Asset Management - Today and Tomorrow
Over the past several years there has been a lot of talk about the benefits of municipalities adopting asset management (AM) practices. While the benefits are substantial, we recognize there may be forces within organizations that resist the required changes. It is important to stay focused on bringing together and sustaining all the aspects of AM practice. One department may focus only on an asset inventory, while another may plan for a Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) or an asset risk analysis. As with many new systems, organizations can save money and go farther if departments work together to deploy shared tools and implement common best practices.
While there is general agreement on the primary elements in AM, significant variation and experimentation with implementing these elements is occurring across our industry. To attain the full value of AM there are lots of pieces to bring together — from knowing what all your assets are to understanding their condition, maintaining a desired level of service, and having a sustained planned for maintenance, replacement or upgrade.
Those who have embraced AM as an essential business process – a way of life – are reaping the benefits the system provides. To help focus your momentum, consider beginning with an implementation plan that sets out a multi-year work plan which includes:
- data and software requirements
- new workflows for asset prioritization
- repair/replacement programs
- performance metrics
- staff responsibilities
- scope, schedule, and budget for a phased implementation
Some organizations have the resources to create a plan alone while others find it more effective to have consulting assistance. Either way, the organization needs to own the process and have champions at all levels to sustain success.
The Wright-Pierce AM staff have worked with large and small organizations to create an effective plan using a variety of methods including needs assessments, stakeholder workshops, business process modeling, and completing quick, simple pilot projects. Start small and grow incrementally is a proven implementation method.
How will widely varying asset owners get committed to AM implementation and achieve measurable success?
The heart of AM best practices is changing the day-to-day operations from a reactive, "firefighting” mode to a proactive mode using structured information and repeatable work processes. There are a few external motivating factors to help influence the implementation of AM including regulatory or funding agencies, partial loan forgiveness programs, affordable software, and consent decrees.
What should utilities expect from a healthy, sustainable AM program?
Each function of an AM program — asset inventory, condition and prioritization, prevantative maintenance tools and finance plans — is useful, although you will need to prioritize and determine which functions are "nice to have” and which are a "must have.”
AM tools have become more affordable as web-hosted (SaaS) applications have matured. As one example, VUEWorks, created here in New England and now owned by a national transportation consultant, has been a leader in offering the web-based AM software for several years. Customer choice is important, and there are many AM systems to choose from. Luckily for users, this is a competitive marketplace for software vendors and everyone is innovating. There are lots of new tools that have been developed along with more approachable best practice guides. Wright-Pierce AM staff have expertise in helping organizations define their requirements then review and select the right options to meet their needs — today and into the future.
What is coming next for AM?
It is critical to keep looking outside familiar circles for ideas and innovations that may help advance AM for another generation of users. Lots of times, the best new ideas are found in other industries. What can we learn from institutional facility managers? Or airplane manufactures? Lots! Using design automation methods and whole building systems integration are just a couple of examples.
One of the shortcomings in water/wastewater practices today is the inability to integrate design/construction plans and specification documents with O&M systems. With an AM approach, you generate the O&M digitally and make it available to all stakeholders, thereby creating better efficiency by managing pipes and plants with the same AM processes, even though they are operated by separate groups. We can do much more to streamline the reuse of the data that were created when an asset was built or renovated in long-term O&M functions. Connections between these phases of asset lifecycle has been identified by industry leaders as a big opportunity for collective improvement. Here again, innovation is happening today.
The Federal General Services Administration (GSA) will soon publish a guide on connecting design data (e.g. building information models for a treatment plant) with facilities management (FM). It includes many best practices applicable to municipal assets. And in early 2012, Esri GIS software vendor will publish a new guide for integrating GIS and AM. W-P staff are helping to write this guide for use across New England and beyond.
An international group will be meeting in Washington DC this October to advance drafting a new ISO 55000 internationally-accepted standard for asset management. If this is done carefully, the successes of broadly adopted AM standards in countries such as UK and Australia can be realized through this new common standard – and be useful right here in New England!
Getting Started
Wright-Pierce has a multi-disciplined team of Asset Management professionals, and we are helping many communities get started on the path to sustainable operations with AM. The key to success is establishing an overall AM strategy and breaking the effort into manageable steps. From underground and plant asset inventories with condition assessments to risk analysis and CIP development, we have worked with leading utilities, DPWs, and other organizations across New England.