Improving Operations and Efficiency with Our Asset Management System

As part of our ongoing commitment to enhancing our services, operations, and processes here at Red Occasions, we are always looking for constant improvement.

Following a recent review of our warehouse operations and stock organisation systems, we have successfully completed a large-scale asset management and warehouse system upgrade. As part of this process, the whole company has considered if there are any advancements that could ensure greater accuracy, equipment reporting, tracking and management in our day-to-day operations to serve our customers better.

As our business has grown, so has it’s needs and demands. We took the decision to completely re-asset, barcode and stock take our entire warehouse into a new format and upgrade the systems we use to manage these processes. This has meant a three-month internal project going through every asset in our inventory – retagging, labelling, and restocking every item, right down to the nuts and bolts in equipment, to ensure the whole business works to the same standards and protocols.

Overhauling our systems from scratch

The growth of our company has meant that we’ve moved through various systems and processes. Systems that started off using manual check sheets and prep sheets evolved, and we began barcoding our stock through a variety of methods through the years. We have built upon these methods as the need has arisen, and have found that we’ve managed to implement these effectively. More recently as we have scaled up, we’ve wanted to enhance our operations to accommodate more complex systems, equipment and prep/deprep processes.

We’ve taken the opportunity to go back to the drawing board essentially – and design systems fit for purpose, and for larger scale to enable us to better support clients, operate more efficiently and ensure our stock management is more thorough.

The barcode inventory system is when each product is assigned an individual barcode. When the audio-visual product is hired out, the warehouse employee scans it, along with all accessories as part of a test and prep process. The scanner can tell the employee if they’ve picked the right item. It will also then record the action and the information is sent to our central database. This allows us to keep accurate track of each item in our inventory and it’s location across the country, Europe or the world!

Better inventory, better practices, better service

Over three months, we successfully re-barcoded every asset, including all our cables and accessories, to create a complete inventory of all our products. We have integrated our AV kit with our hire system, giving our office team immediate visibility of product availability, condition inspection status and job history. This has helped us to better manage our inventory which ultimately leads to better practices and a better service for our clients.

The new asset management system has made a significant impact on our warehouse operation, improving the efficiency of our working practices. The warehouse team can easily send out equipment and check it back in by scanning the barcode. This has led to faster turnaround times and a more efficient hiring process. We are also better able to manage repairs, status, and history of equipment – so we can keep our equipment working in optimum condition.

Benefits of barcoding our inventory:

Improved accuracy

By having a detailed record of all our assets, we can eliminate any errors in inventory and reduce the risk of missing assets. We accurately know what is sent on every job, and what returns – so our stock levels are always accurate, and the right equipment is where it is meant to be.

Increased efficiency

Our asset management system helps to streamline our business operations and improve workflows. Reducing our overall costs, means we can offer a more efficient and accurate service to customers.

Better organisation

Better management of assets, better understanding of where kit is, and ability to manage maintenance and repairs all lead to a better organised operation.

Real-time data

The speed that the data is processed means that our inventory levels are always up-to-date and accurate. We know the availability of our stock in real-time.

Transforming our business for the better

Taking the opportunity to have a fresh look at our operations and procedures has been invaluable to our development. This will allow us to run our business more efficiently. We can continue to scale up our AV stock, knowing it’s being tracked by our thorough process.

Our new asset management system is just one example of how we are investing in new technology and striving for constant improvement to provide innovative solutions that meet the needs of our clients. We’re really happy with the advantages this system has bought about for our team, crew on site and customers.