Create an Asset Tracking System In 3 Steps

Asset tracking can be an absolute nightmare. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a robust asset tracking system, so you can keep track of your resources.

After finishing this article you'll be able to develop a system that provides real-time visibility into your assets, improves accountability, reduces losses, and enhances overall operational efficiency.

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Why Do You Need an Asset Tracking System?

At its core, it improves accountability by tracking who is using assets and when. This enhanced oversight leads major cost savings by preventing unnecessary purchases.

Staying on the financial side, these systems allow for precise reporting by providing an accurate valuation of company assets. This accuracy is invaluable for budgeting, tax purposes and overall financial health.

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What Are Your Asset Tracking Options?

Currently, there are several ways to set up your asset tracking database.

1. Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets can manage basic asset tracking tasks but come with significant limitations. Human errors in data entry can quickly escalate into major issues. Without clear ownership or version control, changes made by different team members can easily be lost or duplicated, especially if the responsible person leaves the company.

As your asset management needs grow, spreadsheets can become cumbersome, slow, and difficult to navigate, leading to wasted time and resources.

2. Off-the-Shelf Software

Purchasing off-the-shelf software can be a quick way to deploy an asset tracking system. However, these solutions often fail to meet all your specific data needs.

Many asset managers find that these generic systems lack the specialized features necessary for their operations. Additionally, using a generic software means relying on the vendor for updates and support, posing a risk if the vendor faces issues or goes out of business.

A generic software also cannot be customized. For example, if you wanted tailored dashboards that provide real-time insights into specific metrics relevant to your assets, you’d have to create your asset tracking database with a more flexible tool like Five.

3. Custom Application Builders

In summary, you can code it from scratch, purchase an off-the-shelf solution that may not fully adapt to your specific needs, or use an asset tracking system builder like Five, which allows you to easily create a tailored asset database.

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The Best Way to Create an Asset Tracking System

Building an asset tracking database usually requires technical knowledge that someone managing a business, or other organization might not have. For instance, you’d need a substantial understanding of database languages like SQL, as well as the front end development skills for creating user-friendly interfaces.

This complexity often leads organizations to neglect building a proper asset tracking system because they simply don’t have the technical expertise or the time to create it from scratch.

This is where database builders like Five come in. Five is an online application builder specifically designed to make creating an asset tracking system much faster and more accessible.

Creating an asset tracking system with Five won’t be entirely effortless, but it will be significantly easier than spending 60+ hours learning various coding frameworks and languages.

Set Up Your Database in Minutes

With Five, you can quickly set up your asset tracking database. A user-friendly interface is automatically generated based on your database structure, allowing you to manage assets with minimal effort. You can easily import your existing asset data from Excel, Google Sheets, or CSV files, which means you can get started almost immediately.

Customize and Enhance Your Database

Five offers the flexibility to create custom business logic, which is especially useful for tracking complex asset management processes. You can set up automated triggers to alert you when an asset requires maintenance, or when equipment is nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Visualize and Report Your Data

With Five, you can generate detailed reports, such as asset maintenance schedules or depreciation reports, in PDF format. You can also visualize your data through custom charts, making it easier to analyze asset performance and usage over time. Additionally, you can set up email notifications for critical events, such as when an asset is due for servicing or is nearing depletion.

Get free access to Five here and start building the asset tracking system that will improve your operations and ensure your assets are always accounted for.

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Create an Asset Tracking System In 3 Steps

Let’s explore how to develop an asset tracking system rapidly.

Five enables users to create asset systems from scratch and offers various features, including form creation, chart generation, and report building. Essentially, Five acts as a comprehensive web-based development environment.

For new users, Five might seem overwhelming at first. Let’s break down the core concepts to ensure your first experience is smooth and successful.

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Step 1: List Out All Asset Attributes

Start by compiling a complete list of all attributes relevant to your assets. Consider what is important for your organization, your operations, and your employees. Your asset tracking system should serve as the “single source of truth” for all your assets, so make sure it is as comprehensive as possible.

Essential Asset Attributes to Include:

• Asset Name: The unique name or title of the asset.

• Description: Detailed information about the asset, including its purpose and functionality.

• Asset ID: A unique identifier for each asset (e.g., barcode or serial number).

• Category: Classification of the asset (e.g., IT equipment, vehicles, furniture).

• Acquisition Date: The date when the asset was purchased or acquired.

• Purchase Price: The cost at which the asset was acquired.

• Current Value: The asset’s current book value, considering depreciation.

• Location: The physical location where the asset is stored or used.

• Department: The department or team responsible for the asset.

• Condition: The current condition of the asset (e.g., new, good, needs repair).

• Warranty Information: Details of the asset’s warranty, including expiration date.

• Maintenance Schedule: The schedule for routine maintenance and servicing.

• Supplier/Vendor Details: Information about the supplier or vendor from whom the asset was purchased.

• End-of-Life Date: The expected date when the asset will be retired or replaced.

Determine the Right Attributes:

To identify the most relevant attributes, consider the key questions your organization frequently asks about its assets. For example, how often is an asset used? What is its maintenance history? When will it need to be replaced?

By capturing comprehensive data, your asset tracking system will become a powerful tool for managing and optimizing your organization’s assets, ensuring that you have all the information you need at your fingertips.

Once you've done that get free access to Five here and start building your asset tracking system directly in your browser.

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Step 2: Start Developing

With Five up and running, you’re ready to start your first development project!

The tutorial explains how to create a database table in Five, assign different SQL data types to your table fields, and visually inspect your database schema using Five’s database modeler. It also covers how Five automatically adds primary keys to all your tables.

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Step 3: Where to Find Help

Every new tool has a learning curve, and Five is no exception. For those familiar with SQL, Five is intuitive, relying heavily on standard SQL concepts like relationships, primary and foreign keys, data views, and queries.

For newcomers to relational databases or those creating their first database, the learning curve might be steeper. Where can you find help if you get stuck?

In addition to our user community and YouTube channel, Five offers extensive in-product help. To access help and documentation, click the Help icon in the top right corner. The help is comprehensive and covers many commonly asked questions.

Moreover, many of Five’s fields have help text accessible by hovering over the field and clicking “View help.” Check out the image below to see where the Help buttons are located in Five.

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30-Minute Code Along Tutorial: Develop a Full-Stack Web App

Follow our free step-by-step web app development guide and develop a full-stack web app in just 30 minutes with a fully responsive web UI and MySQL database.

Working With Templates and Getting Inspiration

To provide some inspiration, check out our use cases, some of which come with template applications (and we’re adding more and more templates weekly). By importing one of our template applications into Five, you can take a shortcut to your development and build on top of what the template already provides.