The Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM) launched version 3 of its “Asset Management Landscape” on June 5, 2024. This article outlines the scope of this document, explores some of the changes between this version and version 2 and discusses the implications of these changes for Asset Managers.
- What is the GFMAM?
- What is the Asset Management Landscape?
- The Asset Management Landscape vs ISO 55000
- What has changed in Version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape?
- What do the Changes in Version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape Mean for Asset Managers?
- ISO 55000 Updates – More Change is on its Way
- Stay Informed
What is the GFMAM?
The Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM) is, as the name suggests, is the world’s peak body for Maintenance and Asset Management. Its members comprise the world’s leading National and Regional professional bodies representing Maintenance and Asset Management practitioners. This includes organisations such as the Institute of Asset Management in the UK, the Asset Management Council from Australia, the Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) from the USA, the European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS), the Japanese Association of Asset Management (JAAM), PEMAC from Canada, The Southern African Asset Management Association (SAAMA) and others. It is a not-for-profit organisation that has the aim of collaboratively sharing advancements, knowledge and standards in maintenance and Asset Management.
What is the Asset Management Landscape?
The Asset Management Landscape is a document that attempts to define the scope of Asset Management. It is a high-level document that outlines the key activities that are considered to be within the scope of Asset Management and arranges these into “subjects” and groupings of subjects to aid understanding. It can be downloaded, free of charge, from the GFMAM website here.
The aim of the Asset Management Landscape is not to replace the knowledge, practices and models that have been developed by each of the GFMAM member organisations, but rather, to provide a higher-level framework within which these models sit, to facilitate the process of comparing and contrasting these different models, and to assist member organisations to refine and improve these models within the context of the landscape.
The following diagram contained in the Asset Management Landscape illustrates this.
The Asset Management Landscape document describes the “Core”, while the details of the surrounding elements (Maturity, Conceptual Models, Certification, Training etc.) are left to each individual member organisation to determine. For example, the conceptual models developed by the IAM and the Asset Management Council are quite different, but both are consistent with the higher level framework outlined in the Asset Management Landscape.
The Asset Management Landscape vs ISO 55000
There is sometimes confusion regarding the scope and purpose of the Asset Management Landscape versus the scope and purpose of ISO 55000.
ISO 55000 is the international standard for Asset Management, published by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO). ISO 55001 details the elements that should be in place for an Asset Management System (that is, a Management System for managing assets) to be considered as compliant with good practice. Its scope, therefore, is more limited than the Asset Management Landscape. Furthermore, ISO 55001 is a compliance standard. It is possible, though not mandatory, for organisations to be certified as compliant with the requirements of ISO 55001. On the other hand, the Asset Management Landscape contains no specific requirements – it simply provides a framework which we can use for conceptualising the scope of Asset Management.
The relationship between the two documents (and to the broader activities involved in managing an entire organisation) can be visualised in the following diagram.
This illustrates that not all the activities involved in managing an organisation can be considered as being within the scope of Asset Management – only those that are involved in coordinating activity to realise value from assets. And our reference document for determining whether an activity meets this definition is the Asset Management Landscape. Further, only some of the activities within the scope of Asset Management relate to the development and delivery of an Asset Management System, and our reference documents regarding what “good” looks like in these areas are the ISO 55000 series of documents.
What has changed in Version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape?
It is fair to say that version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape is an evolution, not a revolution. At its heart, the key activities that fall within the scope of Asset Management have not changed. However, Version 3 of the landscape has been produced with the aim of grouping and classifying these activities into more easily understandable and logical groupings. The wordings and terminology used within the document have also been modified for greater clarity, and to facilitate easier translation into multiple languages.
These rearrangements have resulted in there now being seven subject areas in Version 3 of the landscape compared with six in the previous version. There are also now 40 “subjects” within Version 3 compared with the 39 that existed in Version 2. However, this comparison is not truly indicative of the scale of the changes between the two documents. In arriving at the 40 subjects within Version 3, 33 of the subjects within Version 2 remained largely unchanged (with some having their titles changed and being subjected to other minor edits). There are 6 new subjects, 2 subjects were merged, and 4 subjects were removed (though their content has generally been moved to other subjects within the landscape).
These changes have resulted in certain areas receiving greater emphasis than in the previous version, which reflects the increasing maturity of thinking within the Asset Management community of practice. It has also helped to reduce some of the overlaps between subjects which were causing confusion in some areas.
The two following diagrams outline the subjects and subject groupings within Version 2 and Version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape.
The key differences to note here include:
• The introduction of a new subject area titled “Context and Stakeholders”. This provides better alignment with the structure of ISO 55000, but more importantly ensures that there is an increased emphasis on understanding the organisational purpose and organisational objectives which Asset Management activities need to support and align with. It also highlights the need to understand the needs and expectations of stakeholders with respect to Asset Management and consider any internal or external constraints that apply to the financial treatment of assets before embarking on Asset Management activities.
• The restructuring of the previous subject areas “Asset Management Strategy and Planning” and “Asset Management Decision Making” into the subject areas “Governance” and “Asset Management Planning”. This represents a more logical grouping of the relevant subjects.
• Note that there is a new subject included in the “Governance” subject area called “Asset Management System” which captures the activities associated with establishing, maintaining and improving the organisation’s Asset Management system. Note also that several subjects that used to be contained in the “Risk and Review” subject area in version 2 of the Landscape have now been included in the “Governance” subject area, including Asset Management Assurance & Audit (previously titled “Management Review”), “Management of Change” and “Risk” (previously titled “Risk Management”). “Technical Standards and Legislation” has also been moved into this area from “Lifecycle Delivery” in version 2.
• In the “Asset Management Planning” subject area the most significant changes are the amalgamation of the previous “Resourcing Strategy” and “Resource Management” subjects in version 2 into one “Resourcing Strategy and Management” subject in version 3 and the amalgamation of the previous “Shutdown and Outage Strategy” and “Shutdown and Outage Management” subject in version 2 into the “Shutdown and Outage Strategy and Planning” subject in version 3.
• The “Leadership and People” subject area now embraces two new subjects “Organisational Change Management” and “Knowledge Management”. The introduction of “Organisational Change Management” reflects a greater emphasis on ensuring that organisational change is managed well in additional to technical change. This was one area of some confusion in version 2. The introduction of “Knowledge Management” reflects a realisation that there needs to be greater emphasis on this area, and that it embraces more than just information technology and information management.
• The only change in the “Data and Information” subject area is that “Configuration Management” has been moved into this subject area from the “Lifecycle Delivery” area.
• In the “Delivery” subject area (previously called “Lifecycle Delivery”, Asset Repurposing has been incorporated within the “Asset Disposal” subject, to reflect the growing emphasis on the need to embrace a circular economy. “Supply Chain Management” has also been moved into this subject area from its previous location under “Organisation and People”.
• Finally, “Value Realisation” has been created as a new subject area, reflecting a desire to increase emphasis on the fact that the delivery of value is the ultimate aim of all Asset Management activities. “Outcomes and Impacts” has been created as a new subject in this area.
What do the Changes in Version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape Mean for Asset Managers?
The reality is that, in the short term, the impact of these changes for Asset Managers are minimal. Although the emphasis placed on different Asset Management activities within the Landscape are different, and the subjects are grouped differently, the broad scope of activities that fall within the boundaries of “Asset Management” remain largely unchanged. It is perhaps worth noting that the biggest changes in emphasis are at the bookends of the Asset Management process, that is:
- Ensuring that we understand the organisational objectives which Asset Management needs to help achieve as well as the needs and expectations of key stakeholders with respect to Asset Management, and
- Ensuring that we focus on, and measure, the extent to which our Asset Management activities are delivering organisational value.
Asset Managers that are not currently focused on these areas should consider paying them greater attention.
For the most part, however, Asset Managers do not deal directly with the GFMAM Asset Management Landscape. Instead, they are more likely to use the products, services and artefacts that individual GFMAM member organisations produce which are based on that landscape. This includes items illustrated in Figure 1 above including:
- Conceptual and other models
- Training
- Maturity Assessment frameworks and tools
- Certification
- Qualifications
- Bodies of Knowledge
GFMAM member organisations will need, to a greater or lesser extent, to update and refine their offerings in each of these areas to align with the changes embodied in version 3 of the Asset Management Landscape. Many of those organisations have already started on this activity. The Asset Management Council in Australia, for example, has commenced a process for reviewing and updating its Conceptual Model, Systems Model and Capability Model. The Institute of Asset Management in the UK is in the process of reviewing and updating its Competences Framework as a precursor to possible changes to its training course syllabi and qualifications framework. It is also updating its “Asset Management – an Anatomy” document, which expands and builds on the Asset Management Landscape.
However, all of these changes will take time, given that, for the most part, voluntary labour is involved in developing these documents. The IAM expects to launch its new version of the Anatomy document in July 2024 and will be discussing this at its upcoming Annual Conference. But with that exception, it is likely that it will take several months for the impact of the changes to the Asset Management Landscape to filter through to member organisations’ products and services. Our best advice is to keep a watching brief on what is happening within the Asset Management professional associations in your area.
ISO55000 Updates – More Change is on its Way
Besides the update to the Asset Management Landscape, changes to ISO 55000 are imminent. These are expected to flow through from July 2024 onwards and will include:
- Publication of ISO 55000:2024 to replace ISO 55000:2014. This is expected to be a significantly slimmed down document, with far less content relating to Asset Management concepts. As this document contains all definitions used within Asset Management, this will be a vital document to be aware of.
- Publication of ISO 55001:2024 to replace ISO 55001:2014. As this is the requirements document, any organisation currently certified to ISO 55001 or considering certification or alignment with this standard will need to be aware of the changes contained within it.
- Several new or updated guidance documents relating to Asset Management
The impact of changes in these new documents may be more significant, and are likely to be more immediate, than the changes to the Asset Management Landscape. We will review these once the documents have been published and produce content on our website which will allow you to understand the impact of these for you and your organisation.
Stay Informed
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