College on the Right Track with Flexible Asset Management Software from RAM

London, United Kingdom, August 09, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Cannock Chase Technical College, the largest provider of post-16 education in the Chase district, will go live with Asset4000 and Track4000 software from Real Asset Management (RAM) in June. The new software will enable the College to overhaul the way in which it tracks and manages its range of assets, which are valued in excess of £11 million.

Cannock Chase Technical College is a technical college offering vocational courses to around 5300 full and part-time students. Mark Williams, Head of Finance at the College, commented, “The need to update our asset register to accurately reflect current asset values became apparent after an audit identified that our current system was just not an effective method of asset tracking, given the size of the college and the value of its assets. We rigorously compared a number of products and chose RAM’s Asset4000 software above all of these due to its considerable flexibility to integrate with our exact requirements. In addition, the Track4000 offering will play an important role in locating equipment so we can track exactly where each asset is located, not only for our own management but also for essential insurance purposes.”

Previously the College was using another inventory package, together with an Access database, to account for and monitor all its assets. However, it recognised the need for a new specialist system which would enable more practical tracking and monitoring of physical items. The Track4000 software enables items to be bar-coded for fast and accurate physical audits. Item details are loaded onto a hand-held data capture device which is used to scan location and unit bar-codes. This data can then be transferred to the Asset4000 software and stored.

Mark Williams continued, “The flexibility of Asset4000 and Track4000 was immensely appealing. We wanted uniformity across the systems in order to track items on the balance sheet for the capital side of the business. RAM’s software offered this compromise and was flexible in allowing us to do this.

“This new methodology of asset management and tracking is going to be hugely effective in terms of time saving. We aim to have four members of staff involved in the process and can foresee a substantial reduction in administration and processing activities. The decision to implement the RAM system will be one that dramatically improves the day-to-day running of the business and I can only commend the help and support we have received from RAM throughout the product selection and implementation stages,” concluded Williams.