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Case study

A user-friendly, fast, and efficient digital inventory of fixed assets

A user-friendly, fast, and efficient digital inventory of fixed assets A user-friendly, fast, and efficient digital inventory of fixed assets
Solutions: fixed assets audit
Industries: Pharmaceutical

Solution: A cloud-based application for fixed asset inventory

“Modern enterprises should not be afraid of digitalisation or change. A digital inventory of fixed assets, for one, is a simple solution that will make your work much easier. This is especially the case if it is cloud-based since this eliminates many costs. All we need is a username, a password and internet access.” Sabina Drobnič, CEO of Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje

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Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje

Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje is a public institution operating at six locations in Zasavje, Slovenia. The company has 43 employees, whose pharmaceutical endeavours cater to the healthcare industry and supply pharmaceutical drugs to more than 57,000 people living in the area. A few years ago, the Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje started digitising its operations. In this time, they have established systems for electronic procurement and the receipt of goods, introduced automatic cash registers, and implemented an electronic invoicing system. The company, which has around 1,800 pieces of equipment and fixed assets which are inventoried annually, also wanted to introduce a digital system for the inventory of fixed assets.

Challenge:

“How to compile an inventory of fixed assets faster and without a pen and paper?”

“We decided to go digital because we wanted to simplify certain work processes and speed up the inventory process considerably. What convinced us further was that the solution promised greater transparency of our fixed assets and fewer or no errors during the inventory process," recalls Sabina Drobnič, CEO of Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje.

Before introducing the digital inventory system, all fixed assets at the six company sites were labelled with inventory numbers, but there were no barcodes on the labels. They used to take inventory in the traditional pen-and-paper way. First, they made printouts of all fixed assets by location (so-called inventory sheets), located each asset, and checked it off on the sheet. The inventory sheets were then examined and found to be either in agreement or disagreement with the accounting balance. Items not found during the inventory were looked for again across the company, which was quite time-consuming.    

“With the old system, the inventory of fixed assets required at least two employees and took at least a week to complete. The digital inventory was completed much faster and only took one day. However, we still used a pen and paper to some extent – mainly because we feared the unknown. But this fear was completely unnecessary. I believe that the next inventory will be completed in just a few hours by one person,” accountant Mojca Polc reflects on the situation.

Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje has decided to implement the Frontman FIND solution, a cloud-based solution implemented by Špica d.o.o. The cloud-based solution makes it much easier for employees to inventory assets across multiple locations of the company, as it only requires an internet connection to work.

“A cloud-based solution is the best option for us because the company does not have a dedicated IT expert to take care of IT solutions, such as servers, applications, and terminals. With a cloud-based solution, we no longer need any extra IT equipment, as everything – with the exception of the inventory terminal – is hosted by the service provider. The rapid deployment of the solution in our company was an additional advantage," the CEO explains.

How does it work? Simply and reliably.  

The company imports data about their fixed assets and locations into the Frontman FIND cloud-based solution and selects the inventory option. A company employee then quickly and easily scans the barcodes of fixed assets in each room using a handheld terminal and checks the transparent application to determine whether all assets are present – or if there are any missing.

"We use both cost centres and asset locations when inventorying our assets using the mobile application. We use nearly all the features that are available. Particularly practical is the feature that allows us to mark certain assets that are to be written off. But the greatest added value lies in the feedback offered by the application, since it allows you to immediately determine if you have forgotten to inventory a fixed asset in a given room,” Polc sums up the experience and adds, “Unfortunately, we have not yet managed to take photographs of all the fixed assets this year. But I am sure that we will do so next year because it is very practical if the inventory clerk also has photos of certain pieces of equipment. It is easier for them to find an asset if they know what it looks like. This way, our accountant can also quickly find their way around the different models of medical equipment.”

Once the inventory of fixed assets is completed, the company exports the fresh data from the cloud to the accounting software and records them. 

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Quick locating of fixed assets.

The new inventory method was well received by company employees, who quickly adopt innovations that make their work easier. No special employee training was required since the solution is intuitive, transparent, and easy to use. It only took the company two months from having the initial idea to actually implementing the digital inventory of fixed assets. They spent most of this time on market research and finding different providers and solutions. Ultimately, they opted for Špica d.o.o. – a specialised provider who also helped the company produce high-quality labels for their fixed assets. The investment in the digital inventory of fixed assets will pay off very quickly for the company.  

The dedicated solution for keeping track of fixed assets does not just save employees’ time on the day of the inventory, but also during the year.

“The system is also useful during the year as it allows us to quickly retrieve any data or readouts that we are looking for in the transparent, user-friendly interface – it is certainly much faster than looking for fixed assets in an accounting program,” Polc adds. 

Zasavske lekarne will further pursue the digitisation of their operations

The digitisation of operations at the Public Institution Zasavske lekarne Trbovlje is an on-going story. The company will soon purchase and deploy a robot for dispensing drugs. What is more, they are also planning on introducing an electronic registry and an advanced document system. 

 “Modern enterprises should not be afraid of digitalisation or change. A digital inventory of fixed assets, for one, is a simple solution that will make your work much easier. Especially with a cloud-based solution, which eliminates the costs of installing software and any potential maintenance costs later on since they are borne by the service provider. All we need to do our job is a username, a password, and access to the internet,” Drobnič concludes.