Welcome to Lesson 2 of the Field iD Self-Guided Onboarding Program!

If you do not see any of the modules or features discussed in this article in your Field iD instance and are interested in adding them, please contact your Customer Success Manager or shared email:csoffice@ecoonline.com

 

Learning Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will have learned how to:

• Create Asset Type Groups and Asset Types
• Set up attributes for your Asset Types
• Add assets and search for existing ones

Lesson 2 - Assets Video

Watch the below videos on the Assets functionality and workflow in Field iD. Detailed instructions follow the video:

Creating Asset Types

 

Adding Assets

 

Asset Type Groups

Field iD is an Asset focused system, so before you can do anything, you need to identify your Asset Type Groups and the Types and Assets that will sit within them to be inspected. Below is a diagram to help you visualize the hierarchy of Assets and Events: 

 

 

Asset Type Groups Templates

The first step is to create the top level of the hierarchy - your Asset Type Groups. Before you do this, you may want to check out our existing options to see if these are applicable to your use case by going to Setup > Templates > Common Templates:

 

 

If you find any that are applicable, you can tick the boxes and click 'Import' at the bottom of the page. This will then automatically set up the:

• Asset Type Group
• Asset Type (with attributes)
• Event Type Group
• Event Type
• Asset/Event Association
• Event Schedule

The only thing you will need to do is add in the assets for that Asset Type and edit any of the above as required. 

Asset Type Groups Build

If the templated options are not applicable to your business and use case, you can create your own from scratch by going to Setup > Assets & Events > Asset Type Groups > Add > Input name.

 

Asset Types

Once you have created your groups, you can then create the different Asset Types within them. This part requires more information about the asset - start by going to Setup > Assets & Events > Asset Types > Add:

 

 

For this stage, you must put in a name and select the Group (Asset Type Group) from the drop-down - the rest of the information is optional but will help your end users identify the assets more easily, especially the use of the attributes.

Attributes

At this stage, you are choosing the attributes that you want to capture when you load in a new asset of that type (e.g. if your Asset Type is a Car, you might want to capture Model, Colour, Registration Number, MOT Date, etc.).

 

 

When adding attributes, you will need to put in the attribute name and then choose the data type from the following options which determines the response type for that attribute:

Text Field - a free text field

Select Box - create a list of answers from which only one can be selected

Combo Box - create a list of answers from which only one can be selected, as well as leave the option for a new answer to be input

Unit of Measure - e.g. Inches, Centimeters, Pounds, Kilograms, etc.

Date Field - date picker and can opt to include the time as well

 

Finally, you can click on the Required box if this attribute should be mandatory.

 

Adding New Assets

You are now ready to create your assets which can be done in three ways:

1. Create via the New Asset tab on the web
2. Bulk import from the web
3. Create via the mobile app on the fly - (this will be covered in Lesson 7 - Mobile App)

1. Create via New Asset tab

To create a new asset on the web, click on the 'New Asset' tab on the grey bar at the top of the screen. You will then land on the page seen in the image below. We will go through what fields are required and what information each field is requesting. 

 

 

Asset Type - Here you select the Asset Type you are creating this asset under

Identified - This date will default to the current date to show when you created the asset

Serial Number - This is the primary unique identifier for that asset. You can input this yourself with a serial number you create or with the one that came with the equipment. Alternatively, you can choose for the system to autogenerate it.

Identify Multiple Assets - If you are creating multiple of the same asset as opposed to just one, you can select this option which will give you the following options to generate the identifiers:

 

 

RFID Number - Where you will put your RFID chip or barcode number if you are using that functionality

Reference Number - Another option to put an identifier number

Assigned To - You can select a User that the asset has been assigned to

Owner - You will select from the Site Tree that you set up in Lesson 1 to select where the asset can be found

Location - This is where you can select from your list of 'Predefined Locations' 

Freeform Location - This is a free text field where you can type exactly where the asset is in that location

e.g. Your choice of Owners could be Factory A, B & C. Your Predefined Locations within those could be Warehouse, Storage, Office, Canteen, Delivery Bay, etc. Your Freeform Location could be to the right of the fire exit. 

Asset Status - This is the current state of the asset

Comments - This is where you can put any other information about the asset or you can select from any Predefined Comments (See Lesson 4 - Events Advanced)

Asset Image - This is where you can upload an image of the asset

Attributes - These are the attributes of the asset that you defined when creating the Asset Type to describe the asset

GPS - If you have this enabled from the System Settings, you can input the exact coordinates of the asset and these can display on the main search view

Attachments - This section can be used for instructions, training, guidance, etc. relating to that asset in particular (if you have documents relating to the Asset Type in general, these can be uploaded at the Asset Type level). 

Event Schedules - If there are Event schedules already created and associated with that asset type, they will appear here

Linking Assets - This is where you can select the Parent asset if you choose to use the Master Event functionality (See Lesson 3 - Events Basics)

 

Note: The mandatory fields are marked by * but it is helpful to the end user to complete as much of the other information as possible to make it easy for them to know they are inspecting the correct asset

Once you have filled in the relevant information, click 'Save' or 'Save and Start Event' at the bottom of the page - this second option will take you to choose an Event Type to complete for that new asset you've just created. 

 

2. Bulk Import Assets

You can also upload multiple assets of a particular Asset Type in one go by using the import functionality. To do this, go to the Setup tab > Import > Import Assets:

 

 

You will then reach the page below which outlines the 3 steps to take to complete the import. 

 

 

Step 1 - Select the Asset Type that you are uploading assets for

Note: You can only import one asset event at the type as the template you download will include details specifically for that asset type e.g. attributes

Step 2 - Choose Export Data which will include any data for assets of that type that you already have in the system or select 'Download Template' which will be a blank file with just the column headers

Note: It is advised to upload a couple of assets manually first so you can benefit from using the 'Export Data' option which will give you a better idea of how to format the information you put in for the new assets.

Step 3 - Complete the template taking note of the guidance provided on the import page, save the file, and then upload it into the Upload section and click 'Start Import'. 

Note: If there are errors, the import will fail, and the error message will let you know which rows caused the error(s) for you to fix. 

 

Quick Search

Once you have loaded your assets in, you can find your asset by using the quick search bar which is accessible from any page.

Note: To use this, you will need to know at least the first three characters of the Serial or Reference Number and this is what it does a partial search against. 

 

 

Editing Assets

Once you have found your assets, you can edit them (only if you are an Administrator User or an Inspection User with that specific permission enabled) by clicking on the 'Edit' button in the top right:

 

Asset Status

This is how you can track and change the state of your asset to reflect if it's currently in use, needs repairing, etc. The status can be found at the top of the page next to the Serial Number:

 

 

The system has default Asset Statuses to get you started but you can review and edit these by going to Setup > Assets & Events > Asset Statuses:

 

 

You can archive existing ones by clicking on the arrow to the right of the 'Edit' button and you can create new ones by clicking on 'Add' in the top right. When you add a new status, all that is required is the status name. 

These statuses will help you easily report on the current state of your assets at any moment in time and they also feed into existing widgets (See Lesson 6 - Reporting) that can be displayed on your Field iD Homepage. 

 

Event Type Association

Once a new Asset Type has been created, it must be associated with an Event Type.

By toggling on specific Event Types this will enable those specific Event Forms to use when inspecting an asset. 

Note: You must have Event Types set up to complete this step (See Lesson 3 - Events Basics)

You can do this from 2 places:

1. From the Asset Type (Setup > Assets & Events > Asset Types > Open the selected Asset Type to associate)

 

 

Then you just need to tick the box for the Event Types that you want to link to the Event Type:

 

 

2. From the Event Type (Setup > Assets & Events > Event Type > Open the selected Event Type to associate) 

 

 

Then you just need to tick the box for the Asset Types that you want to link to the Event Type:

 

 

 

Top 3 Takeaways from this lesson:

1. You must set up Asset Type Groups and Asset Types before adding individual assets. 

2. The more detail you put in the Attributes when setting up an Asset Type, the easier it will be for your end users to find the correct asset to inspect

3. You can add new assets from the web or the app (See Lesson 7 - Mobile App)

 

Homework - Before beginning the next lesson

• Create an Asset Type Group and an Asset Type under the created Group
• Upload an individual asset and then bulk import all assets of that same Asset Type
• Search for a specific asset using the Global Search