Stock you count and assets you track are not the same problem.
GA Applications designs inventory and asset dashboards that treat the two categories on their own terms: consumables by quantity and movement, durable assets by identity, custody, condition, maintenance and retirement. Availability, shortages, unknown locations, overdue checks and faults are visible, and every adjustment has a permission and a name attached.
A box of fasteners and a $40,000 machine both appear in 'inventory' conversations, but they fail differently, are counted differently and matter differently. This direction gives each the anatomy it deserves.
Demonstration uses fictional stock items and assets. Your build reflects your registers and count processes.
Two registers, one screen
Interface demonstration — fictional dataConsumables — quantity & movement
Which consumables will run short inside the reorder window?
On-hand vs minimum level per item, with 4-week movement. Source: stock register, refreshed 07:00. Fictional data.
Durable assets — identity, custody, condition
| Asset | Custody | Condition | Next check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generator GN-04 | Depot B | ●Serviceable | 12 Aug |
| Scissor lift SL-11 | Job JOB-2219 | ●Serviceable | 29 Jul |
| Welder WD-07 | unknown — last: Crew C, 9d ago | ?Unverified | overdue 4d |
| Mixer MX-02 | Depot A | ▲Fault reported | — |
Two categories, two sets of decisions
This direction serves asset and fleet managers, stores controllers, operations managers and anyone who has heard "we're out of stock" or "who has the welder?" one time too many. For consumables, the decisions are: what do we reorder, when, and how much — answered by quantity and movement. For durable assets, the decisions are entirely different: where is it, who has it, what condition is it in, when was it last checked, and when do we retire it — answered by identity, custody, condition and maintenance history.
The target operating outcome: shortages predicted inside the reorder window instead of discovered at the job, assets locatable by custody instead of by phone call, and every adjustment to either register attributable to a named, permitted person.
Quantity behaves differently from identity
Consumables: count and flow
Consumable items are fungible — one box of M8 fixings is as good as another — so the meaningful measures are on-hand quantity, movement rate and minimum level. The view watches the gap between on-hand and minimum against the reorder lead time, and raises a shortage exception early enough to act on. Movement history shows whether a minimum set two years ago still matches how the business actually consumes.
Durables: this one, right here, in this state
A durable asset is an individual with a life: purchased, assigned, used, checked, repaired, retired. The register tracks identity (which one), custody (who/where), condition (serviceable, fault reported, unverified), maintenance (next check, overdue checks) and retirement. Unknown location is shown as unknown — as welder WD-07 is in the demonstration — because a guessed location sends someone to the wrong site, which is worse than admitting the gap and triggering a search.
Adjustments are privileged acts
Quantity corrections, custody transfers, condition changes and retirements each require an approved role and record who, when and why. The history is the audit trail: a register that silently overwrites its past cannot be trusted at review time, so this one never does.
Asset lifecycle states
Design patternAcquired
Identity created: serial, purchase context, initial condition recorded.
In custody
Every transfer recorded to a person, crew, depot or job — with date and authoriser.
Checked & maintained
Scheduled checks with due dates; completion recorded by the person who did it. Sign-off competence stays with qualified people.
Fault / repair
Faults raise the exception queue; the asset's readiness state updates wherever it is referenced.
Retired
Retirement is a permissioned decision with a reason. The record persists — history is not deleted with the asset.
Definitions this view typically carries
Shortage horizon
Consumable items where on-hand minus committed usage falls below minimum level within the reorder lead time. Raised as an exception with the item, gap and supplier lead assumption.
Custody confidence
Days since an asset's custody was last confirmed by scan, transfer or check. Beyond the agreed threshold, location degrades to unknown — visibly.
Overdue checks
Assets past their scheduled inspection, service or calibration date. Overdue blocks readiness in connected views; it never just changes colour quietly.
Adjustment count & reason mix
Volume of register corrections by reason (count error, damage, loss, transfer lag). A rising trend is a process signal, surfaced at review — not hidden as noise.
Registers, scans and the honesty of the gap
Sources
- Stock register: quantities, movements, minima
- Asset register: identity, custody, condition, checks
- Scan events: barcode/QR/RFID where deployed
- Job system: committed usage
Governed layer
- Shortage & custody definitions, versioned
- Adjustment permissions by role
- Scan-to-register matching with quarantine
- Refresh: hourly registers, scan events near-real-time
Views
- Stores: consumable availability & reorder queue
- Asset manager: register, custody, overdue
- Dispatch: readiness (referenced state)
- Review: adjustment trends
Where scanning hardware is part of the workflow, GA Applications designs the software and integration layer — equipment selection, any electrical or installation work and statutory approvals remain with appropriately qualified people. Failure behaviour follows the same honesty rule as everywhere on this site: an unscanned asset is unknown, not assumed present; a scan that matches nothing is quarantined for a person, not force-matched; a register feed past its window renders stale. Physical counts still matter — the dashboard schedules and records them, and variances between count and register are investigated as process signals, not adjusted away silently.
What we need from you, and how delivery runs
Inputs
- Your current registers — stock and asset — however they exist today
- Minimum levels and reorder lead times, or usage history to derive them together
- Your custody transfer and adjustment rules: who may do what
- Check and maintenance schedules per asset class
Delivery & acceptance
- Decision workshop: which shortages and which asset questions hurt most
- Source profile: register quality, scan infrastructure (if any), interface review
- Prototype against a real register slice, including its messy edges
- Reconcile against a physical count for an agreed sample
- Acceptance: shortage horizon matches reality; unknown custody visible as unknown; adjustment permissions enforced and logged; overdue checks block readiness; table equivalents and keyboard access pass
Right fit
- Shortages are discovered at the job instead of before it
- Asset whereabouts depend on who you ask
- Registers exist but nobody trusts them enough to act from
Wrong fit
- You want asset condition certified by software (that stays with qualified inspectors)
- You want adjustments without an audit trail
- There are no registers at all yet — a light capture process comes first
Related directions and services
Frequently asked questions
Why separate consumables from durable assets?
Because the questions differ. For consumables you ask 'how many do we have and how fast are they moving'. For assets you ask 'which one, who has it, what condition is it in and when was it last checked'. One blended view answers neither well, so each category gets its own measures and anatomy.
Can this connect to barcode, QR or RFID scanning?
Yes, where scanning hardware and software are part of the workflow — subject to interface review. The dashboard reflects the register those scans update; GA Applications designs the software and integration layer, while equipment selection and any electrical or installation work stay with appropriately qualified people.
How are adjustments and write-offs controlled?
By permission and by name. Quantity corrections, custody transfers, condition changes and retirements are recorded with who, when and why, and adjustment rights are limited to approved roles. The register shows the change history rather than silently overwriting the past.
What does 'unknown location' actually mean on the dashboard?
The asset's last recorded custody or location is older than your agreed threshold, or a scheduled check has not confirmed it. Unknown is shown as unknown — never as 'available' — because a guessed location is worse than an honest gap.
Can it remind us about maintenance and calibration?
Yes: checks, services, calibrations and inspections get due dates, owners and overdue states. What the dashboard does not do is certify anything — the record shows that a check was reported and by whom, while the competence and sign-off remain with the qualified person who did the work.
What is missing right now — and is it a stock problem or an asset problem?
Tell us whether your pain is consumable availability, asset whereabouts, overdue maintenance or all three. We will scope a view that matches how each category actually behaves, with adjustments and custody changes logged to named, permitted people.