How to Add Assets

Right after you have some users in AssetChief you should add some assets. You do this on the Assets tab. You can add assets either on the desktop or through your phone through the browser. The benefit of adding the asset through your phone is you can use it with pre-printed QR codes to map each asset to a label - but we'll get to that in the next section.

When you go to the Assets tab, you'll see a list of assets in the system or, if you're just starting, it'll be an empty list.

Above the list is a text box you can use to quickly enter in the names of assets, without any other information.

If you have more time and would like to fill in more information, you can use the "New Asset" button on the right-hand side. The same kind of form will appear when you edit an asset, which you can get to by clicking the pencil icon at the end of the asset entry in the list.

If you use the New Asset action, you can optionally specify whereabouts the asset will be stored. This is because the asset list can be hierarchical, meaning that you can have groups of assets, sub-groups and so on. There is basically no limit to how you can structure your assets.

As part of that structure, some groups can be locations and others can just be groups of assets. A location is just that: a physical area, such as an office or a field, that will contain assets.

If you create either a location or group, you can add assets underneath that by clicking the expansion icon:

Once you do that, you'll see the breadcrumb change at the top, and you'll then see the assets under there - or an empty list if it's a new location or group.

So let's get back to adding a new asset. The New Asset button, just like the form for editing an asset, will look like this:

Let's run through the fields.

The Entry Type field is where you'll select whether the entry is going to be an asset, a location or group. Like we said above, if the entry type is a location or group, then once you add it you can expand the entry and add sub-assets in there. For now we'll assume we're adding an asset.

The Name field holds the name of the asset. Try to keep this as short as possible, so it's easy to find in the list.

The Type field will be a dropdown that will show options from the Asset Types list. We discussed Asset Types a little in the Concepts section. We'll go through adding an Asset Type in a later section. This is optional, so you can leave it blank if you wish.

Date Acquired is the date that the asset was acquired - for example the date it was purchased.

The State field can be used to set the current state of the asset. The options for states are defined in the Asset Type. If you don't have a Type selected, then this option should be ignored.

The Availability field lets you select whether the asset is available or not. There are several options. Available is the default, meaning that the asset is available for use. Unavailable is if the asset is not working or has been removed. Partially Available means the asset is available but may not be fully functional. Retired means the asset is no longer used and has been retired from service. In Transit means the asset is being shipped somewhere, and Provisioning means that the asset is not yet available but will be soon.

The Availability Notes lets you provide an explanation for the availability. If, for example, the asset is unavailable, you can explain why. This is optional.

The Originator is the name of the user that acquired (purchased) this asset. This can be useful to record if, for example, you need to find out why the asset was purchased.

The next field, Asset Supervisor, is an important one. This is the name of the user who is responsible for the asset. This includes being responsible for all work orders, all queries and all approvals related to that asset. This field is used by the workflow engine in AssetChief to know where to send tasks and approvals to when a request is entered relating to that asset.

Additional Asset Supervisors can be entered in the "Other Workers" section under the asset - we'll get to that later.

The "Require Access Authorization" flag is used for locations, and won't be enabled unless the entry is a location. If this is set to Yes, and the location contains assets, then any request to work on an asset at that location (for example) will also create an approval request to whoever is the asset supervisor for the location where the asset resides. So if I need to fix a door (an asset) in Auditorium A (a location), then entering in a work order for that door will first send an approval to the supervisor for the auditorium. So, basically, if this location is secure then you should set this to Yes.

The "Reference / Serial Number" field can be used to enter the serial number of an asset, or any other kind of reference value you like.

The "Location Hint" can be used to describe where the asset is. For example "north east corner by the exit". If you use Floor Plans, then you won't need the Location Hint. We'll get into that later.

The "Shared" field is used to indicate if this asset is shared among users. When this is set, then you can use the reservations requests for booking access to the asset. It enables features like a calendar of bookings.

The "Picture" field lets you upload a picture of the asset. If you're entering in the asset from your smartphone, clicking this will let you take a picture from your camera.

Next is a section specific to valuation. We recognize that not all users will want to track asset valuation, so this section is collapsed by default. To expand it, just click it. This will show a section like this:

The Original Value is the value of the asset when it was purchased. The Salvage Value is the value you expect the asset to have when it will be retired (often 0), and the Expected Lifetime is the number of years you expect the asset to be functioning.

Under that section is an area for Notes - where you can enter any kind of text to provide additional information about the asset.

Under there is a link to expand the Other Workers, which we'll discuss in more detail in the next section.

Remember that all of these entries, except the Name, are optional. So if you'd rather not enter these in, just enter in the name. You can always edit it and fill the rest in later.