Overview

Assets in Field iD are any physical assets such as equipment, locations, facilities and / or people. Assets have events performed on them such as inspections, repairs or audits. This will describe how to add new assets in your Field iD account.

Adding New Assets

Identifying Assets is the first step in using Field ID. The most common way to identify an asset are one at a time or using Multi-Add to add up to 250 of the same asset at once. Both options will result in you entering information to describe the asset. The identification of assets is a one-time operation. Once you identify an asset any future event (ie. inspection, audit) will be performed on the asset.

To get started click the New Asset from the top menu.

Here are are some tips for what to enter when identifying an asset:

Serial Number - This is a required field and is usually the assets manufacturer serial number, batch or lot number. If the asset is not individually serialized Field ID can generate a serial number for you. The value you put here should be what you commonly would like to look up this asset by. You can change the label and behavior of this field.
Identify Multiple Assets - Provides the ability to add multiple assets at one time. Fill in the information as before, but you may tell the system how many to add of the same asset.
Reference Number - This is commonly another identifier that you or your customers use. This is sometimes referred to as a Unit Number, Unit ID or Customer Number. (Note: This field can also be edited by the Owner of the asset if they have a login)
Assigned To - You may assign the asset to a Person.
Owner - This could be a customer's site, your job site or a warehouse or inventory room. Read how to setup Owners in your account.
Location - This is a specific physical location where the asset is allowing you to easily locate the asset. (Note: This field can also be edited by the Owner of the asset if they have a login)
Identified - Default is the current date which the asset is entered into Field ID. This might also be used as the manufactured date.
Asset Status - The current status of the asset. This is a configurable list which will allow you to search for assets based on the status. Common values are In Service, Out of Service, In Need of Repair, In for Repair.
Attributes - Each asset type will have different fields to enter. Common attributes are Model, Manufacturer, Length and Size. Some attributes are required which are denoted by an asterisk (*). Attributes are configurable and can be changed under each Asset Type in the Setup area. You may configure Auto Attributes as well.
Comments - Add any comment you would like about this asset. For faster data entry setup Comment Templates to select from a list of common used comments.
Event Schedules - This is where you will schedule when certain events should take place on this asset. In some cases a event schedule will automatically be created for you. To add a new schedule click on the 'Add a Schedule' button to select what the event is and when it should be performed.
Asset Image - The asset image is a specific image that will be used on the asset profile page. Think of this as a profile picture on Facebook.
Attachments - This is any file you would like to attach on this asset. Files may be a picture, warning, instructions, order form or manufacturers information.
Link New Asset - Provides the ability to link a different asset to the one displayed. You may link a new asset or from the existing database.

To identify up to 250 of the same asset at once click on the Multi Add tab found in the top right corner.

Asset Profile Page

Each asset in Field iD has it's own Profile Page. This page will display all information about the physical asset itself including identifiers, the owner, description and attachments.

This page is the jumping point to view and edit all aspects of this asset. From this page you can:

Edit Asset Details - click on the Edit tab to modify any details of the asset you are viewing
View Event History - the Events is a sortable list of all historic events performed on this asset. This is the completed traceability history allowing you to view any individual event. This will show you all upcoming or overdue events for this asset. As well you can add or remove schedules
Start New Event - Clicking the Start Event link on the profile page or Events tab will take you into the workflow to perform a new event on this asset
Created By / Modified By - Provides information on who created the asset, what device was used and the date and time it was modified. Simply hover your mouse over the icon to view what device created the asset.

Mass Update

In Field iD you have the ability to update up to 250 assets at once. Mass Update is performed from the Asset Search by clicking Assets from the top menu. Run an Asset Search and on the results screen select the specific assets you would like to update. At the bottom of each page will be a link 'Mass Update'. Click this to select the fields to update.

You can mass update the following information on assets:

Owner (Customer/Job Site, Division)
Asset Status
Purchase Order
Order Number
Location
Date Identified
Safety Network Visibility
Mass Delete

Merging

The merging process gives you the ability to copy information from one asset to another equivalent asset. In Field iD these are called Winners and Losers.

The Loser of the merge is deleted while the Winner is assigned the events of the Loser asset. Keep in mind that this is a final operation so please ensure you have selected the correct assets. Once you confirm the merge the process of moving the events will start.

To merge two assets together find the duplicate asset through the Asset Search and click Merge from the Actions menu.

Bulk Importing Assets (Excel)

In Field iD you have the option to import assets using an Excel spreadsheet. This option saves time and allows you to import up to 5000 assets at a time. Only one asset type can be uploaded at a time. You will conduct all imports by clicking on the Import tab on the New Asset screen. Note: The customer or job site that the asset has been assigned to, must already exist in the Field iD database, please import first if no customers or job sites have been entered.

Format

To bulk import assets you will prepare an Excel file with all the information about the specific assets. The import is completed on a per asset type basis. For example, you will upload all of your Air Hoists and then upload all of your Fire Extinguishers in another file.

The first row of the file is the header which identify what each column represents. The columns do not need to be in a specific order but all columns need to be present. The information in the Excel spreadsheet should be exactly the same as it is in Field iD. For example if the Organization is named ‘N4systems Inc.’ in Field iD then in the excel spreadsheet ‘N4systems’ or ‘N4systems Inc’ will result in validation errors.

Preconfigured Templates

Field iD builds and provides the excel template for each asset type. Along with the standard information needed, the attributes for that particular asset type will also be in the Excel template. To generate and download a template click on the Import tab on the New Asset screen. Next follow the steps: 1. Select Asset Type & 2. Download Template. When you select the Asset Type that you want it will change the Excel template that you will download.

Example Excel File

The base format for asset import is:

Uploading your File

When you are finished filling in your excel template you can begin the upload process from the Import page. Click on the Import tab on the New Asset screen. You will then select the appropriate asset type again and then proceed to step 3 by clicking "Choose File" to browse for your completed file and click Start Import to begin the import process.

Validation and Errors

Before the import runs Field iD will pre-process the uploaded Excel file to validate and check for errors. Common validation errors include:

'Field Name' must not be blank - The field 'Field Name' cannot be blank or only white space
Could not find an organization name 'My Organization' - The organization name must match one of your existing organizations exactly
Could not find a product type name 'My Asset Type' - The asset type name must match one of your existing types exactly

Importing

Once the import has been started it will run in the background and Field iD will provide you with a progress bar to indicate how many assets have been imported. At this time you are free to leave this page and continue to use Field iD, your import will continue to run. Imports can take up to 20 minutes to completed and you will be notified by email once the import has finished.

Bulk Exporting Assets (Excel)

Field iD provides the ability to bulk export assets to Excel. To start the export process you are going to run a Asset Search by clicking Assets from the top menu. Apply the filters to narrow down the results, and select your display columns. The display columns you select or deselect will change what appears in the Excel export.

On the results page select the assets you would like to export. At the bottom of the page look for the Export to Excel link. Click this to kick-off the export process. The export will run in the background and the completed file will appear under the Downloads tab found under My Account. The export can take 1 - 15 minutes to complete. You will also receive a email confirmation once the export is ready to download.

Mass Schedule

To initiate a mass schedule, click on Assets from the top menu and run a search. Using the checkboxes on the left side, select the assets you would like to create a schedule for. Don’t worry if they are different types.

Next scroll to the bottom and click Mass Schedule.

If the assets selected have common events you will be able to click the Schedule All button to create a schedule for all assets. If the button is disabled, there are no common event types across the selected assets. Next you can now create schedules for each group of asset types. Click on the Add Schedule button and you will be able to select what you would like to schedule, assign it to a job and give it a date.

At the bottom there is a flag to Enable Duplicate Detection. Simply put, this will not create a schedule for a specific asset if the exact same schedule already exists. This will eliminate the creation of duplicate schedules.