Asset Management Improvement for a State Government Infrastructure Department

The client

The client was a state government department playing a lead role in planning, constructing and maintaining government infrastructure. The client’s responsibilities included delivering the infrastructure program, procurement, programming capital works and coordinating minor works, repairs and maintenance for multiple state government agencies.

The Opportunity

A restructure within the department, initiated as part of the Government’s cost-reduction program, led to the establishment of a new Asset Management (AM) function to centralise several activities that were formally conducted within a variety of groups. The restructure was expected to provide significant cost savings.

Assetivity was engaged to assist with establishing this new function.

It was a multi-stage project where the first stage of work included:

• Performing an ISO 55001 gap assessment
• Delivering Asset Management Awareness Training
• Providing recommendations on a new organisational structure
• Providing initial strategic advice

This initial stage progressed to the development of key Asset Management artifacts and processes, as well as continuing on raising the Asset management competencies in the department and the agencies they serviced.

How We Helped

To effectively assist our client, we undertook a staged approach to our development efforts as detailed below.

Stage 1: Asset Management Awareness Training and Gap Assessment

• We performed a gap assessment of the client’s current Asset Management practices for alignment against the requirements of ISO 55001.
• We delivered initial Asset Management Awareness Training to the department in the form of the IAM Foundation Award training.
• From the results of the asset management gap assessment, we identified several recommendations for improvement which formed the basis for the Improvement Roadmap during the next stages of the engagement.
• During this initial stage we also provided recommendations on a new organisational structure.

Stage 2: Development of the Asset Management Framework, Strategies and Plans

• We utilised our experience performing similar assignments to assist the department to develop the core Asset Management documents, that included the:
  • Asset Management Policy.
  • Strategic Objectives.
  • Strategic Asset Management Plan(s) – one for the department’s own operations and one for each agency being supported.
  • Strategic Asset Management Framework.
  • Asset Management Strategy.
  • Asset Management Plans.
• We assisted in the development of key Asset Management processes and procedures, which focused on:
  • Asset Criticality Assessments
  • Management of Change
  • AM Non-Conformance and Incident Investigation
  • AM KPI Development and Reporting
  • Maintenance Work Management
  • AM Outsourcing Risk Assessments
• We developed the Asset Management competence requirements and associated matrix.
• We assessed the capability and suitability of the department’s current Asset Management tools (software) and provided recommendations for improvement or enhancement.
• We provided recommendations and advice on further work required to better align with requirements of ISO55001. Based on the recommendations for improvement we expanded on the improvement roadmap for the department’s journey to improved Asset Management maturity, including steps, priorities, and indicative timelines.

Stage 3: Asset Management Implementation Assistance

During Stage 3 our focus was on the monitoring progress of the development activities against the roadmap developed during Stage 1 and Stage 2. We also conducted/provided:

• Guidance on establishing an AM Internal Audit program.
• A training needs analysis for the core team delivering the strategic asset management deliverables.
• Additional Asset Management Training to new team members, as well as personnel from the operational teams at supervisor level.
• Coaching services as part of the core document development, as well as process design and implementation.

Deliverables and Benefits

As a result of this multi-stage engagement, the client was able to:

• Raise awareness of asset management and its principles within the AM team as well as the wider operations. Essentially growing awareness that asset management is all about collaboration across the organisation to achieve the required value from their assets.
• Gain insight into their asset management maturity, utilising the IAM maturity model, with the assessed scores predominantly ranging from ‘Innocent’ to ‘Aware’ compared to the requirements of the ISO 55001 clauses. This formed the basis of the improvement roadmap and plans to better align to the requirements of the ISO 55001 standard.
• Develop the strategic “back bone” of their asset management system through the establishment of the core asset management documentation.
• Improve the delivery of structured asset management services to the agencies they support through the development of a suite of new procedures and processes, as described above, all focussed on improved risk management.
• Improve the overall level of Asset Management Competency within their team through focussed training delivery and coaching.

If you are looking to improve Asset Management at your organisation, whether you are at the start of the journey or already consider yourself mature and want to improve the outcomes from your assets, contact us now to talk to one of our expert consultants.