Asset management is one of the key areas for success of facility managers. Understanding your inventory and assets from the inside out will help you provide interdepartmental organization and maintain a better operational flow. It is for this reason that maintaining a Reap Property Inventory (RPI) is essential to your duty as a facility manager.
Your Real Property in a commercial building includes all owned assets, such as land, the building, installed systems, facility equipment, and product inventory. Maintaining a record of these assets is critical for budgeting and operations strategy. Without an RPI, the core of your asset management practice is hollowed.
A successful RPI record will contain the following information on each of your facility assets, including equipment and appliances:
- Name of asset
- Size or capacity
- Location within the facility
- Date purchased and upfront cost
- Estimated service life
- Estimated maintenance costs
- Identification markers, such as a serial or model number
This information offers you a snapshot of your facility’s material assets, which can be used to budget, strategize, and improve existing operations. In order to bolster your asset management team, remember these tips for RPI success:
Update your RPI – Your RPI doesn’t offer any value if it isn’t current. This means that with every change in your real assets, you must update your records. Updating once a year or once a quarter is not sufficient recordkeeping, as this leads to gaps in knowledge that can then lead to misinformed decisions.
Keep it digital – In the digital age, there is no reason why advanced asset management tech should not be implemented for RPI. Digital files make updating your RPI much easier, make them more accessible for review, and reduce the chance of losing important information. An RPI asset management software will help you better communicate with different departments, including your maintenance team to schedule service requests.
MaintenX clients who utilize proper RPI management are more efficient with facility management than those who do not. We encourage our clients to invest in RPI management for improved preventative maintenance service. To learn more about how asset management affects preventative maintenance, contact us.
