Smarter Asset Management for Seamless Collaboration

Efficient asset management is not just about tracking equipment; it’s about turning your organization's resources into powerful tools for collaboration and operational success. That was the core focus of Cheqroom's recent webinar, Smarter Asset Management: Strategies for Organization-Wide Collaboration, featuring industry leaders from AFDA, the acclaimed film school in South Africa.

The AFDA team shared their institution's equipment management journey—from relying on a fixed asset register and paper-based system to implementing a collaborative asset management platform across multiple campuses. The webinar highlighted how smart tools and processes can dramatically improve the way organizations manage high-value assets.

Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways to help you make the most of your resources!

The AFDA Story: From Spreadsheets to a Collaborative Asset Ecosystem

AFDA’s old way of managing assets involved manual tracking and static spreadsheets. This approach meant limited visibility, inefficiencies, and frustration when managing thousands of dollars' worth of filmmaking gear and IT equipment across four campuses. Recognizing this outdated system was holding them back, AFDA adopted Cheqroom's intuitive platform.

The need to move beyond simple inventory tracking led AFDA to implement Cheqroom to align their asset management processes with their broader academic goals, ensuring seamless collaboration between departments and optimizing resource utilization for students and staff alike.

Fostering Cross-Campus Collaboration

This conversation highlighted the crucial role of interdepartmental collaboration in effective asset management. By leveraging Cheqroom’s customizable user roles and permissions, AFDA enabled teams across IT, finance, operations, and academic departments to streamline workflows and enhance collaboration, transforming the way they work together.

Effective Strategies to Promote Collaboration and Eliminate Silos:

1. Custom User Roles: AFDA segmented users by roles such as students, academic staff, IT officers, and finance administrators. Each profile had tailored permissions based on their tasks and hierarchy, ensuring efficient workflows and secure asset allocation.
2. Categorization and Subcategorization: By categorizing and subcategorizing assets (e.g., DSLR cameras vs. sound recorders), AFDA improved assignment accuracy. This allowed each department to easily track and manage equipment vital to their operations.
3. Collaboration Across Workflows: Students could remotely reserve equipment, with lecturers responsible for approving gear based on curriculum-relevant competency. Meanwhile, finance teams used the platform to link invoice details with assets, accelerating procurement processes.

By enabling granular control and real-time monitoring, Cheqroom became a centralized system that everyone could access and benefit from collaboratively.

Smart Asset Management & Lifecycle Tracking

AFDA’s asset lifecycle management strategy emphasized the critical role of predictive planning. By leveraging Cheqroom’s data-driven insights, the team effectively maintained their high-value film production and IT equipment, ensuring it stayed in peak condition throughout its lifecycle.

• Prevent Redundancy: AFDA identified redundant equipment and phased out outdated assets before they impacted operations. This helped save costs while still meeting academic requirements.
• Depreciation Management: The team leveraged Cheqroom's reporting capabilities to monitor depreciation rates. By integrating lifecycle tracking with financial oversight, they planned proactive upgrades instead of reactive replacements.
• Operational Coordination: Through insights into asset conditions and usage patterns, departments could adjust schedules, prepare for replacements, and ensure smooth transitions to newer systems.

Financial and Operational Gains

Through integrating Cheqroom across departments, AFDA discovered benefits beyond basic asset management.

• Reduced Time Wastage: By automating check-in/check-out processes, staff could focus on critical tasks instead of manual tracking. This led to a 35% increase in productivity for equipment check-outs and reservations.
• Minimized Asset Loss: With real-time tracking and reservations, equipment loss and misplacement were virtually eliminated.
• Compliance-Driven Processes: Cheqroom’s reporting tools ensured that assets met tax and regulatory requirements, streamlining audits.

5 Steps to Smarter Asset Management for Your Organization

Here are actionable steps your organization can take to adopt smarter asset management practices like AFDA’s:

1. Audit Your Resources: Evaluate your current asset register and identify inefficiencies or gaps.
2. Organize Assets: Categorize and subcategorize equipment for clarity and accountability.
3. Set Custom Permissions: Ensure teams only access what they need by creating tailored user roles.
4. Track Asset Lifecycles: Use lifecycle insights to maintain, upgrade, or replace your assets proactively.
5. Foster Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Create custom workflows for each department that enable seamless collaboration, building natural buy-in as teams experience shared efficiency improvements.

Why Smarter Asset Management is a Must

AFDA’s story highlights an essential truth for organizations: asset management goes beyond simply monitoring equipment—it’s about enabling teams to thrive. Whether you’re managing IT devices, creative tools, or operational resources, smarter systems help maximize usage, reduce waste, and boost collaboration. With the right tools in place, organizations can empower their teams to work better together, innovate, and succeed.

You can watch the full webinar on-demand here!

Special thanks to Brian Nkosi and Jayson OLeary from AFDA.