Zack Carow
Zack Carow Oct 22, 2017

It’s October and I’m looking at quarterly investment statements for my IRAs and retirement accounts. The advisors say to diversify my investments, so probably like other people's investments, there’s a mix of mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc...

Good that it’s all on one statement. So I can see my mix of financial assets, plus which are performing well, and which are the dogs. I’m no financial wizard, but at least I can see the full financial portfolio, know what I’ve got, and figure out what needs to change.

If it makes sense to see financial assets all on one statement, shouldn’t it also make sense for portfolios of physical assets too?

The companies that talk with Tenna have “portfolios” of physical assets: heavy yellow iron, mid-sized machinery, light equipment, small tools, trucks, trailers, etc. Some of these companies have inventories with thousands of pieces of equipment. And at any given job site, there’s almost always a mix of assets.

To better manage their project sites, they need one statement about all the assets at each site. They need to know what heavy yellow iron, what smaller stuff, etc. is on the project, and they need it all on one statement - sort of like my IRA statement.

Yet, they usually don’t have all their data collected and reported so nicely. Sometimes they have GPS on their trucks, which is good for tracking trucks. Sometimes they have other equipment tracked on spreadsheets, and I’ve even seen it on white-boards with magnets. Even if they have GPS on trucks, it doesn’t help them track the rest of their assets, and it certainly doesn’t give them a single consolidated report of all their assets. And it also doesn’t give them a single report of all the assets at each project.

This is why they call Tenna. Tenna gives them reporting on all their equipment, just like the financial statement on all my investments.
When we planned Tenna, our vision was that companies have a portfolio of physical assets, and they need to track all those assets on one system.

  • That’s why we use a range of tracking technology, from GPS to Bluetooth, RFID and QR codes, so that you can mix and match the tracking technology to fit your “portfolio” of equipment and assets.
  • And all the Tenna tracking technologies connect to one single database, so you get a consolidated view of your assets. And consolidated reporting by site or by your entire portfolio.

Once a company puts the Tenna trackers and tags on their heavy machinery, light equipment or small tools, it’s just like an investment company having your accounts of stocks or bonds. Tenna tracks all that equipment inventory in your account, letting you move equipment around (just like rearranging your investments). And whenever you need it, Tenna lets you get reports by asset type, by project, by timeframe, etc.

Check it out, or call us to discuss. We’re passionate about making all your physical assets easy to track, all on one platform. Instead of a portfolio of stocks and bonds, maybe I should invest in skid steers and buckets!

About Zack Carow

Zack Carow shares his thoughts on the latest on construction asset management.