Trail - The Power of Sharing Equipment

The Power of Sharing Equipment

What are the biggest benefits of sharing equipment?

There are many benefits to sharing resources with another organisation. Based on our insight, the most important drivers for sharing equipment are access to resources and cost savings in both purchasing and maintenance operations. The biggest hurdles so far have related to organising the equipment and managing the equipment loans. Now is the time to clear away the hurdles and prepare for an era of smart sharing.

Improved access to resources

If assets are shared within your ecosystem, there are significant improvements in access to various resources. There might be resources available that are not possible to source to own organisation, or resources enabling different scales of operations.

Improved asset efficiency

The use rate of assets is improved through sharing as there are more users and more demand for the assets.

Cost savings

The cost savings in sharing equipment can be achieved through reduced ownership. This correlates directly to less storage space, reduced purchases, and reduced maintenance costs. Cost savings could be achieved also by operating in a shared warehouse.

Improved sustainability

Through sharing, there is less need for purchasing or manufacturing equipment. This means a direct reduction of the carbon footprint. If the partner organisations for sharing equipment are physically within close distance, the carbon footprint for transporting can also be kept very reasonable.

Stronger sense of community

When operating together with other local organisations in sharing assets, there is a stronger sense of community and continuous collaboration between the operators.

The Power of Sharing Equipment

Not all organisations want to share equipment or see true benefits in doing so. What are the characteristics of organisations that could benefit the most from shared equipment? Here are a few thoughts on what to keep in mind when considering sharing equipment or a warehouse.

Organised operations and organised assets

A prerequisite for sharing equipment is organised operations. To be able to digitally mark items available for sharing requires the asset data to be in order and in all aspects reliable. Without organised data, there is no way to know if an asset is actually maintained and available when handed out to the collector.

Sharing ecosystem

It’s good to stop to consider which organisations in the local community are the ones who own relevant equipment for us. Also, it’s worth considering which organisations might be interested in utilising the equipment we have in our storage. If there are the same organisations in both lists, then those would be the most logical sharing partners to start with and start building a local sharing ecosystem.

Achievable benefits

To start sharing equipment, there must be achievable benefits to all organisations involved. The key benefit for a small organisation might be access to certain equipment. For a bigger one, the motivator could be improved sustainability in the whole community. Whatever the reason, the benefits are there to reach.

It’s important to identify clearly the benefits to achieve to build the most functioning sharing hub around operations.

Read here more about what Trail is working on right now to support smarter asset sharing!

Whitepaper Trail Systems Oy 2023

Which organisations would benefit the most from sharing equipment?

How would sharing be organised with a digital platform?

The complexity of sharing equipment is related often to the fact that only a limited number of people have information about the existing physical assets. It means that any sharing attempt is dependent on these people and their insights. With digital tools, knowledge can be efficiently shared and all information about available equipment can be sourced quickly.

Digital asset register

Sharing equipment efficiently would not be possible without a digital asset register. A digital asset register ensures that all asset information can be found in digital format and there is a smart way to log future bookings, collect assets, and return assets.

Asset labels

To ensure the efficient collection of assets from anywhere in the organisation, asset labels are the smartest solution. The label can be a barcode, QR code, NFC, or RFID and it is the link between the physical item and its digital counterpart. The label is the method to quickly access item information and update it.

Visibility to available shared equipment

Information about available shared equipment should be accessible digitally, and all the relevant information should be available for booking the equipment. Depending on the equipment type, also visibility in images can be a highly important element.

Ability to book shared equipment

Booking shared equipment must be as simple as booking own equipment. The information about availability and equipment details must be available before making decisions. All organisations involved should be able to rely on the sharing platform and the information it provides.

How to get started with Trail Sharing?

Trail already provides a platform for smart equipment management. Shortly Trail will provide the ability to share and book equipment between different organisations. To start sharing equipment with Trail Sharing platform, the following steps should be followed:

Ensure that the assets and asset data are organised and digitally tracked with Trail.

Evaluate the potential local sharing partners and discuss if there is common interest to start with digital asset sharing.

Reach out to Trail to learn about the tool and about possibilities to test the platform.

Build a sharing hub including the organisations you want to share equipment with.

Tap into the benefits of sharing equipment!

With Trail, the process of sharing is simple: