Alvero Furniture Management – the ultimate management system for the transition to a circular office setup
Virtually every organization knows how many square meters of office space it has. But how many organizations know exactly which desks, chairs, and conference tables they own? Where they’re located? How intensively they’re used? Or which pieces of furniture can last for years to come?
It’s precisely that insight that’s becoming increasingly important.
Not only to manage space and budget more efficiently, but also to work more sustainably. By using data intelligently, you gain control over your office inventory and can make better decisions about maintenance, reuse, and investments.
In this blog, we explain why data-driven asset management is becoming increasingly important and how we use these insights every day to enable circular work environments. Alvero Meubel Management (AMM) provides this insight and can make a significant contribution to the circular transition of office furnishings.
Why Understanding Your Inventory Is Becoming More Important
The work environment is changing faster than ever. Teams are growing or shrinking, departments are relocating, employees are working in a hybrid model, and offices are being redesigned. At the same time, organizations expect to use their resources more sustainably and be increasingly able to justify the choices they make.
It all starts with one question: What do you actually have on hand?
In practice, this turns out to be surprisingly difficult to answer. Furniture gets moved, stored, or repurposed. Without an up-to-date overview, confusion quickly sets in. As a result, new furniture is sometimes purchased, even though similar products are available elsewhere in the organization. Digitally recording the inventory creates a reliable overview. This makes it easier to make the most of existing resources and make informed choices for the future.
Data Helps You Make Better Decisions
An up-to-date overview of your inventory offers much more than just a list of furniture. By collecting data on location, usage, maintenance, and lifespan, you gain insight into how the work environment actually functions.
This helps answer questions such as:
- Which workstations are used the most?
- Which pieces of furniture can be reused?
- When is maintenance needed?
- Which products need to be replaced?
- Where can costs be saved by making smarter use of existing inventory?
In this way, data becomes not just a means of recording information, but a tool for making better decisions.
An efficient platform for you, but also for your partners
To access the AMM platform, customers have their own login and can also grant access to partners such as office furniture suppliers, maintenance companies, installation companies, cleaning companies, and moving companies to submit or receive purchasing and service orders. The AMM always provides insight into what is located where and in what quantities, thereby contributing to efficient and cost-effective facility management. Furthermore, it can be used not only for office furniture but also for equipment such as computers, printers, coffee machines, lighting (wall and ceiling), screens, etc. And thanks to the RFID technology used, conducting an annual inventory in an office building is also straightforward; using a scanner, all RFID-equipped items can be read remotely with the push of a button and consolidated into a single overview.
Born out of our own need
AMM is part of Alvero Office Furniture Rental, which manages a fleet of hundreds of thousands of furniture items that are moved daily, causing the nature and size of our own available inventory to constantly fluctuate. To manage our own assets efficiently and effectively, we linked our automation system to RFID tagging of our furniture fleet. And when several customers requested that we also properly map out their furniture inventory and integrate it into a single platform, we developed AMM.
From an Overview to a Circular Approach
Circularity doesn’t start with new products. It starts with knowing what you already have.
When you have insight into the condition and location of your furniture, it’s much easier to determine which products can be reused. This prevents the unnecessary purchase of new furniture and extends the lifespan of existing products.
That is precisely why asset management is playing an increasingly important role in circular office design. It helps organizations not only operate more sustainably but also use available resources more efficiently.
Our vision featured in EW Magazine
The insights from this blog were also previously published in EW Magazine’s Topic Talks, where we explained how data helps organizations manage office inventory and circularity more effectively.
For us, this confirms just how important this topic has become. Organizations don’t just want to know what they own, but above all, how they can use their existing resources more intelligently.
And that, in our view, is precisely where the future of facility management lies.
Insight is the foundation of a future-proof work environment
A future-proof work environment doesn’t start with new furniture. It starts with insight.
By knowing what inventory you have, how it’s being used, and when products can be reused, you can make better choices for today and tomorrow. This not only helps you work more efficiently but also extends the lifespan of products and promotes a more sustainable approach to your work environment.
Curious about how your organization can gain better control over its office inventory? We’d be happy to work with you to find a solution that fits your work environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is data-driven asset management?
Data-driven asset management means managing your company’s assets, such as office furniture, based on up-to-date data. This gives you insight into location, usage, maintenance, and lifespan.
Why is insight into office inventory important?
With an up-to-date overview, you can avoid unnecessary purchases, plan maintenance more effectively, and make better use of existing resources. This saves costs and supports a circular way of working.
What is a furniture passport?
A furniture passport is a digital record that documents information about a piece of furniture, such as materials used, maintenance, location, and options for reuse or recycling.
What is RFID?
RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. With this technology, each piece of furniture is assigned a unique identifier, making it easy to register and track inventory.
Is asset management only suitable for large organizations?
No. Smaller organizations also benefit from insight into their inventory. Especially when an office is growing or changing, an up-to-date overview helps manage resources more efficiently.
Curious about how AMM can benefit your organization?
Get advice on Alvero Furniture Management. That way, you’ll know what you have and what you need. Joris would be happy to explain how it works for your organization.
