The future of the college campus is changing and managing the desires of incoming students while also catering to tenured faculty can be a difficult task. In the post-pandemic higher education sector, many changes are here to stay, including the adoption of hybrid learning options and the increasing popularity of micro-credentials and non-traditional learning initiatives. So, as a university, how can you improve your current campus operations to adapt for the future? Today, our team of university operations software experts at SCLogic discuss the future of asset logistics in higher education and how you can use innovative tools such as our software, Intra, to create a modern campus that Gen-Z and beyond will flock to today and for years to come.

An Overview of Asset Management for Higher Ed

When it comes to asset management, this term can be used broadly, and for the university sector, it is important to understand just how crucial proper asset management is not only for current students and faculty but for the future health and revenue of your facility. For colleges using outdated or manual asset tracking, managers find themselves losing significant time and money for their team. According to Capterra, businesses spend, on average, 80% of their time reacting to asset maintenance issues when they arise rather than preventing them. Additionally, around $1.1 trillion of working capital is tied up in inventory, equivalent to about 7% of U.S. GDP, or gross domestic product. While these are staggering numbers for the totality of asset and inventory management across the nation, the impact that inefficient asset management has on one university can be significant. 

Now that we’ve unpacked the downsides of inefficient asset management, we’re happy to tell you what a productive asset management system looks like at a university level. Picture this, your current asset management system results in a lack of asset organization, excessive maintenance requests, and little to no storage visibility. Not a viable long-term solution, right? Enter, Intra. Our Asset Logistics EDU Workgroup was explicitly crafted for higher education, offering the following workflows:

• Add Assets
• Move Assets
• Transfer Asset Ownership
• Asset Disposal
• Asset Audit
• Asset Rental & Check Out

Optional Workflows: 

• Conference Room Services
• Visitor Tracking
• Facility Inspections
• Workplace Requests

Optimize your departmental spend through the purchase and allocation of relevant assets and conduct real-time utilization analysis by generating reports on when assets expire, need service, or need to be disposed of. As a result, your team will be able to automate maintenance schedules, saving significant time and money on asset health, and improving sustainability efforts by taking part in “green” initiatives such as the resale or recycling of gently used and unused assets. 

What Does the Future of Asset Management Look Like?

While the future of asset management looks different for every university, there are some notable commonalities in the growth expectancy of the industry. According to a study done by Accenture, 80% of executives state that their team is actively looking into new products and strategies, and 95% believe that an asset manager’s technology, data, and digital capabilities will be differentiators by 2025. For universities, the need to establish a clear asset management strategy is imperative. In one of our recent blog articles, our team discussed some of the top tech trends for higher education, including mobile-first learning, campus tech additions, and micro-credentials. The university sector is changing, and with an increasing number of potential students choosing non-traditional education paths, setting your university apart is of great importance. 

How does this relate to university asset logistics? Asset managers will likely move from monitoring assets such as desks, chairs, and other large items to monitoring technology such as school computers and major-specific items for STEM programs. For example, employment in software development is projected to grow 22% by 2029, but currently, fewer than half of U.S. schools offer computer science classes. Investing in assets to prepare students properly for the workforce will allow your university to become a leader in the development of the modern workforce. Furthermore, Gen-Z’s emphasis on sustainability will continue to grow, requiring that asset management departments invest in technology promoting sustainable practices, such as recycling surplus and reselling gently used or unused assets. 

How Can Asset Management Software Improve Your Facility?

While asset logistics may not be on the top of your university’s to-do list, investing in facilities management software for the future ultimately impacts every area of your university, simplifying daily workflows, improving the student and faculty experience, and providing opportunities for sustainability and increased revenue. Out of every sector, asset management is critically important at universities, seeing as there are endless assets such as computers, technology tools, lab equipment, and more spanning across departments in a large area. With dated software or manual asset management, your university ends up spending significantly more on replacements and fees. The solution? Intra’s Asset Logistics EDU Workgroup. 

Not only does our Asset Logistics Workgroup make it simple for you to track assets across your facility, but it also helps you monitor the health of each asset to report on the time between failure and mean time to repair. The last thing any asset manager wants is to be caught off guard when their computers short circuit, lab equipment is broken during finals week, or kiosks and other campus technology shut down, leading to unhappy students and a stressed asset logistics team. Conduct preventative maintenance on assets across universities, keeping a detailed log of maintenance schedules and lifecycle statuses. When it’s time to replace assets, your team can work proactively to minimize downtime. Finally, strategically keep track of KPIs and SLAs for your department, gathering configurable reports to optimize departmental spending for the future. The result – A streamlined asset logistics process that sets the building blocks for your university’s future success through technology, sustainability, and user experience.

Work With SCLogic for Your University’s Asset Logistics

If you’re wondering why we’re so passionate about a topic that most university stakeholders place on the back burner, it’s because we’ve seen what a difference investing in asset management software can make. From local community colleges to large-scale state universities, asset management is an integral part of any facilities management strategy. At SCLogic, we continuously update our software to cater to the specific needs of our customers and identify solutions that they didn’t even know they needed. On top of our Asset Logistics Workflow, we offer multiple workgroups to provide a comprehensive, all-in-one platform for your mailroom, central receiving warehouse, asset logistics department, and campus services. To learn more about how SCLogic can optimize your campus for the future, email [email protected] or schedule a demo with one of our team members today.