The answer to this question is SMART - Scan Manager for Asset Record and Track. A highly integrated and automated system, that gives a one-point answer to meet all your requirements squarely for Fixed Asset Tracking. It tracks the assets in your organizations throughout their life cycle, starting from procurement until they are finally disposed. This holistic approach makes SMART the ideal choice for an enterprise-wide business solution.

Salient Features:
• Integrated Asset Master with Asset Category, Purchase Reference, Depreciation Classification, Disposal data, etc.
• Use of Bar Codes for Unique Identification of Assets
• Ultra-destructible Tamper-evident Asset ID Labels
• Detailed multi-level location mapping
• Automated Tracking of Asset Movement
• On-line maintenance of Asset history cards
• Intuitive and Extensive Planner for Annual Maintenance Contracts
• Depreciation ledger maintenance and generation of statutory reports
• Seamless integration of Bar Coding technology and products
• Automated and 100% accurate asset verification through portable data capture devices
• Link with Email messaging system for sending email alerts to functionaries on the occurrence of specific events

These labels are of a tamper evident material, which will self-destruct if one tries to remove them. They form the basis of a tamper-proof Asset Management System. They are printedusing thermal transfer printers, with an ink that does not fade and is resistant to cleaning agents, water, alcohol etc. Any layout of the Bar Code Label can be designed with the use of logos, fonts and other asset or organisation related details. A bar code is printed on the label for the Asset Code, which then allows all the asset identification functions to be automated, using bar code scanners and/or portable data capture terminals.

A detailed track of assets is possible only when the territory is extensively mapped. A multilevel location map can be defined in SMART, down to the smallest desired location unit. Each location is assigned a code, and a bar code label is then pasted there, for subsequent use at the time of an Asset Verification exercise. Whenever an asset is moved from one location to another, an Asset Transfer Note is generated in SMART to log this movement. SMART thus keeps an updated position of all the assets at any given time.

Depreciation can be applied as per either the Straight Line or the Diminishing Balance method. Depreciation rates can be defined at either the asset category level or for individual assets. Further, separate methods and rates can be independently defined for each asset, for depreciation as per Company Law and Income Tax Laws. The system maintains a log of both the types of depreciations that have been applied on each asset throughout its life cycle, until the date of disposal. A Schedule VI statement can be generated as per Company Law to form a part of the balance sheet.

Each asset is accompanied with a warranty at the time of purchase, and
at the expiry of which, a maintenance contract has to be put into place. SMART provides the Maintenance Team with a dynamic tool that not only highlights those assets whose warranty has expired, but also provides an intuitive interface to design and plan an Annual Maintenance Contract for them. The assured number of preventive maintenance visits can be distributed either evenly or selectively over the months of the contract period. This allows extreme flexibility in designing contracts where visit schedules can be fine tuned to meet the typical usage pattern for a particular asset. Once a contract is in place, SMART then monitors and
logs the scheduled preventive maintenance calls that are made against it, and prompts when they are not made. SMART makes - The dream come true for the maintenance team!

Assets undergo several events during their lifetime, including up-gradation, repair, replacement of spares, refurbishing etc. SMART maintains a detailed History Card for each asset, where each such event is logged. This allows the asset manager to view the current status of the asset in a single consolidated statement. This is a very powerful tool for maintenance teams, who are often unaware of such events. It also has a mobile data logging interface through the Portable Data Terminal, for registering events at the site, at the time of occurrence. As a result, data entry at a later time is avoided completely, which can sometimes be very tedious and error prone, and in some cases, may be missed completely.

SMART concludes the life-cycle of an asset by capturing the information about its ultimate disposal, through a voucher, along with the mode and value of the transaction. A list of disposed assets is generated for each Financial Year and these assets are not tracked thereafter.

Despite having exercised the tightest controls on asset movement, more often than not, discrepancies creep into the system with respect to the book position and the physical state of the assets. Periodic Physical Asset Verification exercises are the only resort to set the records straight. And this by far is the biggest nightmare for an Administration Team. The challenge is to carry out the job fast but accurately across the entire enterprise. And SMART enables exactly the same. With the help of portable data capturing units, executives scan in the bar codes on all the assets and the respective locations, where they are found. This data is then downloaded to the PC with just the click of a button. Thereafter SMART generates a discrepancy report for mismatches with 100% accuracy. That’s it!

No longer is there a need for long printouts, manuals searching and noting down and then tedious and time-consuming manual data entry. Not to mention, that after all this, the confidence level on the reports that result, is nowhere near those that are generated by SMART.

A variety of portable data capture units can integrate into SMART, starting from entry level memory scanners, going up to interactive Palm based PDA’s with integrated laser scanner and an intuitive user-friendly application for scanning assets. These units effectively expand the reach of
SMART to the point of activity, rather than limiting it to being just another PC based data entry application.

This is a very dynamic feature in SMART, through which it talks back. Check points are defined at various events in the system, and at every occurrence of such an event, SMART sends out a structured message to a defined list of recipients. This dynamic feature allows all concerned to
always stay informed, on-line !