Solutions · Asset & equipment lifecycle
Capture the nameplate once and FSM Flow carries the unit from install to retirement: every visit, reading, part and photo against the serial number. Condition flags and age turn into replacement conversations before the breakdown, not after it.
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Condition flag raised
RTU-3 · 14 yrs · compressor amps high
What it is
Asset lifecycle management in field service is the practice of keeping a record for every piece of customer equipment a contractor installs or services, from the day it is commissioned to the day it is retired. The record holds make, model and serial, install date, warranty terms, refrigerant or consumables, every service visit with its readings, parts and photos, and the technician's view of its condition. Together these records are the install base, and they are the most valuable data a service business owns.
Without them, every call starts from zero. The technician does not know the unit's age or history, warranty claims fail for want of a serial number, refrigerant records cannot be kept per appliance, and replacement is only ever discussed at the moment of failure, when the customer is cold and the price is high. Ageing install bases make this worse: five million solar systems, charger fleets whose reliability falls year on year, and pools and appliances on predictable replacement cycles are all service revenue waiting for a contractor who knows where the equipment is.
FSM Flow creates the asset at installation, links it to the customer and site, and attaches every later work order to it. The mobile app records readings and photos against the unit, offline if needed, and lets the technician raise a condition flag or replacement recommendation that becomes a quote. Reports and the AI assistant answer portfolio questions: which assets are past their expected life, which have had three repairs this year, which are out of warranty and off contract.
5M+
Solar installations in the United States, an installed base increasingly in need of inverter swaps and component replacement (data as of May 2024)
Source: GreenLancer, orphaned solar projects
85% → <70%
Charge success rate at new EV charging stations versus by year three; reliability declines with asset age (2025)
Source: ChargerHelp 2025 EV Charging Reliability Report
86 days
Median time between service visits to the same asset across field service organisations (2025)
Source: Aquant Field Service Benchmark, via VSight
≥15 lb
Refrigerant charge above which US appliances need per-asset leak-rate records under the EPA ERR rule, effective 1 January 2026
Source: EPA, 40 CFR Part 84 Subpart C
The lifecycle
One record from commissioning to retirement, with every job in between attached to it.
- Step 1
Asset created at install
When an installation work order is completed, the equipment installed becomes an asset on the customer's site, with install date and the installing technician recorded.
- Step 2
Identity captured on site
The technician photographs the nameplate on the mobile app; document intelligence extracts make, model and serial for confirmation, and warranty terms and spec sheets are attached.
- Step 3
Linked to customer, site and agreement
The asset sits under its site and parent account, and is marked covered or uncovered by any maintenance agreement or service contract, so entitlement is known at every later call.
- Step 4
Every job adds history
Work orders are raised against the asset. Readings, parts used, refrigerant added or recovered, photos and notes accumulate on the record, offline if needed.
- Step 5
Condition flagged
On any visit the technician sets a condition flag, from good to replace soon, with a reason and photo. Flags are visible to the office and to the next technician.
- Step 6
Repair-versus-replace quoted
A replacement recommendation becomes a quote with options, built while the technician is on site, with the asset's age and repair history attached as the reason.
- Step 7
Replacement installed, old asset retired
The new unit is created as an asset; the old one is marked retired with its removal date, closing its history without deleting it.
- Step 8
Portfolio reviewed
Reports and the AI assistant list assets past expected life, repeat-repair units and out-of-warranty equipment off contract, feeding the shoulder-season replacement campaign.
What goes wrong
The equipment is in the field. The knowledge about it is in a filing cabinet or a retired technician's head.
Equipment details live on paper, if anywhere.
Assets are records under the customer's site, with make, model, serial, install date and documents, created at install and searchable by the office and the mobile app.
See how it worksWarranty claims fail for want of a serial number.
The nameplate photo and extracted serial are on the asset from day one; warranty terms and purchase documents are attached, so a claim can be assembled from the record.
See how it worksReplacement is only discussed on the day the unit fails.
Condition flags, age and repair count are visible on the asset and in portfolio reports, so replacement proposals go out in the shoulder season with the history as the reason.
See how it worksRefrigerant and consumables cannot be tracked per appliance.
Refrigerant added or recovered, filters and consumables are recorded on the asset through the job, giving a per-appliance log for compliance and for cost.
See how it worksThe technician arrives knowing nothing about the unit.
The mobile app shows the asset's full history, last readings, open condition flags and attached manuals before the van door opens, offline if the plant room has no signal.
See how it worksNobody can see the portfolio.
Ask the AI assistant which assets are over twelve years old with three or more repairs, or build the report once and pin it to the dashboard for the sales team.
See how it works
Across the trades
Different nameplates, the same need for a record that outlives the job.
HVAC
RTUs, chillers and split systems with refrigerant type and charge per asset, so ERR leak-rate records and replacement proposals come from the same record.
Refrigeration & commercial kitchens
Walk-ins, display cases and rack systems tracked with sub-assets such as compressors and evaporators, by store.
Solar & battery storage
Inverters, optimisers and batteries by serial, so an orphaned system can be adopted and warranty swaps traced to the module.
EV charging
Charger ports with firmware version, connectivity history and repeat-fault counts, against per-port uptime targets.
Elevator & escalator
Unit-level history of controllers, motors and door operators, with Category 1 and 5 test dates per unit.
Medical equipment service
Device inventory with PM intervals, electrical safety test records and recall status for accreditation surveys.
Industrial & OEM equipment
Compressors, forklifts and packaging lines with machine hours, load test results and warranty terms per serial.
Fire protection & life safety
Sprinkler risers, backflow devices and extinguishers tagged per asset with their inspection history and deficiencies.
Appliance repair
Model and serial captured on the first visit, so warranty claims and parts orders are right the first time.
Pool & spa service
Pumps, filters, heaters and salt cells by serial, with replacement proposals timed to the equipment's age.
In FSM Flow
Assets connect inventory, customers, work orders, the mobile app and reporting. FSM Flow keeps one record across all of them.
Asset records
Make, model, serial, install date, warranty terms, consumables and documents, with a lifecycle from install to retirement.
- Created from installation work orders
- Sub-assets for racks and systems
- Retired assets keep their history
Nameplate capture
Photograph the nameplate; document intelligence extracts the identifiers for the technician to confirm.
- Works offline, syncs later
- Spec sheets and manuals attached
- Photos stored against the asset
Service history
Every work order, reading, part and photo attached to the asset, visible on the customer profile and the mobile app.
- Readings trend per asset
- Parts used linked from inventory
- Full audit trail
Condition and replacement flags
Technicians set a condition rating and reason on any visit through the job checklist; flags surface in reports and on the next job.
- Required photo on a flag
- Age and repair count on the record
- Flags filtered by site or customer
Repair-versus-replace quotes
A replacement recommendation becomes a quote with options and expiry, with the asset's history attached as the justification.
- Built on site in minutes
- Member pricing applied
- Conversion tracked per technician
Portfolio analytics
Assets by age, failure rate, warranty status and contract coverage, as dashboards, custom reports or a question to the AI assistant.
- Install base under contract
- Repeat-repair units
- Replacement pipeline by season
Pricing & billing
Assets shape pricing as much as labour does. FSM Flow applies the right model from the record.
Repair versus replace
Both options quoted from the same visit, with the repair priced from the rate sheet and the replacement as a proposal with good, better and best options.
Asset-based contracts
Maintenance agreements and service contracts priced per asset or asset class, with coverage flags deciding what is invoiced at no charge.
Warranty-covered work
Repairs inside the manufacturer's or your own labour warranty are tagged no-charge to the customer and tracked for recovery from the supplier.
Replacement proposals
Quotes with options and expiry, issued in the shoulder season from the portfolio report, converted to installation work orders on acceptance.
Refrigerant and consumables
Refrigerant, filters and other consumables recorded against the asset flow onto the invoice as line items, with the per-asset log kept for compliance.
Decommissioning
Removal, recovery and disposal of the retired unit invoiced as part of the replacement job, with the retirement date recorded on the old asset.
Numbers worth watching
Available as dashboard widgets, reports or a question to the AI assistant.
Install base under contract
Share of known assets covered by an agreement or contract. The clearest measure of how much of your own install base you are servicing.
80%+ at service-focused manufacturers (Deloitte 2020)Asset failure rate
Reactive work orders per asset per year, by make and model. Shows which equipment to recommend and which to stop installing.
Repair-versus-replace conversion
Replacement recommendations that become accepted quotes. The revenue lever of a well-kept install base.
Time between visits
Median days between work orders on the same asset. Shorter gaps on ageing units are the early warning for replacement.
Median 86 days (Aquant 2025)Average asset age by customer
Where the oldest equipment is concentrated, which is where the next season's replacement campaign should go.
Serial capture rate
Share of assets with a recorded serial number. Below 100% means warranty claims and recall notices will miss units.
What is asset lifecycle management in field service?
How are assets created in FSM Flow?
Does FSM Flow track serial numbers?
How do replacement recommendations work?
What is the difference between assets and inventory?
Can assets be tracked across multi-site customers?
Can I keep refrigerant records per appliance?
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