Getting into the flow of asset-sharing

• Sharing under-used assets makes economic sense 
• Returns depend on the asset type, value and times it is shared

Once a company identifies assets that it can share or would like to be able to use but cannot justify the expense of buying, the most logical solution is to make conact with other firms in a similar situation. FLOOW2 is a platform designed to facilitate these sorts of asset-sharing transactions.

Asset sharing is a new business process within most organisations, and requires a different approach to traditional operations and procurement practices. Next to that, trust is big issue. To make the step towards sharing assets a bit easier, FLOOW2 provides existing business communities and organizations with (private) internal sharing marketplaces. For each community FLOOW2 create their own sharing marketplace, completely in their own corporate identity. On these personalized sharing platforms they can share all kinds of capacity within their trusted community or between departments and entities within their organization. FLOOW2 has already realized these platforms for several hospitals, business parks, market sectors (construction:www.werflink.com), business associations and large industrial companies.

FLOOW2's online marketplace includes a searchable directory of services and assets to share, and a suite of tools and templates to make the sharing transaction as safe and easy as possible. These include:

• Payment services and guarantees (credit check, debt collection)
• Standard agreements and contracts
• Insurance, theft and loss prevention (track and trace) tools
• Feedback and reviews of assets, providers and users

Finding products to use on the platform is free of charge. Offering products starts at € 30 per month for five assets to € 300 per month for unlimited asset offers.

Key benefits

The key to maximising the benefits is to make 'sharing' an integral part of the business in order to justify the time and effort it takes to identify suitable assets and put the system in place. Clearly, benefits and savings vary depending on the company, assets, and take-up rate.

An asset used once a year in-house which is then shared 10 times can save up to 90 % on its cost. For example, a hospital sharing its expensive MRI scanner could justify the effort for gains as low as 2 %.