The organization
A research university runs core facilities with shared microscopes, spectrometers, centrifuges and sequencers, alongside equipment owned by each department and research group.
Researchers from many labs use the same instruments, portable equipment moves between labs, and finance must depreciate equipment by department, often against the grant that paid for it.
The challenge
Each core facility keeps its own booking spreadsheet, and departments keep their own asset lists. Calibration is tracked by whoever runs the instrument.
- Double bookings and idle instruments go unnoticed.
- Portable equipment borrowed by a lab is hard to find later.
- Calibration certificates are kept in different folders by different people.
- Service history leaves with the staff member who knew it.
- Finance reconciles department asset lists by hand at year end.
How it is set up in Asset Infinity
The university keeps one register of research equipment in Asset Infinity, with bookings, check-outs, calibration and depreciation recorded on each item.
Instrument bookings
Shared instruments are bookable by researchers, so the facility manager sees who uses each instrument and when, without double bookings. (Site services)
Check-out to labs
Portable equipment is checked out to a lab or researcher by scanning its label, with a due date, and checked back in on return. (Assets)
Calibration and service plans
Date-based plans raise calibration and service work orders. Certificates and service reports are attached to each instrument’s record. (Maintenance)
Depreciation by department
Each instrument carries its owning department, cost and useful life, and depreciation runs report book value by department. (Finance)
How it works day to day
Here is how an instrument is used, borrowed, calibrated and accounted for.
- Researcher: books an instrument. A postdoc books the confocal microscope for an afternoon. The booking shows on the facility’s calendar, so no one else can take that slot.
- Lab technician: borrows portable equipment. A technician scans the label of a portable spectrometer to check it out to their lab, with a return date.
- System: chases late returns. Equipment past its return date shows as overdue, and the facility manager can see who has it.
- System: raises calibration. A date-based plan raises a calibration work order for the spectrometer a few weeks before its certificate expires.
- Facility manager: records the calibration. The calibration vendor’s certificate is attached to the work order, and the instrument’s record shows its next due date.
- Facility manager: logs a fault. A researcher reports a fault by scanning the label. The request becomes a work order, and the repair joins the service history.
- Finance officer: runs depreciation. Depreciation runs show book value by department, and disposals of retired instruments are recorded against the same register.
Before and after
| Before | With Asset Infinity | |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | A spreadsheet per facility | Bookings on each instrument |
| Borrowed equipment | Hard to find later | Checked out with a borrower and due date |
| Calibration | Tracked by whoever runs it | Date-based plans with certificates attached |
| Service history | Kept in people’s heads | Recorded on each instrument |
| Depreciation | Department lists reconciled by hand | Runs by department from one register |
| Utilization | Unknown | Bookings by instrument and lab |
The first month
- Department lists combined. Each department’s asset list was imported into one register with owning department and cost.
- Core instruments labeled. Shared and portable instruments were labeled and opened for booking and check-out.
- Calibration plans set. Facility managers turned calibration intervals into date-based plans and attached current certificates.
Example results
- Every shared instrument bookable from one calendar
- 100% of calibrated instruments on a date-based calibration plan
- Every piece of equipment depreciated against its owning department
- Facility managers see bookings by instrument and lab, and which instruments sit idle.
- Borrowed equipment has a named borrower and a due date.
- An instrument’s calibration certificates and service reports are on its record.
- Year-end book values by department come from the same register researchers use.
Why it worked
One register for science and finance
The record a researcher books is the same one finance depreciates, so the two lists never drift apart.
History that stays
Calibration and service records live on the instrument, so they survive staff turnover.
Usage you can show
Booking data shows how heavily each instrument is used, which supports decisions on replacement and funding.
Looking ahead
With bookings, check-outs, calibration and depreciation on one record per instrument, the university’s core facilities and finance team work from the same list of equipment.
Usage and service history also give the university evidence when it decides which instruments to replace, share more widely or include in the next grant application.