Dynamics 365 Asset Management 101

Life Cycle Management (LCM). Total Lifecycle Management (TLM). Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Different organizations refer to it using different names and acronyms, but all emphasize the importance of recognizing that every piece of equipment a customer buys is an asset unto itself, with a complete lifecycle of its own from procurement to disposal, and there are multiple reasons logistic, financial, and operational, to track every stage of that lifecycle.

Dynamics 365 Asset Management facilitates comprehensive management of the entire lifecycle of every asset a company acquires.

Creating Customer Assets

As would be expected, assets may be entered into the asset inventory manually when they are procured. Full information including model number, product name, description, serial numbers and other specifications can easily be recorded into the inventory database.

Dynamics 365 Asset Management also facilitates the uploading of complete lists of assets that are obtained in quantity as part of large purchases or corporate acquisitions.

Associating Customer Assets

Information regarding assets added to inventory are often accessed by Dynamics 365 Field Service and other modules which need the descriptive data. This makes it important to associate each asset to the location it resides in, whether it is an active asset in use in a specific building, or at in a specific user’s office, or it is sitting in a warehouse awaiting use.

Customer Asset Hierarchies

Most equipment assets work in conjunction with other, related units. Large production units may be connected to smaller utility devices, or control consoles. Dynamics 365 makes it easy to arrange any and all assets into use configurations for coordinated tracking and service history generation.

Tracking Asset Movement

During their lifecycle, assets will very likely move from place to place, from storage to active use, and from location to location via transport vehicles. Dynamics 365 Asset Management enables management to know where any given asset is at any given moment.

Asset Servicing and Service History

Maintaining a single source of truth, the asset inventory is also updated whenever a service activity is performed on a specific unit. The comprehensive servicing history of the unit is kept with the fundamental asset information for ready consultation not only by field service management, but also by supply chain management, procurement, finance, and other operations which require asset information at any time.

Assets tracked include not only customer assets, but the assets owned and used by the servicing company as well. Also, various tools and servicing equipment may be tracked as well.

Assets on The Internet of Things (IoT)

The extreme proliferation of devices produced by the exponential growth of the internet of things (IoT) has served to increase the critical need for highly effective and easily accessed asset management. A single IoT implementation may include thousands, or even millions of sensors, controls, and related devices all of which must be carefully catalogued and tracked for operational, servicing, updating, and financial evaluation purposes. Dynamics 365 Connected Field Service enables tremendous control when maintaining such implementations.

Asset Warranty, Procurement, Return, and Disposal

Most equipment assets are accompanied by a limited duration warranty from the time of purchase. It is critical to actively track when that warranty period is due to end, so accommodations may be made to extend such warranty coverage to limit repair cost exposure. During repair, failed components may need to be exchanged under warranty and processing of such exchanges will usually require serial number and other information available from the asset management inventory. Dynamics 365 Asset Management also facilitates the obtaining of Return Merchandise Authorizations (RMA) and the tracking of return for refund or replacement.

Many industries are required by local, state, or federal law, to properly dispose of many equipment assets. Dynamics 365 provides the ability to correctly document all such disposal, protecting the customer from fines or other penalties arising from improper disposal.

Know What You Have, Where it is, and When You Must Next Pay Attention to It

The value of customer assets may fluctuate and change due to age or other factors. It is crucial to always know exactly what assets you own, where they are, and when you need to act to either extend their warranty protection, or dispose of them and properly remove them from your inventory and your financial records. Asset Management in Dynamics 365 supports all of this for the entire lifecycle of every asset.