Asset basics

Efficiency in asset management is the reason many companies turn to a CMMS system in the first place. This article lays out the foundational ideas of asset management using Maintenance Connection.

The following definitions provide a basic understanding of terms related to managing Assets with Maintenance Connection:

• Location Assets: Defined by structure or geography, Location Assets are often buildings, rooms, areas, etc. These Assets are also referred to as Type "L" Assets, or simply "Locations."
• Equipment Assets: Referred to simply as "Assets," or Type "A" Assets, these Assets are usually specific pieces of equipment housed within a Location Asset (such as a fire extinguisher within a building).
• Asset Hierarchy:: The basic organization of Assets made up of levels (or, a hierarchy). A typical hierarchy will look something like this: Organization > Site > Building > Area > Equipment. The levels of the hierarchy are defined by a "parent-child" relationship. So, with the typical hierarchy given, a Building would be the parent Asset to an Area, and all the pieces of Equipment withing an Area would be child Assets to the Area Asset.
• Asset Tree: The Asset Hierarchy displays as an Asset Tree in the List pane of the Asset module. Parent Assets within the Tree have "nodes" that can be expanded to show child Assets lying beneath their parents in the Tree.
• Asset Classifications: The type, or class, of Asset. Typically, organizations will require that each of its Assets are given a Classification in order to create consistency and efficiency for properly maintaining its Locations and Equipment. For more information, check out our article on Using Asset Classifications.
• PM Assets When Preventive Maintenance schedules are applied to Assets, those Assets are attached to the PM as PM Assets. This designation simply allows for two sets of data to apply to the same Asset, one from the perspective of the PM module, and the other from the Asset module. For more information on how PM's and Assets relate, check out the Preventive Maintenance and Assets article.

This segment outlines the basic navigation of the asset tree. There is a logical progression to the points below, but they are meant to display the basic navigation features rather than to give a step-by-step process.

1. Access the Asset module by clicking Open and selecting Assets.

2. The asset tree displays in the List pane on the left side of the screen, showing only the first level of the asset hierarchy.

3. Click the plus/minus controls on the parent nodes to display/hide child assets.

4. Select an asset from the list to display the asset record in the WorkCenter on the right side of the screen.
5. Right-click on an asset in the list to display a menu of options.
6. Drag and drop assets within the list to move records to a different location in the asset tree.
7. Click the blue Refresh button to return to displaying only the first level of the asset hierarchy.
8. Use the Search tab to locate specific assets. You can use Search By to determine the field by which you want to search, and then enter your Search Value and click the blue arrow. Once you execute a search, the List pane displays the results of your search.

1. There are a few different ways to create a new asset in the Main Application (MRO).

   From any module, click the down arrow on the New button in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Select the Asset module, and the New Asset record will display in the WorkCenter

2. From within the Asset module, click New to open the New Asset record.

3. Right-click on any asset in the asset tree, and select Add New Asset/Location... This will open the New Asset record in the WorkCenter with the Parent Asset already populated, showing the same asset you right-clicked on.

   Once you have accessed the New Asset record, you will need to add information about the asset you are creating. Fields outlined in blue are required.

   • Parent: The parent asset will show the asset ID that the current asset falls under. For example, the parent asset of a room would be the building it belongs to, and the parent Asset of the building would be the site or company. As described above, you can automatically populate this field by using the Add New Asset/Location... option from the right-click dropdown menu. You can also begin typing the parent asset ID and choose the desired asset from the dynamic dropdown that appears. Finally, you can click the dropdown arrow on the Parent field to open the Asset lookup, and select an existing asset, or create a new asset from there.
   • Classification: The asset classification is used to link common equipment. For example, all Air Handling Units would fall under a consistent classification of "AHU." This will allow you to filter specific types of Assets in searches, reports, PM's, etc. As with the parent asset, you can either populate this field by typing in the Classification ID or by clicking the dropdown arrow to open the Classification lookup. From the lookup, you can also create a new classification if needed. For a more detailed look at using asset classifications, check out the How to Use Asset Classifications article.
   • Type: This field indicates whether the new record is a location (Type "L" Asset) or an asset (Type "A" or Equipment Asset). This field will auto-populate based on the value placed in the Classification field, since each classification is designated as either a location or an asset.
   • Asset ID: The Asset ID is used to uniquely identify individual assets. Typically, ID's are configured with all caps, no spaces, and an abbreviated version of the Asset Name. For example, the Asset ID for Air Handling Unit #1 might be AHU-1. It is crucial for organizations to follow a consistent naming strategy for all their Assets. You can allow the system to assist you in this by enabling the ID Builder and Auto-Number preferences, described in more detail in the Asset Expert Features article, under the "Asset Preferences and Configuration" header.
   • Name: Depending on your business practice, this may be the most common identifier for location or equipment. The asset tree displays asset names by default, and will show the asset ID for equipment assets in parentheses. Keep in mind that you can have multiple assets with the same name.

   Once the required fields (and any other desired fields) have been filled in, Save your new asset.