Overview
This topic covers:
Benefits
The main reason to implement responsible asset management systems is to derive benefits for the organization. In managing data and establishing the data standards we can expect a range of benefits.
Each member of the asset management team and in particular the overall coordinator, or the coordinators for each individual asset groups, should be fully aware of the benefits that have been identified and then organize their programs around the derivation of these benefits.
The benefits usually fall into:
Long Term
- Extending asset Life
- Identifying assets with high risk of failure
- Improving managerial abilities
- Allowing interventions for cost effective rehabilitation
- Greater productivity
- Allowing better maintenance to defer capital
- Correcting financial cost imbalances
- Greater value from existing budgets by better focusing.
Short Term
- Optimized maintenance
- Correcting financial models for depreciation (replacement)
- Staffing levels justifications
- Correcting problems
- Bringing about change in organization
- Easier managerial decision making
- Ancillary benefits:
- System modeling
- Insurance premium reductions
- Assisting grant applications (for special needs)
- O&M response effectiveness, etc.
- Customer expectations/consultation process.
The implementation of accrual accounting or renewal accounting techniques will be the major activity. The type of data and the way in which we collect it will be vital to produce the necessary outputs for this accounting method.
Staged Evolution
It is often the case in the data analysis process that many programs will "come off the rails" due to the enthusiasm of staff who want to collect every piece of data that could be gathered.
One of the key objectives of the initial data analysis phase is to get the program up and running. Initially we need to paint a picture of our entire asset portfolio, but we don’t need it to be perfect on the first pass.
It is nice to always consider what may be ultimately desirable for the organization but it is essential to move from our current phase of knowing very little about our assets, through to a phase of knowing every possible piece of information about them. It is more important for us to get the systems up and then enhance that data, such that it can provide further information in the future.
By understanding the whole picture at a basic or level 1 perspective, we can better understand the assets that represent the greatest risks to the organization, and then concentrate our efforts on obtaining the data and knowledge required to manage these issues and set a timetable to collect data on the balance of the assets.
It is not essential to collect all the data at once and it is not essential to have extremely accurate data in the initial phases of adopting responsible asset management activities. This is where we use the confidence level rating approach to understand where our weaknesses lie and the funding decisions and strategies that are needed first.
Key Responsibilities for AM Teams
In the initial phases of asset management, the key responsibilities of the management teams are to:
Develop the initial asset management plan (AMP 1) and gain a better understanding to a reasonable level of confidence including:
- The state of the asset portfolio including:
- A complete asset register
- The current condition and performance of the system
- The current replacement value, residual life and written down (book) value of the portfolio and the most accurate depreciation or future renewal annuity of the system
- Develop the cash flow for operations, maintenance and capital to deliver the required levels of service over a long term (40 year) and start to develop the future funding strategies required to achieve this. This is to secure adequate sustainable funding for existing and future operations.
- Invoke approaches that ensure our existing budget allocations are being effectively invested:
- Current capital investments
- Current maintenance budgets.
- Start to develop the detailed investment plans (CIP) for the period beyond the existing program.
- Identify those events or issues that constitute the greatest future risk to the organization and start to develop strategies to address these.
By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of these predictions, using our confidence level approach, we can determine the items, assets or issues / strategies for which we should address the key issues.
These aspects are shown below: