Create customer assets

  • 12 minutes

You can create customer assets in the following ways:

  • Manually - Create customer assets manually in the Field Service app.

  • Import - Import customer assets from a file that contains the assets into the Field Service app.

  • Automatically - Choose to have customer assets created automatically when work order products are marked as used.

Asset categories

Before creating assets, make sure that you create asset categories to group your assets.

You can link asset categories to asset properties that allow specific information to be captured about the asset. For more information, see Asset properties in Dynamics 365 Field Service.

Screenshot of a list of asset properties.

You can define asset categories in the Field Service app by going to Settings > General > Asset Categories.

Note

You can also use asset categories with entitlements for work orders.

Create customer assets

You can manage customer assets in the Field Service app. To create customer assets manually, go to Service > Assets > Assets.

After you have created a customer asset, it will include the following information on the General tab:

  • Name - Enter a reference name or title for the customer asset.

  • Category - Select a customer asset category to group the asset with similar assets.

  • Account - Select an account to represent the customer and location of the asset. This account should be the service account for work orders that are raised for the asset.

  • Functional Location - If the asset has a functional location.

  • Parent Asset - If this asset is part of an assembly or asset structure, select the parent asset that this asset belongs to.

  • Product - If the customer asset correlates with a product in your product catalog, select the product.

Screenshot of the New Customer Asset form.

When you have finished entering information, select Save.

Screenshot of an existing customer asset.

After you have created a customer asset, you'll be able to link the asset to work orders and register the asset as an IoT device.

Import customer assets

You can import customer assets by using the import tools that are available with Dynamics 365 Field Service and Microsoft Dataverse. When importing data, you need to identify the customer asset record to prevent duplicates and to match correctly when setting the parent asset record. Typically, a unique asset ID is required for you to complete this action. You can use the Name column for the asset ID and add an alternate key to force this column to be unique. Alternatively, you might want to create your own custom column as an Autonumber data type.

Set up automatic creation of customer assets

You can also choose to have customer assets created automatically when a work order product is used when the work is being performed. To enable automatic creation of assets, edit the Product, select the Field Service tab, and then set Convert to Customer Asset to Yes.

Screenshot of the Field Service tab on the Product form.

Later, in a work order, if you set the Work Order Product Quantity field, set the Line Status to Used, and then set the Work Order Status to Open - Completed, a customer asset is created.

Screenshot of Work Order Product with Line Status set to Used.

The customer asset is associated with the work order product that it was generated from.

Screenshot of a customer asset that was generated from a work order.

Important

Only products whose Field Service Product Type is set to Inventory or Non-inventory can be automatically converted to customer assets.

Register customer assets

You can link customer assets to internet-connected sensors in Connected Field Service through an associated IoT device record.

Several buttons in the command bar are associated with the device:

  • Check IoT Setup - This button checks if Connected Field Service is set up and connected to an IoT service.

  • Register Devices - Creates an IoT Device record, associates it with the customer asset, and attempts to register the device with the IoT service.

  • Connect Device - Links the Customer Asset record to an IoT device record.

  • Pull Device Data - Retrieves telemetry data for a connected IoT device and displays the data in the Device Data History tab.

Screenshot of a customer asset device and its buttons.

If the IoT device is successfully registered, the Device ID is populated along with its registration status, which is displayed in the lower-left corner of the Customer Asset form.

You can associate the customer asset with the device by selecting the Connections tab and then using the Connected IoT Device connection role.

Screenshot of a customer asset connection to a device.

Import Devices

If you connect Field Service to an existing Azure IoT Hub, you can populate customer assets by selecting the Import Devices button on the command bar in Service > Assets > Assets. This action creates the devices in the background.

Screenshot of a customer assets view with the Import Devices button.

Supply Chain Management

While Dynamics 365 Field Service includes basic asset management service history and management, many field service organizations still integrate Field Service with their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

You can integrate Dynamics 365 Field Service with Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management by using dual-write for enhanced asset management. For instance, when you're creating a work order for a customer asset, the integration allows dispatchers to pick from a full list of customer assets, regardless of which system it was created in.

The tables that you need to integrate with Supply Chain Management are:

  • Customer Asset

  • Customer Asset Category

For more information, see Integrate Dynamics 365 Field Service and Supply Chain Management.