To maintain ground equipment inventory, facility managers need to remain organized when it comes to inventory management. While this can be a difficult task, FMs have discovered several ways to keep their tracking system current and up to date.
It is recommended that managers assign serial numbers to all equipment – especially those that are in constant use, Kayla Kipp, equipment manager for NemaColin says. Her department uses a task tracker for all maintenance and operations. The department has over 180 pieces to keep track of for maintenance.
Kipp adds that the computer programs and apps they use to track inventory are very helpful. She will also keep a running Excel sheet to keep on top of all inventory, and when they get new equipment.
Matthew Bailey, manager of landscape services at Michigan State University, also uses a computer system to help maintain equipment and generate preventive maintenance work orders for the equipment they have.
“We set intervals up, like a mower gets serviced every hundred hours,” Bailey said. “The program will average out the number of hours used on a normal basis, and then it'll generate a work order when and around that vehicle, which would need to be serviced, much like a 3000-mile oil change for your car.’
The department would contact the operator and have them bring the vehicle in and service it, and then it would be ready to use again, Bailey says.
“We rent the equipment out and generate enough income to maintain it and then purchase a new one, per performance cycle,” Bailey says.
On average, equipment is replaced on the following schedule:
One of Nico Viola’s biggest challenges as director of facilities at Holden Forests & Gardens is tracking inventory that help maintain nearly 4,000 acres of land. To solve the issue of misplacing equipment, he installed a keeper system that helps locate products when needed.
The keeper system is a fully digital key management system where the keys go in the box on locking pegs, Viola said. The system involves using a touchscreen to check out a vehicle or a piece of equipment.
Sara Myers-Hogshead is a freelance writer based in Loves Park, Illinois.
