In industry, managing certain assets is highly strategic and requires special oversight. Their acquisition value, criticality in production, and impact on costs make them key elements to monitor.
A CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) that supports serialization and the management of repairable items offers a complete solution for tracking, managing, and maintaining individual technical items.
What is equipment (or item) serialization?
Serialization consists of assigning a unique serial number to each individual instance of a given type of equipment or component. This individual identification allows tracking of each asset throughout its lifecycle: from acquisition to disposal, including maintenance and repair operations.
This individual tracking avoids confusion among similar items and ensures full traceability — essential to meet quality, safety, or regulatory requirements.
Serialization provides a comprehensive view of the history of each item, including all maintenance interventions, intra-site movements (from one machine to another), and repair operations. This detailed traceability forms a valuable database for analyzing performance and anticipating future needs.
What are the concrete benefits of serialization?
1. Total traceability of fixed assets
Each motor, pump, or variable-speed drive is associated with a clear asset record: purchase cost, depreciation, interventions carried out. During an audit, there is no need to run between departments — proof of compliance is immediate.
2. More rational investment decisions
Thanks to serialization, you can compare in real time:
- the initial acquisition cost.
- the cumulative maintenance costs.
- the net book value.
This visibility enables making the right decision: repair or replace?
3. Optimized management of repairable items
High-value items often follow cycles of installation, removal, repair, and reinstallation. With serialization integrated into a CMMS, you can track each movement. The result:
- fewer losses.
- fewer unnecessary purchases.
- controlled inventory.
4. Simplified and automated compliance
With a CMMS, serialization automates monitoring of regulatory requirements (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, etc.). Each piece of equipment has its ready-to-use technical and accounting file for audits.
A strategic investment for the future
Implementing a CMMS with serialization is not merely a management upgrade; it is a tangible return on investment. By offering full visibility over the technical assets and enabling fine-grained management of each piece of equipment, serialization becomes a fundamental pillar of a modern, high-performance CMMS. It represents a genuine lever for improvement by enabling you to:
- anticipate needs.
- optimize budgets.
- steer investments.