Smart Asset Operations in Performing Arts

To share our industry knowledge, we gathered this whitepaper. It will guide the reader through the basics of asset management in the performing arts. This guide is useful for the specialists in theatres and operas responsible for physical equipment.

Smart Asset Management in Performing Arts

Content: 01

Evaluating current status in asset management

02

Performing arts best practices

03

How to get started and prepare for implementation?

Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2022

Smart Asset Operations in Performing Arts

Evaluating Current Status As a first step, it’s good to take the time to evaluate the current status of asset management.

Below you can find some key questions to identify the available potential.

Are the assets in the organisation registered?

A register of assets is the first step in systematic asset management. To gather a full view of all the equipment in the organisation, the assets need to be registered somehow. If the method currently is paper, excel, or memory, it’s worth considering digital options.

Are the asset registers in digital format?

If the organisation’s assets are already in a digital register, that’s great! It’s good to evaluate if the existing digital register covers the needs that arise from operating assets. If the current register doesn’t really support operating the assets, it’s worth exploring some more advanced alternatives.

What is the method of checking the status and location of individual assets?

Is there a digital system in place offering instant visibility for each asset for anyone who needs the information? If not, it might be something that brings operational efficiency.

How are the double bookings blocked in production planning?

When assets are registered in an operational system, such as Trail, the system supports planning the usage of the assets. When asset usage is planned for a specific time interval, the system blocks any bookings for the same equipment for that time.

How are the maintenance activities managed?

It is important to maintain sufficient logs about all completed maintenance and have the logs available for later review. Digital maintenance planning brings both efficiency and control over compliance. A smart system stores the past logs but also reminds users about upcoming maintenance activities.

Are the assets labeled with identifiers?

There are multiple benefits to labeling assets. The most important is creating a connection between the physical asset and information logs. With labels, all information can be immediately checked for each item. Another important benefit is marking all items with the company logo, so that all users know who’s device it is, and alone that reduces asset misuse.

Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2022

Smart Asset Operations in Performing Arts

Best Practices in Theatres and Operas To tap into the power of smart asset operations, it’s important to know that there are two elements to make it or break it. If these two elements are done right, then the basis for smart processes is in place. This is also where the biggest risk of failure lies.

Organising Asset Information It’s way too easy to overcomplicate the asset information in any register.

Overcomplicating leads easily to difficulties in maintaining and finding information later on.

We recommend always keeping things as simple as possible. What it means for a theatre is that the hierarchy of assets is kept very logical and very simple. In the picture you can see an example of a smart and simple information hierarchy for lights and sound departments. This hierarchy serves the organisation in the future and is both understandable and maintainable.

Asset Labels When assets are organised well, the next important element is making sure that the information is updated with every operation. In practice this means that every time asset is collected, moved, returned or broken, the label is used to register the information. This is the key into having a database of reliable and timely information.

The industry forerunners have labels on every asset, every case, every pallet and every location to constantly keep track of the full view of all equipment in multiple locations. For these organisations, anyone can go and check at any time the location, condition or future productions for any asset, just by scanning the label.

Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2022

Smart Asset Operations in Performing Arts

Process of implementation Implementing an operational asset management system is a straightforward process.

1

After a customer has tested that the solution fits their processes, it’s time to sign the service agreement.

After service agreement it’s time to organise the kickoff meeting. Internally

2

this is a good time to adjust any processes and define responsibilities for the implementation.

3

After kickoff meeting, the named key users are provided with training to get started and the suitable hardware for labeling is evaluated and selected.

After kickoff meeting, the gathering of the asset information starts, either by

4

collecting data from other systems or by completing an inventory of assets in the organisation. It’s important that there are clear responsibilities defined for this step.

5

As a final step of the implementation, the gathered information is forwarded to Trail for import and the normal usage of the system can start.

How to get started?

If you are not yet sure what would be the best solution and what are the functionalities that would benefit your organisation most, we’d recommend starting from a personalised demo session. The session can be organised remotely and it offers a good opportunity to talk directly to a professional and ask questions. You can request a free demo session of Trail from sales@trail.fi at any time!

If you already know that you want to try Trail to see how it would fit your processes, just reach out to sales@trail.fi and let us know that you would like to start a trial period.

We at Trail organise regularly webinars exploring the best practices in performing arts. If you would be interested in attending a future webinar, just reach out to us at info@trail.fi and we’ll forward you the links for registration.

Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2022

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Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2022