your inventory instantly. With the option of check-ins and checkouts, you will never miss out on any asset related information. Whenever someone uses an item from the school inventory, they will have to update its records on the system for future reference. By improving visibility on an asset’s possession, you can also reduce chances of internal fraud and theft. This way automated asset records help you save money spent on replacing lost and stolen items!
Update asset information timely through Barcode scans to improve transparency.
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4. Cut down on repair costs through routine maintenance
Equipment downtime is the most common constraint faced by the education sector. Here’s a situation – you are about to start your lecture and notice that the speakers aren’t working and the projector screen requires a quick repair. You cannot do much but wait for someone to come and fix these problems. It would’ve saved you a lot of time and effort if such instances had been taken care in time.
To avoid such unpleasant situations, school inventory management software enables you to plan maintenance events in advance. You can also schedule service alerts to be sent out when the repair of an asset is due! It oftentimes happens that when you finally notice an equipment breakdown, it is already too late to fix the problem. In such cases, you end up buying a whole new set of equipment. These costs would’ve been easily reduced if you would’ve repaired on time. This way you will be able to keep all your assets in shape, allowing you to carry out all school events and workflows effortlessly while saving money!
Read more: Here’s how asset tracking software improves education
The need of a cost-effective school asset management software
When you decide to invest in a robust tracking system for your school you will be able to better manage assets through increased visibility and transparency. One of the perks of a cloud-based asset control system is that it grows with your business. It helps you to stick to an ‘all-in-one’ software for the long run and eliminate the need for changing databases frequently. By doing this you save money by getting rid of redundant services involved in manual asset tracking. Make a calculated investment today and get school asset management software for a better-quality education for your students!
