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Trail boosts equipment reporting at Oulu University of Applied Sciences

Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Oamk) creates vitality and well-being in northern Finland. It provides education to over 9,000 students and annually produces more than 1,420 new degrees from six different fields of study.

A wide range of modern equipment is used in teaching and research, with annual investments reaching hundreds of thousands of euros. Effective equipment management ensures that the equipment meets teaching needs and performs optimally throughout its lifespan. Oamk has relied on Trail for its equipment management since 2015.

Status before implementing Trail

Managing Oamk's equipment, spread across several campuses, had become challenging. The existing equipment management software, due to discontinued development, no longer met Oamk's needs. For instance, the old system did not provide the comprehensive reports that Oamk required. Positive feedback from the Sibelius Academy also made Oamk more aware of the benefits of Trail Equipment Management.

Status after implementing Trail

Oamk introduced Trail in 2015. The user-friendly interface and support provided by Trail ensured a quick onboarding process. Now, Oamk stores equipment data in a modern system, significantly improving reporting efficiency. Additionally, Oamk uses the data gathered by Trail to accurately insure all necessary equipment.

Inventory processes have also been streamlined, thanks to Trail’s asset labels and mobile app. Currently, each department spends only about 1-2 hours per year on inventories.

Thanks to Trail's booking feature, it is also easy for students to book equipment for educational use. Students have a better view of what equipment they have at their disposal and are able to book the equipment they need for their projects directly from the Trail interface.

Oamk also utilises Trail for more efficient investment planning. The system provides data on purchase prices, service life, and utilisation rates, ensuring that investment decisions are based on accurate information rather than assumptions.

“I have been very pleased with the use of Trail. From there, we get Excel reports for a variety of uses, inventories have been speeded up, and the booking system keeps asset reservations better tracked. Trail's staff has also been a great support and help!” states Heli Malmström, System Administrator, Oamk

Achieved benefits:

• Efficient reporting

• Production of more accurate inventory reports

• Ease of borrowing and reserving equipment

• Improved accuracy in equipment information for insurance

The British Museum relies on Trail in AV equipment management

The British Museum in London is perhaps the most famous museum in the world. Its permanent collection is one of the largest, and it was the first public national museum in history.

It is also one of the largest museums in the world, covering over 92,000 m² of area, including 21,600 m² of on-site storage space and 9,400 m² of off-site storage space.

Since 1753, the British Museum has educated and fascinated countless people worldwide. In recent years, presentation technology and AV equipment have become increasingly important in creating unforgettable exhibitions. Managing the AV technology in such an enormous facility requires strict processes and a reliable equipment management system.

The British Museum implemented Trail in 2021 to manage its AV and presentation technology. We interviewed the museum’s A/V Team Lead, Clark Henry-Brown, who was kind enough to share his experiences.

Mr. Henry-Brown, could you tell us what you do at the British Museum?

"The AV team manages multiple exhibitions, conferences and building systems across the British Museum. I manage the team and resources to ensure we consistently meet the highest standards for AV excellence throughout the museum."

What were your main equipment management challenges before you implemented Trail?

"The AV department at the museum is responsible for a vast inventory of AV resources, ranging from projectors and screens to portable sound systems across various store rooms in the museum.

With the AV team managing multiple exhibitions, conferences, and building systems simultaneously, keeping track of these resources museum-wide was a challenging task on a day-to-day basis. Often losing track of where AV equipment was, and not having a notable inventory or what equipment was available for future events and exhibitions was a common occurrence.

Moreover, having AV in multiple galleries across the museum, there was no way in noting maintenance schedules or logging technical faults - meaning that any reported issues were easily forgotten."

What is the main use of Trail at the British Museum?

"Trail works fantastically as a multi-faceted asset management system for the AV team at the museum. From a management perspective, it allows us to budget appropriately when a piece of kit is approach it’s expected lifetime - with such a vast inventory it was previously very hard to keep track of everything. Within the team, AV techs can use the system to reserve equipment for upcoming events and exhibitions they may be working on."

What made you choose Trail as your equipment management solution?

"Having previously used various asset management systems, Trail had stood out as an intuitive and easy to use interface. Most importantly, the Trail team were very helpful and eager to customise our Trail site to suit our fairly diverse needs specifically."

What are the most important benefits Trail brings you?

"As a project management tool, Trail makes my job much easier. The exhibitions calendar is planned years in advance, with earmarking of equipment for multiple exhibitions starting as early as a year before. Keeping track of what equipment is available, becomes hugely laborious within a spreadsheet and the hours of work it has saved using Trail to do this is priceless."

What best practices of equipment management in your field you would like to share?

"Being web-based means you can run Trail from virtually any device. We plan to use Raspberry Pi as an inexpensive way to have scanning stations across our multiple stock rooms."

Anything else you would like to add?

"The team at Trail are one of the happiest support teams I’ve had the pleasure of working with!"

Achieved benefits:

• Improved visibility in equipment and its locations

• Budget equipment purchases better than before by utilizing the life-cycle data in Trail

• Plan equipment usage better in the upcoming exhibitions and events with Trail’s equipment reservations

• An intuitive and user-friendly user interface makes day-to-day work easier

Transparent overview of equipment

Musiikkitalo in the heart of Helsinki chose Trail as its equipment management system in 2011. Musiikkitalo is a 38,700 square meter building with six concert halls. Its main users include the Helsinki City Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Sibelius Academy.

Musiikkitalo has equipment used by all operators, as well as equipment specific to each main operator. Additionally, numerous guest performers bring their own equipment for the duration of their performances. It is crucial that Musiikkitalo’s own equipment is easily identifiable.

The responsible AssetOps culture and the efficient equipment management system provided by Trail help Musiikkitalo reduce equipment loss and save time spent searching for equipment.

The main reasons for choosing Trail:

• Easy-to-use interface

• Cloud-based solution

Achieved benefits:

• All equipment information is available easily and quickly

• A clear and precise overview of the owned equipment

Effective solution for tracking equipment reservations

Pop & Jazz Conservatory is one of the most revered music schools specialising in rhythm music in Europe.

In many conservatories and music schools, students and staff frequently use the institution's equipment. The Pop & Jazz Conservatoire in Finland is no exception. They offer music education to people of all ages, and students frequently borrow a significant amount of equipment.

For Ossi Pelttari at the Pop & Jazz Conservatoire, managing equipment reservations had become a burden. “It was difficult to keep track of who was using what and whether everything had been returned,” Pelttari explains. Paper lists and Excel sheets did not provide adequate control, and equipment loss was a significant problem.

“We knew that our partner school, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, was using the Trail equipment management system for their equipment and reservations, and they were very satisfied with it. So, we decided to explore Trail as well,” Pelttari continues. “We have labeled our equipment with Trail asset tags and now have an effective system for managing it.”

“Trail allows us to easily make reservations and scan equipment out on those reservations, giving us better control over our assets,” states Pelttari. “Now that we use Trail, we have a clearer understanding of which equipment people currently have. Equipment loss has decreased, and we spend less time searching for equipment and reservation information. Of course, the system’s benefits depend on how actively people use it,” Pelttari continues. “Trail also provides the Pop & Jazz Conservatoire with better control over equipment maintenance. People now have an easy way to report defects,” Pelttari adds. “And we finally have a clear view of what we actually have and where everything is.”

Achieved benefits:

• An improved process for equipment reservations

• Decreased equipment loss

• An intuitive system and efficiency with having all information available in Trail

• A comprehensive view of all equipment and its lifecycle

• An easy method for reporting defects allows faster repair times

Improved sense of control over equipment

Malmö Live is a versatile concert and event facility in Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmö. It features a concert hall with a capacity of 1,700 spectators, a black box called Kuben for 650 people, a foyer stage for around 200, and various pop-up stages in its common areas.

The state-of-the-art concert hall, opened in 2015, features the latest technology and exceptional acoustics. Malmö Live is also the home of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra.

Technical Manager Martin Berglund and the technical team provide sound, lighting, and stage solutions for approximately 400 concerts and events each year.

In addition, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra performs about 60-70 concerts per year at Malmö Live and other venues in the Malmö Region. The orchestra also tours a few times each year.

To ensure events run smoothly, Martin and the technical team need complete control over their technical assets. Since early 2022, Martin and the team have relied on the Trail Equipment Management System to manage technical equipment and its usage for these events.

Main challenges before implementing Trail

”We were almost completely self-supplied here at Malmö Live and we didn’t have an inventory of all our technical equipment. We did not have an overview of what we owned, what was the equipment status, what was working, what was missing, when was the equipment purchased, and when it was time to replace it. And we didn´t have a proper way of booking equipment for different projects.” Martin describes the situation before implementing Trail.

”I had been looking for a system like Trail for quite some time. It got so far that I at one point started making one myself using a simple database manager, ODBC. I did give up though due to the Sisyphos side of the project. I was quite pleased when I came across the ad for Trail.”

Malmö Live is continually expanding its inventory and adding more data to Trail. Even during the implementation phase, they began booking equipment for events to easily see what was available and what was not.

Sense of control and other benefits

The biggest benefit Trail has brought to Malmö Live is a clear sense of control over their technical equipment. The comprehensive overview of equipment provides insight into available resources and identifies any gaps. As a result, they now have concrete knowledge of their equipment rather than relying on assumptions.

“The ability to see the life cycle of the equipment makes it easier for us to predict future expenses. Moreover, the co-workers can see who is using what and where, which also improves responsibility.” Martin continues.

Martin has also been impressed with the Trail team’s customer service: “The contact with the Trail team is pure pleasure!”

Best practices of equipment management in a concert hall

When asked about best practices he could share, Martin stated, “We haven’t been using Trail for very long. However, I would recommend encouraging staff to book equipment for all projects, even the smaller ones. It’s much better than just grabbing things straight off the shelf.”

Achieved benefits:

• Enhanced control over equipment

• Complete visibility of equipment status, maintenance requirements, investment needs, and purchase history

• Ability to leverage equipment data for budgeting and investment planning

• Increased sense of responsibility among employees

• Capability to plan equipment usage for upcoming events and book necessary equipment