Assets
Assets are the equipment you service — compressors, dryers, filters, tanks, and everything else that keeps compressed air flowing. Every asset belongs to a customer and can have components (serviceable parts) tracked inside it.
Asset Types
NORDVEST comes loaded with asset types for the equipment you're seeing every day:
Compressors
- Compressor - Piston
- Compressor - Rotary Screw
- Compressor - Vane
- Compressor - Scroll
Air Treatment
- Air Dryer - Refrigerated
- Air Dryer - Desiccant
- Filter Housing
Other Equipment
- Receiver Tank
- Blower
- Vacuum Pump
- Other
Don't see what you need? Create custom asset types in Settings. You can also delete or rename any of the built-in types — your system, your rules.
Type-Specific Fields (Metadata)
Different asset types show different fields because, let's be honest, a receiver tank doesn't need a "Horsepower" field. NORDVEST shows what's relevant:
| Asset Type | Special Fields |
|---|---|
| Compressors | Horsepower |
| Vacuum Pump | Horsepower |
| Blower | Horsepower |
| Air Dryer - Refrigerated | Refrigerant Type |
| Filter Housing | Filter Type, Element Type |
| Receiver Tank | Gallon Capacity, Max PSI |
These are custom fields, and you can configure which ones appear for each asset type in Settings → Custom Fields.
All assets share these common fields:
- Name — How you identify this unit (e.g., "Main Compressor", "Backup Dryer")
- Manufacturer — Who made it
- Model — Model number
- Serial Number — Manufacturer's serial
- Installation Date — When it was put in
- Not in Use — Mark assets that are inactive or decommissioned
- Notes — Internal notes about this asset
Hour Tracking
Some asset types track runtime hours — and this is where NORDVEST really shines. When hour tracking is enabled:
- You can record Hour Readings during service visits
- NORDVEST calculates usage between readings
- Component service intervals can trigger based on runtime hours
- Future hour predictions help you plan ahead based on usage trends
Example: A compressor shows 12,450 hours. Last oil change was at 8,500 hours. With a 4,000-hour oil interval, you know it's due at 12,500 hours — that's just 50 hours away.
Oil Samples
Oil sampling is critical for keeping the machines you service in warranty. When enabled on an asset, you can record samples and see exactly how old each consumable component was at the time of sampling.
NORDVEST also has a dedicated Oil Samples page accessible from the main navigation, giving you a bird's-eye view of all samples across all assets.
Enabling Oil Samples
- Edit the asset
- Check "Track oil samples"
- Optionally set a sampling interval in hours and/or months
- Save
Once enabled, an Oil Samples link appears on the asset's detail page.
Recording a Sample
- Navigate to the asset's detail page
- Click View Oil Samples
- Click Add Oil Sample
- Select the hour reading at the time of sampling
- Set the sample date
- Add any notes (optional)
- Save
Sample Details
The sample detail view shows the asset's serial number alongside the rest of the identifying info — useful when you're cross-referencing samples with paperwork or warranty records.
Component Ages
Click any sample row to expand it and see how old each consumable component was at the time of that sample:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Component | The consumable type (oil, oil filter, separator, etc.) |
| Age (hrs) | Hours since the component was last changed |
| Age (months) | Months since the component was last changed |
| Last Changed (hrs) | The hour reading when the component was last changed |
| Last Changed (date) | The date the component was last changed |
Components that have never been changed show dashes instead of ages — no data, no guessing.
The "Look Backward" Rule
Here's a subtle but important detail: when a component is changed during the same service visit as the oil sample (same hour reading), the age reflects the previous component — not the shiny new one you just put in. This is because the oil sample captures the state of the oil before the new parts go in.
Example: You take an oil sample and change the oil filter at 5,000 hours. The previous filter was installed at 3,000 hours. The sample shows the filter age as 2,000 hours (5,000 − 3,000), because that's the filter the oil was actually running through.
Oil Sample Submission Forms
NORDVEST can generate pre-filled PDF submission forms for oil samples — ready to print and send with your sample to the lab. Currently supports Sullivan Palatek forms, with more manufacturers coming.
To set up form generation:
- Go to Settings → Company
- Enter your Oil Sample Contact Name and Email — these are pre-filled on the form so the lab knows who to send results to
Then, from any oil sample record, click Generate Form to download the PDF.
Sampling Interval
You can configure how often samples should be taken:
- Hours — e.g., every 2,000 hours
- Months — e.g., every 6 months
These intervals display on the Oil Samples page so you always know when the next one is due.
Viewing Assets
From the Assets Page
The main Assets page shows all equipment across all customers. Use this to:
- See everything you service at a glance
- Find assets by type
- Spot equipment that needs attention
- See service due alerts — assets with overdue or upcoming component service show badges right in the list
- Filter between in-use, all, or not-in-use assets
Assets marked as "not in use" display a badge and sort to the bottom of lists — out of the way but never lost.
You can also group assets, save filter combinations as named views, and set a default view. See Working with Tables for details.
From a Customer
Each customer's page shows only their assets. This is your go-to view when you're prepping for a service visit.
The Asset Detail Page
Click any asset to see its full detail page, organized in a clean two-column layout:
- Left side (main) — Core information, components with service due status, the Documents card, and service history
- Right side — Asset info at a glance, tech notes, oil samples, and hour readings history
Service due alerts appear right on the asset page — if a component is overdue or coming up, you'll see it without hunting. Hour readings are displayed below the hour meter so you can see the full history at a glance.
Documents on the Asset
A unified Documents card sits directly under the Components table. It surfaces files that NORDVEST thinks belong to this unit, organized into tabs:
- Possibly related — PDFs from your Documents library that match the asset's brand and model. Tonttu pulls these in as approximate hints, not authoritative results — verify before trusting them
- Controller manuals — When an asset's brand/model manual mentions a specific controller (e.g., "uses MAM200"), and a separate manual for that controller is in the Documents library, it shows up here with a "Via MAM200" subtitle
NORDVEST's matcher is smart about model number families — an asset with M/N "KRSB-10-125-AC" matches "KRSB-10-125", "KRSB-10", and "KRSB" library docs, but not unrelated models like "KRSB-7.5". Generic words like "Supervisor" or "Elektronikon" are intentionally excluded so unrelated manuals don't bleed across brands.
Tech Notes
The right rail has a Tech Notes card for jotting down anything a future tech should know about this unit — quirks, tips, gotchas, "the bypass valve sticks if you don't tap it twice".
Editing and deletion rules:
- Authors can edit and delete their own notes for 2 days after posting
- Service Managers and Admins can edit or delete any note at any time
- Deletes are soft and go through a confirmation modal
Tech notes also appear on the customer's page so you don't have to drill into each asset to scan them.
Adding an Asset
- Navigate to a customer's page
- Click Add Asset
- Select the asset type
- Fill in the details (the form adjusts based on the type — no irrelevant fields cluttering things up)
- Save
Pro tip: If you're adding a type of equipment you set up frequently, use an Asset Template to pre-fill common values. Your future self will thank you.
Editing an Asset
Click the asset's name to open the edit form. You can change any field except the customer assignment.
Asset Actions Menu
From any asset row in a list, or from the asset's detail page, the actions dropdown gives you three shortcuts:
- Edit — Open the edit form
- Create Asset Like This — Pre-fills the create form with this asset's brand, model, components, and metadata. Unique fields (customer, serial number, install date, in-use flag) are intentionally left blank so you fill them in for the new unit. Great when a customer adds a second identical compressor next to the first
- Save as Template — Turn this asset into a reusable Asset Template, pre-filled with brand, model, components, and metadata. The next similar asset is one click instead of ten
No Regular Service
Some equipment doesn't need routine maintenance visits — a standby unit that almost never runs, a tank that's just there for storage. Mark these assets as No Regular Service to flag that they're excluded from your regular service schedule.
When this flag is set:
- A badge appears on the asset's detail page and in customer views
- The asset is excluded from "components due" report conditions — so it won't show up on overdue maintenance reports
- Work orders and printed service records note that no regular service is performed on this unit
To mark an asset as No Regular Service:
- Edit the asset
- Check the "No regular service" checkbox
- Save
Tip: This is different from "Not in Use." An asset that's still operational but serviced on its own schedule — not yours — is a good candidate for "No Regular Service." An asset that's sitting idle or decommissioned should be marked "Not in Use" instead.
Marking Assets as Not in Use
When equipment is decommissioned, removed, or gathering dust in the corner, mark it as "not in use" instead of deleting it. This preserves the full service history while keeping your active asset lists clean and focused.
To mark an asset as not in use:
- Edit the asset
- Check the "Mark as not in use" checkbox at the bottom of the form
- Save
Assets marked as "not in use":
- Show a "Not in use" badge throughout the application
- Sort to the bottom of asset lists
- Can be filtered separately on the Assets page
- Appear in a collapsible section on the Record Work page
Tip: Never delete an asset just because it's offline. "Not in use" keeps your service history intact for warranty claims, reference, or the day the customer decides to fire that old piston compressor back up.
Asset Groups
For customers with a lot of equipment, Asset Groups help you organize things the way they exist in real life:
Compressor Room
├── Unit 1
│ ├── 25 HP Rotary Screw
│ ├── BEKO Dryer
│ └── Filter Bank
└── Backup (Piston)
Building B
└── Filter Housing
Groups can be nested (parent-child), making it easy to map out large facilities. Each group has:
- Name — How you identify this grouping
- Description — Optional notes about the group
Tip: Use groups for multi-location customers or to describe where equipment lives. Your techs will love you for it:
1520 Fern Road Location ├── Main Machine - Upstairs in Building A │ ├── 25 HP Compressor │ └── BEKO Dryer └── Backup - Downstairs under the large conveyor └── 5 HP Champion
Asset Templates
For equipment you add frequently, Asset Templates pre-populate common configurations. When you select a template while adding an asset:
- Asset type is pre-selected
- Metadata fields are pre-filled with typical values
- Component types are suggested
Templates save time and keep things consistent — especially when you've got a fleet of the same model across different customers. Set them up in Settings → Asset Templates.
Display Names
NORDVEST automatically generates a display name for each asset based on what's available:
- If a name is set, use it
- Otherwise, use manufacturer + model (with horsepower if applicable)
- Otherwise, use the serial number
- Otherwise, fall back to the asset type name
Tip: Set a clear name for assets you reference often. "Main Compressor" is a lot easier to find in a list than "Ingersoll Rand UP6-50PE-125."