2022 Asset Operations Survey Highlights

2022 Equipment Management Survey Result Highlights

Trail Systems executed an open market survey regarding the state of Equipment Management in 2022 - as was done also in 2021. The survey was launched in digital channels in November 2022 and was open for responses for a bit more than one month. The survey was available in English language.

The survey contained 8 key aspects of Equipment Management and this report will walk through the main findings of each aspect. The survey contained multivariable questions as well as questions with open text answer possibility.

The survey responders represented several industries. The responders came from different sizes of organisations based on number of employees and also size of annual revenue. The total amount of responders was low in 2022 and therefore the findings should be interpreted with uncertainty.

The findings are interesting regarding the current state of Equipment Management. When combining the results of 2021 and 2022, it’s quite obvious that still only a small share of organisations are fully utilising the possibilities of digital equipment management. The conclusion is that there is still competitive advantage available for the forefront organisations. For the organisations that aren’t efficiently managing their equipment, the modern available tools would would still offer significant benefits in saved time and cost, but also an improved data reliability and overview.

1. Asset Registers Used

First part of the survey addressed the methods to list or register assets in different organisations. The chart below indicates the shares of different methods for listing assets.

The findings suggest that 36% either do not use any asset register or are uncertain about if such exists. Based on the findings, 55% of organisations utilise digital operational system to manage fixed assets in 2022, which is more than in 2021 (36%)

2. Assets Not Recognised

Through customer cases, it has been identified that during the implementation of a digital equipment management tool, there are usually findings made about equipment that no-one knew about.

This leads to the risk that there is own equipment that no-one really knows about. One of the risks for organisations not using digital asset management tool is the lack of information about certain assets.

Below chart indicates that 64% of respondents think that it is possible that their organisation owns equipment that no-one knows about. This is a bit lower share compared to 2021, so there seems to be positive improvement in the situation.

3. Asset Misuse

A significant risk for many organisations owning equipment is the risk of misuse of the assets.

Without a sufficient register, there is no practical way to ensure that all equipment that is being used is also returned.

Survey finding was that 82% of respondents identified the risk of misuse in their organisation. This result is in line with the results of 2021.

4. Smarter Asset Purchases

One of the biggest benefits for a modern equipment management system is the capability to plan purchases based on actual need and life cycle information of the existing equipment. The survey results indicate that majority (91%) recognise that a digital asset register helps to plan purchases better. This is increased from 2021 when it was 84%. Also 55% think that there is excessive assets bought just because there isn’t sufficient equipment information.

5. Equipment Management Responsibility

The responsibility of equipment management is often, especially in larger organisations, shared by several people in the organisation or split per department. The findings of the survey indicate that in many organisations (36%) the responsibility isn’t necessarily carried by anyone or at least it’s not certain who is responsible for equipment management. The share has reduced from 2021 which is positive.

The implication is that the asset data is not being used as a whole for organisation’s decision-making. Therefore the management of assets cannot be optimal and most likely the cost of assets is unnecessarily high.

6. Maintenance Management

The key differences between a static asset list and operational register is the ability to operate assets through the register and ensure timely asset information.

The survey results indicate that 44% are using digital operational system to manage maintenances. Based on the results, 33% of organisations are not tracking maintenances. The findings here are two folded. On the other hand a larger share relies on digital system compared to previous year, but then also a larger share is not tracking maintenances at all. So with highlights, there are also concerning lowlights.

7. Inventory Management

The inventory of physical assets is key in ensuring the correct amount and usability of all equipment. However, the inventories are often overlooked due to the laborious and complex execution.

The survey results show that 27% of respondents are uncertain if the inventories are ever done in their organisation (slightly down from 2021). And 45% of organisations complete inventories in a traditional way of observing item by item - increasing from previous year.

So all in all inventories are moving to a better direction.

8. Equipment Management Challenges

In the equipment management survey respondents were asked to indicate the biggest challenges they have in their organisation regarding equipment management.

The highest rated challenges in 2021 were:

1. Lack of information about where the equipment is

2. Lack of information about owned equipment

3. Unnecessary equipment purchases

The highest rated challenges in 2022 were:

1. Lack of information about owned equipment

2. Equipment loss

3. Unnecessary equipment purchases

So there was a bit of change from 2021 to 2022 in the identified challenges. Equipment loss was highlighted in the responses and information about equipment whereabouts seems to be solved better.