A CMMS that communicates

Wouldn’t it be nice if your plant and/or machinery could communicate with you, letting you know vital information in real time? Whether it’s a broken pump or machine failure, or information on temperature, humidity, vibration, etc., Real Asset Management’s maintenance software does just that.

This process works by facilitating plant and machinery to transmit information to a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system which gets transmitted over to the OPC Server in real time. The OPC server then pushes the data to a piece of middleware, which then in tern pushes the data over to the CMMS.

Posted on June 18, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Tracking, Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged CMMS, maintenance software, SCADA Leave a comment

What new changes to lease accounting would mean

For numerous businesses across all industries, the leasing of real estate and equipment are part of daily operations, and recent proposed changes to lease accounting could affect businesses across the board. As businesses currently are not required to account for their operating leases on their balance sheets but instead footnote them, if adopted these new standards would have a sweeping effect on businesses across all sectors.

Posted on June 14, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Asset Tracking, Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged Lease Accounting Leave a comment

Businesses should prepare for an active hurricane season in 2013

On May 23rd, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast a 70 percent chance that between 13-20 storms will form in the Atlantic Ocean this hurricane season. There is a strong likelihood that many of these could strengthen to hurricanes due to warmer water temperatures in the Caribbean and Atlantic. On the back of this news, the IRS has urged higher measures of security in the safeguarding of tax records, and at RAM we understand the importance of maintaining an accurate and up-to-date fixed asset register.

Each year, natural disasters leave numerous businesses in utter and complete chaos when it comes to their fixed assets and insurance claims. Companies with incomplete records of their assets find it impossible to estimate the value of what is lost in any given event.

Posted on June 12, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Asset Tracking, Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged Fixed asset management, Fixed asset management software Leave a comment

Don’t have a CMMS in place? Here’s why you should consider making the switch.

Here at eight compelling reasons on why you need to consider implementing a Computerized Maintenance Management System.

New management drive to save time and money.
T Cards & paper based systems are cumbersome and not scalable.
Work orders and scheduled maintenance are falling through the cracks.
Mounting delays and mistakes are proving too time consuming and costly.
The asset base has significantly increased.

Posted on June 7, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged CMMS, Computerized Maintenance Management Software, Computerized Maintenance Management System Leave a comment

Core Features of a Comprehensive CMMS

The following are essential, core features of any best-of-breed Computerized Maintenance Management System. When searching for a new solution and provider, ensure that at the very least, all these boxes are ticked. Putting in the work to thoroughly review the options before going with a provider will be worth it in the long run.

Easy-to-use repository of assets, locations, maintenance history, costs, materials, tools and time.
Equipment register to hold asset description and details, costs, work history, depreciation, future scheduled work and allocated stock and tool.
Information on employee availability, proximity and associated costs for more efficient management of workforce.

Posted on June 6, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged CMMS, Computerized Maintenance Management Software, Computerized Maintenance Management System, Maintenance Management Software, maintenance software Leave a comment

FASB responds to reviews of its accounting standard for business combinations

After mixed reviews of its accounting standard for business combinations, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has announced that it will consider findings from the Financial Accounting Foundation’s Post-Implementation Review Report issued in May. Whether or not FASB will respond with changes depends on the results of the post-implementation review of the corresponding International Financial Reporting Standards by the International Accounting Standards Board.

According to Accounting Today, “Last week, FASB’s parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation, released the results of its post-implementation review of the business combinations standard, FASB Statement No. 141(R), which was revised in 2007, and pointed out a number of problems in its report.

Posted on May 31, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Business Intelligence, General News, Uncategorized
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Is your healthcare organization well positioned for changes within the healthcare sector?

The healthcare sector is set to see rapid changes over the coming years as a result of shifting demographics, an ageing population in the developed world, advances in medicine and more access to care in developing countries, combined with new rules and regulations. Organizations operating within the sector must prepare for the coming years, and Real Asset Management’s (RAM) Series4000 software is a critical part of any fixed asset management solution.

Posted on May 31, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Asset Tracking, Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
Tagged Healthcare accounting, healthcare asset management, healthcare asset tracking, hospital accounting, hospital asset tracking Leave a comment

Recent Fitch Ratings report notes short term leases may come on balance sheet

A new report from Fitch Ratings, Scrutinizing Topical Accounting Issues, notes progress on some joint projects between U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The two boards are working together on a new standard for lease contracts, and despite delays, there looks to be some commonality between the two platforms over the coming years. The release of fresh exposure drafts that propose bringing all leases on-balance sheet has caused some controversy recently as opponents decry the potentially far-reaching effects, especially regarding credit.

According to the report, “Removing the preferential off-balance sheet treatment for operating leases could make other forms of financing more attractive. For lessees, adding the lease liability to the balance sheet will increase leverage,

Posted on May 23, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Business Intelligence, General News, Uncategorized
Tagged Lease Accounting Leave a comment

Hints of a new approach to lease accounting

IASB and FASB have published their exposure draft for new leasing rules which aim to reform how companies account for their lease contracts. The objective for this new approach is to enable investors and other users of financial statements to understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases.

Companies would be required to report straight-line lease expense for their real estate leases while other leases, for the most part, would be reported through amortization of the asset separately from interest on the lease liability.

Posted on May 21, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Business Intelligence, General News, Uncategorized
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Risk assessment: A crucial step in choosing a solution provider

Before purchasing new fixed asset management software, conduct risk analyses on the suppliers’ plans during the initial stages of evaluation. This crucial step should inform a final decision that has taken all risk factors into account, saving time and money down the road.

High-risk Factors:

- Any bespoke development critical to the system

- Deliverables that are not clearly defined

- Timelines that cannot be met by a supplier

- Software that has not been tested

Posted on May 17, 2013 by dvollinger
Posted in Asset Accounting, Asset Management, Asset Tracking, Business Intelligence, General News, Maintenance Management, Uncategorized
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