Business assets refer to any item that has value to an organization whereas integrity refers to the reliability of that asset.
Assets fall into three categories: tangible, intangible, and digital. While they carry properties unique to themselves, these assets also have one thing in common. All of these assets require protection and security. After all, these assets are practically the lifeline of your business, so it’s only fitting that you do your best to secure them.
The good news is that securing your business assets is fairly straightforward. Nowadays, you can find all sorts of tools that will guarantee safety and security from both external and internal threats.
Apart from their security, you must also ensure the integrity of your business assets. Unfortunately, this is a bit more difficult than you may think. For one, not many people are aware of what integrity means as far as business assets are concerned.
A Brief Definition of Business Asset Integrity
Integrity is a relatively vague term that refers to various properties of an asset.
To start with, it may refer to an asset’s capacity to function properly and effectively. However, one may argue it’s simply another term for performance. It may also refer to the asset’s lifecycle. In a way, ensuring the integrity of an asset often means you intend to extend its lifespan. This may prove challenging.
Nevertheless, a business can ensure the integrity of its assets by performing the following operations:
- Performance Optimization
- Regular Maintenance
- Repairs
- Inspections
- Testing
If you want to learn more about the strategies concerning asset integrity, visit https://www.abs-group.com/What-We-Do/Asset-Performance-Management/Asset-Integrity-and-Reliability/ and other related sites.
Furthermore, you’ll want to remember how integrity applies to both digital and physical assets. It’s due to their contrasting roles that the way to ensure the integrity for each of these types differ. On that note, here are four tips to help you ensure the integrity of your business assets.
1. Make use of asset integrity management systems.
An excellent first step in ensuring the integrity of your assets, be it physical or digital, is to make use of an asset management system.
For example, your business operations primarily revolve around physical assets such as machinery. Thus, you may want to look into Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS). On the other hand, if your assets are digital, you could make use of Digital Asset Management (DAM) platforms. Here’s a closer look at what these systems do.
CMMS
As the name implies, this is a program or software that facilitates maintenance operations on physical assets. These include machinery, vehicles, and other business assets. Apart from facilitating the maintenance operation, a CMMS system could also perform various functions.
For example, it can track available field workers, manage their schedules, and modify pay rates. Thus, these systems also help manage assets like manpower. Additionally, a CMMS can aid with inventory management and auditing, which allows you to keep track of your business assets.
DAM
These platforms are programs that can store, organize, and share your business’s digital assets in a centralized location. They may also facilitate the creation of these assets.
They also provide extra protection from viruses and other cyber threats to your digital assets that can’t be provided by your typical storage platforms. This can go a long way in prolonging the lifespan of your assets. A DAM platform could also be quite handy as it makes finding digital assets easy for you and your employees. Thus, this makes their usage a lot more efficient.
With these platforms, you can maximize both the efficiency and lifespan of your physical and digital assets. Although they can’t do everything, it’s still best to use them in conjunction with other strategies.
2. Take your time buying the right business assets.
It’s definitely a good idea to perform regular maintenance on your business assets. This helps to ensure their integrity…but it can only do so much. The lifespan of an asset is set the moment it was manufactured.
Take transport equipment as an example. Their maximum lifespan is six years, yet you’ll find most don’t reach that point. This is mainly because the integrity of an asset varies according to its manufacturer. Naturally, high-quality assets will last longer than low-quality ones. So one strategy to ensure the integrity of your business assets is to buy the right ones in the first place.
3. Refrain from getting spare parts from unauthorized dealers.
Spare parts are any part of physical equipment that requires replacement due to wear and tear. Using spare parts is one of the most common ways to deal with maintenance or repairs. Unfortunately, to cut costs, many businesses procure spare parts from unauthorized dealers. Doing this is nearly always a bad idea.
For one, while they may cost less, they also tend to have lower durability.
Moreover, spare parts are meant to restore a piece of equipment to its original condition. However, if you use low-quality spare parts for repairs and maintenance, you’re essentially compromising the integrity of your business assets. This means it might negatively affect the entirety of the equipment, which is the opposite of your goal.
Therefore, it might be best to refrain from getting spare parts from unauthorized dealers.
4. Invest in training for your operators.
It’s advisable to secure the integrity of your business assets by directly investing in inspection, maintenance, and repairs. However, it could also be fruitful if you also invest in operator training.
By doing so, you can make sure the business assets are handled properly. This could go a long way toward ensuring a longer lifespan for your business assets. Moreover, with dedicated operator training, you can drastically improve the productivity and efficiency of your workers. This can also lead to other benefits.
Below are a few examples of training you can provide your operators to ensure asset integrity.
- Safety and Maintenance
- Machine Operation
- Emergency Response
- Damage Control
Final Thoughts
Assets are what keep a business running. Without them, most business operations won’t be possible. This downtime could lead to considerable losses.
Therefore, you must not only protect your business assets but must also work towards ensuring their integrity.
However, not many people know how to deal with this endeavor as asset integrity is rarely touched upon in any industry. By starting with the tips listed above, you should be able to ensure the integrity of your business assets fairly well.
