I need Software. Asset Tracking. Reports.

I have a new customer that wants a fire door inspection. There are 567 doors involved in this inspection. I need a way to add them to an editable database and track the repairs and inspections. We usually do this on paper and type up a report on Excell but this is a little more than I want to do on paper.

I have looked at asset management software, including Asset Panda. Most of them are limited as far as editing the columns. I would rather not pay $1800/yr for a software package. I would rather not have something that is cloud-based. 

What is out there that will do what I need? It needs to run on a tablet or laptop or both. Be searchable, and editable.  

Thanks. 

Seems like a case for an excell spreadsheet, but im not sure how to format it.

Does this need to be scalable or is it only going to be for this single client? 

Will it be something that is re-done every year, or is it a perpetually rolling initiative? 

Why not cloud based? 

How many users will be using it at a single time? 

Is it something you'll need to potentially show to any regulatory bodies? 

What kind of reporting are you looking for? Are we talking dashboards and graphs and visuals, or just "these doors are behind schedule, these doors are behind schedule but we're waiting on parts, these doors are on deck, these doors are in the hole"?

Are you planning on building the app yourself, or do you want an off the shelf plug and play solution, or something in between? 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Seems like a case for an excell spreadsheet, but im not sure how to format it.

This is my thought. As much as I loathe the idea of using Excel as a database (bad Mikey, you shall be punished for even thinking of that!), if it is just a single client I'd probably use Excel.

This does what you want and can be had for free, but it requires a pretty powerful server and is decently complicated to set up by IT pro standards:

https://www.openmaint.org/en


Most of the asset management software out there is IT-oriented rather than industrial-oriented. It also looks like they're all cloud-based in that they run on a server and are accessed via a web interface, the only question is whether you can self-host without paying the vendor or not.

An option in-between bits of paper and self-hosting a resource-hungry full-featured piece of maintenance management software would be connecting everyone to a spreadsheet through something like Google Docs that allows multiple users to edit the sheet at once. The trouble is that if the reports that need to be run on this are complicated, it could be the first step toward building an Office-Powered Clusterberkeley.

mtn said:

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Seems like a case for an excell spreadsheet, but im not sure how to format it.

This is my thought. As much as I loathe the idea of using Excel as a database (bad Mikey, you shall be punished for even thinking of that!), if it is just a single client I'd probably use Excel.

From the description, this sounds more like a list than a database.

but also

mtn said:

Does this need to be scalable or is it only going to be for this single client? 

I would like scalable so I can offer it as a service to additional customers. 

Will it be something that is re-done every year, or is it a perpetually rolling initiative? 

Inspections are required on an annual basis so the items would need to be updated annually and another report generated for the customer. 

Why not cloud based? 

They are all subscription based and are priced depending on how many assets you are tracking. It may end up being 10k+ doors across multiple sites if I get more interest. 

How many users will be using it at a single time? 

Probably one so the software could be on one laptop without the need for cloud storage. 

Is it something you'll need to potentially show to any regulatory bodies? 

No. This would be for the customer to track which of their doors are compliant and track which doors are costing them the most to keep compliant. 

What kind of reporting are you looking for? Are we talking dashboards and graphs and visuals, or just "these doors are behind schedule, these doors are behind schedule but we're waiting on parts, these doors are on deck, these doors are in the hole"?

The report can be a simple list. Item : Compliance : Needed Work : However, there is a check list that I would like to be gone through at inspection. Call it 10 catagories with 5 to 15 item in each catagory that need to be checked off.  

Are you planning on building the app yourself, or do you want an off the shelf plug and play solution, or something in between? 

I would love an off the shelf software package that I could modify. The problem with most of the asset tracking software is it is IT oriented and rather narrow in it ability to be edited. Asset Panda and Asset Tiger are both fairly customizable but also pretty expensive when it comes to tracking 1000+ items. 

 

 Questions answered above. 

Also, perhaps the #1 downside of excel in this scenario is that you have to be a resonably competent user to just ineract (not build) the list.  Never underestimate the ability of an average user to berkeley up your excel file.

You can get crafty with protection, data validation, etc. but it can get really cumbersome.  And next thing you know you have pages of custom vb code to prevent the user from doing dumb things.

From your Q&A, if you want something that's also customer-facing, you'd need a custom web app which means you'd need a developer on contract or on staff to develop and maintain it. It will have to be cloud-based, as in a web app running on a server (possibly at your office) for this to work - you want your customer to be able to access the system even if that one laptop is in sleep mode. I haven't heard of any maintenance management software with a customer interface like this.

I bet you could put something together in Google Sheets and Google Forms. It would not be elegant, but it would work. And it would be free.

I use MS Access for a lot of that kind of thing at work. if you make forward facing menus and form views simple and intuitive with instruction it lowers the threshold for user competency required. 

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I don't need the customer to access the software. I will provide them with a report telling them what they need to know. 

In reply to Apexcarver :

That actually looks like I may be able to make that do what I want. It's at least a good starting point. Thanks!

Apexcarver said:

I use MS Access for a lot of that kind of thing at work. if you make forward facing menus and form views simple and intuitive with instruction it lowers the threshold for user competency required. 

I have used Access for similar situations as well as PowerApps.

What you described would be super easy to track in a simple PowerApp backed by a SharePoint where you could build reports or even have them happen automatically.

In reply to karplus2 :

Thanks!

There's some fun things you can do with splitting databases in access, where you provide a child to users that feeds to a parent on a network drive. I helped set something up years ago that coupled with oracle to help our org disposition about 400 inputs a day across about a dozen users acting simultaneously.

It's also super useful because it doesn't have the data limits excel has. Some things I mess with have a few million lines of data.

We use Field Service Lightning from Salesforce(forklift repair and sales). I'm sure it could do everything you would want it to do.

I'm a graphical communicator. Lists of data make me crazy but a nice diagram is the E36 M3.

Do you have a PDF editor (like acrobat pro only user friendly) like Bluebeam PDF Revu?

I'm imagining you do this ON a floor plan diagram with color coded dots. Each has a door identifying number on the dot.

Green dot means door good. Red dot means door out of compliance.

If you wanted to get fancy, you could have a numerical key to identify the problem at each opening.

Then Bluebeam can export a report that shows each dot with a snapshot from the diagram... and you can configure one snapshot per page. 

Does this type of work actually exist?

I'm thinking I want to go into business with you and imagining a low stress job for the next ten years until I retire....

Another option might be to use an app called GoFormz on an iPad. 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

The GoFormz looks very interesting. The guys already carry tablets for reference. I could put our work orders and the door inspections on there. Thanks!

Toyman! said:

In reply to OHSCrifle :

The GoFormz looks very interesting. The guys already carry tablets for reference. I could put our work orders and the door inspections on there. Thanks!

Cool. I'm actually working on getting that as a solution for my own (architect) field reports.. but we will need to pay for some customization.

Seems like it'll be worth it though.

Take a look at iAuditor by Safety Culture.  https://safetyculture.com/iauditor/

We use it for machine inspections and daily field reports and it works very well.  

• PC, Tablet, Phone, Android, or Apple.  Doesn't matter, all work great.
• Cloud based, but does not need data to work on your phone to perform any of the functions. Stores a local copy and syncs at its convenience.
  • Has protections to keep two people from editing the same report so no ability to overwrite data
• Very easy to set up reports with global or custom data fields.  Drop downs, numerical, multiple choice, you name it.
• Logic-based questions that can ask more questions or force data to be recorded.
  • Is this broken?  Yes-No
    • If the answer is yes, forces a picture to be taken and a description  to be written.
• Exportable as PDF, Word, or Excel document after completion.  Can dump out all pictures for local archiving.
• Can be opened and edited prior to completion by the person doing the report or a supervisor.  Reports can be reopened later and revised.  
• Can set up alerts to email someone when a problem is reported during an inspection and set followup tasks/reminders automatically
• Decent looking configurable reports that depending on what your customer needs is as simple as auto-generating when clicking "complete" and sending them a PDF.  

Its one of the few pieces of software I have used with very little disappointment.  It does what it says it does, is robust, flexible, and has a very shallow learning curve.    If you have any more specific questions just ask.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

I messed around with it this morning and created an easily filled-out inspection form based on a PDF I had on my computer. 

The subscription isn't especially cheap for 4 people but it will also let me upload and implement a service work order which will speed up our billing process and eliminate some of the lost and/or incorrectly filled out paperwork. 

I'm still studying how it will integrate with a searchable database, but so far it looks pretty good. 

Blue beam was mentioned quickly. 
 

I don't know if it could generate the reports you want, but it's a fantastic program. It would add the ability to import the building floor plan and make notes at every location. 
 

You can even attach pictures to each location on a floor plan. We use it all the time for tracking job data in hospitals. 
 

Im thinking the architectural door schedule could be useful. Just add a couple extra columns for your inspection data. That would give you the full specs on every piece of hardware on every single door. 

My workplace uses a custom designed system for facility work order tracking. The number one issue we had getting it going and keeping it going is getting our people to ignore the name("work order" for some reason locks people's minds up) and look at the functions that they can use the software to do their jobs just like excel or sharepoint. We use it to track multi million dollar projects, fire alarm drills, and things like a single door knob replacement. 

The only other facility work order system I have seen is MaintainX. I have not used it myself though.

You create your catalog of door assets. Each inspection is a work order set to reoccur as per your contract. Additional work orders can be generated as children work orders based on those parent inspection work orders. The guy who was using it showed me a decent report that listed pending inspections for pump motors per building and another report for open work orders per pump by type of work needed. 

Ignore the billing or financial side of the software if you don't need that part.

A couple things you should consider:

-I'm pretty sure the NFPA requires an inspection report to be a single page per door. This may take it out if the realm of purely an Excel spreadsheet. A facilities manager would be more interested in the summary of the door inspection reports, but there still needs to be individual reports for each inspection, available for review by the AHJ.
 

- Inspectors do not need to be certified. That means a facilities manager could choose to self-perform inspections in house. If you are going to put the effort into the initial inspections, make sure the reports add enough value for the facilities manager that he doesn't want to steal your spreadsheet or work and choose to self-perform. 
 

- The reports should have the ability to show imbedded pictures showing the deficiencies. 
 

- Consider including a risk assessment matrix rating. This would help a facilities manager prioritize. A matrix looks like this, and would weigh things based on both likelihood and impact:

So for example, a boiler room door might have a likelihood of 4, but only 3 people work in the free standing building it is contained in (so, a minor consequence of 2).  The door would have a risk rating of 8. But the same door opening into a busy public egress route might have a consequence level of 5, and therefore a risk rating of 20. 
 

- Consider including in your summary a budget estimate for repairs. This would also help a facilities manager prioritize, and may be information he can't supply in house. 
 

Good luck!