Shelf Asset Management Software - Q2 2024 - Product Walkthrough Demo

Hello, Shelf community! Carlos here, and I’m excited to take you through a detailed product walkthrough for Q2 2024. At Shelf, we are dedicated to innovating at the intersection of physical objects and human coordination. Our primary goal is to help you manage both physical and digital assets, although our current focus is on the physical side. Whether you’re wondering, “Where are my assets?”, “Who are they assigned to?”, or “Are we maintaining our assets correctly?”, Shelf provides the infrastructure you need to solve these practical problems. Let’s dive into how Shelf can enhance and improve your asset management operations through its robust features.

Tackling Asset Management Challenges

One common problem organizations face is not having a full overview of all their assets. This leads to inefficiencies and difficulties in locating specific items when needed. Shelf addresses this issue with a robust asset index, allowing you to easily manage, map, and locate your assets.

Asset Index and Search Features

In the asset index, you can see a complete list of all assets within your organization. Each asset is clearly categorized and tagged for easy identification. You can find specific assets using a search bar or applying various filters. For instance, if you’re looking for a camera, simply type "camera" in the search bar, and all related assets will appear instantly. Alternatively, you can filter by category or tag, providing another layer of filtering. Shelf also allows you to filter assets by their location or custodian, which is useful for tracking down where an asset is currently located or who is responsible for it.

Real-time Status Updates

Shelf provides real-time status updates, allowing you to see which assets are available, in custody, or checked out. This helps you make informed decisions when managing shared equipment used by different people. With these powerful filtering options, Shelf gives you a comprehensive and customizable overview of all your assets, ensuring you can locate and manage them efficiently.

Configurable Categories, Tags, and Locations

To further tailor Shelf to your organization’s needs, you can easily configure categories, tags, and locations. You can add new categories, such as "Drones," or create tags that reflect unique attributes of your assets, like "4K resolution" or "portable." Managing locations is just as straightforward, allowing you to add new locations or edit existing ones. Once added, these categories, tags, and locations can be applied to your assets, making them easier to find and manage within the system.

Creating and Managing Assets in Shelf

Adding a New Asset

To add a new asset, navigate to the assets area of the application and click on the "Add Asset" button. This opens the create asset page where you can input all the necessary details about the new asset, including the asset’s name, main image, description, category, relevant tags, and location. You can also enter the value of the asset and configure custom fields specific to your organization’s needs.

Reviewing the Asset Page

Once an asset is created, the asset page displays all the information entered, including a QR code for quick access and management. You can download or print the QR code to produce your own asset tags or stickers. The asset page also includes a map element for GPS coordinates, which will populate automatically the first time the QR code is scanned. You can manually update the GPS coordinates and check out the asset to a team member, changing its status from "Available" to "In custody."

Asset Activity Log

The asset page also features an activity log where you can see all actions performed on the asset, including checkouts and check-ins. You can add more context by writing a little message yourself, ensuring that all asset information is well-organized and easily accessible.

QR Code Scanning

Shelf’s QR code scanning feature transforms how you interact with your assets. You can tag your assets with QR codes, making it incredibly easy to manage their metadata and perform actions on the go. Simply open the Shelf app on any device with a camera, scan the QR code attached to the asset, and you’ll be redirected to its dedicated page. From there, you can view all relevant metadata and perform various actions, such as checking out the asset or updating its location.

Unclaimed Codes

Shelf also allows you to scan and register new assets effortlessly using unclaimed codes. If you acquire a new asset that hasn’t been registered in your Shelf database yet, simply tag the QR sticker and scan the unclaimed code. Shelf will recognize that the code doesn’t match any existing asset and prompt you to register it as a new entry.

Booking and Calendar Features

Avoiding Conflicts with Shared Assets

Shelf helps you avoid conflicts with shared assets and provides a comprehensive overview of all your asset bookings. In the bookings area, you can see a list of all upcoming, ongoing, and completed bookings within your organization. Booking entries are color-coded based on their status, allowing you to quickly see which assets are currently planned, ongoing, or completed. This visual representation helps you better prepare and manage your inventory, ensuring smooth operations and preventing double bookings.

Creating and Managing Bookings

Creating a new booking with Shelf is a seamless and straightforward process. Start by clicking on "New Booking" in the bookings area, and a modal will pop up asking for basic information like the booking name, period, and custodian. You’ll then select the assets to include in the booking from a list of available assets during the specified period. If any conflicts arise, such as asset unavailability, warning labels will inform you, and you’ll need to resolve these issues before proceeding. Once confirmed, the booking status changes to "Reserved," and all relevant parties receive email notifications with the booking details.

Calendar Integration

The calendar feature provides a comprehensive overview of all bookings in your workspace, ensuring you can quickly identify overlaps or potential conflicts. This proactive adjustment capability allows for efficient planning and management of your projects. You can also download a calendar file to add bookings to your calendar of choice or generate a PDF overview for preparing and collecting all booked assets.

Collaborative Workspaces and User Roles

Types of Workspaces

Shelf offers three types of workspaces to suit your needs:

1. Personal Workspace: Every Shelf account comes with a personal workspace, your private space to manage your assets independently.
2. Plus Workspace: An upgraded version of the personal workspace, unlocked with a Plus subscription, offering enhanced features like unlimited custom fields and asset import/export capabilities.
3. Team Workspace: Ideal for collaborative environments, a team subscription allows you to invite users to join your workspace as team members, enabling seamless collaboration and efficient asset management across your organization.

Setting Up a Team Workspace

To unlock team collaboration features, activate a team trial subscription, which is simple and doesn’t require a credit card. Once active, create a dedicated team workspace by naming it and optionally uploading a logo for recognizability. Populate your asset inventory by adding assets individually, scanning unclaimed codes, or using the import feature with a CSV file.

Managing Team Members

In the settings area, you can control team member access. Team members can have their own user accounts or be added as non-registered members, providing flexibility in managing individuals who may not require full system access but play crucial roles in asset management. When inviting users, you can assign specific roles—Administrator or Self-service User—tailoring their permissions to match their responsibilities.

User Roles

- Administrators: Have full control over managing assets, including creating, updating, and archiving equipment, modifying categories, tags, and locations, overseeing asset custody transfers, managing bookings, inviting new team members, and adjusting roles.
- Self-service Users: Have limited permissions, allowing them to view equipment listings and book assets for their own use while relying on administrators for checkouts and check-ins. They can only modify their own account details.

Assigning Custody

One of Shelf’s key features is the ability to assign custody of assets to team members, including non-registered members. This ensures a clear overview of who is responsible for specific assets and can also be used for custodians in bookings. This feature streamlines collaboration and ensures a seamless asset management experience.

That's it for now

Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of our Q2 2024 product walkthrough. We’ve covered a lot, and it’s essential to keep you updated on how we’re building and evolving Shelf. Asset management is a long-term game that requires a long-term commitment. Thank you for caring about how you manage your assets. We will continue working on providing tools and solutions for the intersection of coordinating people with equipment, assets, and creating up-to-date databases and asset pages that reveal valuable information about your operations.

Our goal is to create a product that is composable and un-opinionated, allowing you to define your own workflows. We’re excited to have you as part of our network and look forward to supporting you in your asset management journey. Have a great day, and thanks for your time!

Stay organized, stay efficient, and let Shelf transform the way you manage your assets.