Work smarter

Despite the crucial nature of asset management, it remains a much-misunderstood discipline. The most common of these misconceptions is that the term ‘asset management’ is interchangeable with ‘maintenance’. It is far more accurate to describe the latter as one, albeit crucial, segment of the former.

Maintenance is a set of practices and processes that are employed to keep property or equipment operating optimally. It is focused on ensuring that assets are available when required and they continue to function within the operating parameters for which they were designed.

Asset management, on the other hand, is the strategic management of assets throughout their lifecycle. It comprises the systematic approach of acquiring, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets in a way that maximises their value. As the ISO 55000 on asset management states, asset management is the “coordinated activity of an organisation to realise value from assets in the achievement of its organisational objectives”.

FROM COST TO PROFIT CENTRE

Understanding the difference between asset management and maintenance helps shatter the common misconception that asset management is a cost centre, an area that does not directly add to profit but only costs money to operate.

Historically, most organisations have viewed maintenance in this way because they associate the practice with the frustration that builds when things go wrong. Increasingly, however, asset management can be viewed as a profit centre, a branch of the organisation that directly adds to bottom-line profitability. A good example is leveraging the usage and performance data of an asset to inform the frequency of inspections and avoiding costly incidents of over-or under-inspection. Another example is using AI powered tech to make real-time micro-adjustments and continuously optimise HVAC equipment in a building.

In this sense, it is useful to think about it from an enterprise perspective, and this mode of thinking has two core strands: the first is that asset management comprises the entire lifecycle of the assets; the second is the asset’s impact on and potential contribution across an organisation, including locations, departments, and business functions.

To get to this point, FMs must take a holistic approach to asset management. Firstly, it is vital that they consider the business operational and commercial drivers that underpin it and the scope of what’s possible within the financial dimensions of the client or contract.

From here, FMs must gain a full picture of the asset profiles within the portfolios for which they are responsible; and then – with the help of their service provider partners, identify the technology and systems that not only help perform the function but also provide visibility, control and the ability to measure the success of the asset management strategy in place.

DATA DRIVEN INSIGHTS

There is a huge amount of asset management data available to FMs that can turn their guess work into evidence-based, actionable insights. This includes information on the asset itself, including location, maintenance history, as well as energy and utilities data, condition monitoring data, space utilisation, and financial data related to factors such as cost of ownership, depreciation and operating expenses.

They represent an integrated ecosystem approach, integrating multiple systems, devices and data sources to enable real-time optimisation and deliver long-term strategy. Equipping an asset with sensors allows FMs to gather data on their condition, including temperature and vibration levels – factors that determine its performance, efficiency, and longevity. When that data is overlayed with the information stored in a CAFM system, such as maintenance scheduling, or in an IWMS system, which might host both the maintenance history and financial data, the real magic happens. With the right analytics platform and visualisation tools, FMs can start to make more accurate decisions, such as develop a more precise and cost-efficient preventative maintenance programme or gain a clearer picture of when it’s right to either repair or invest more money into capital planning.

Importantly, these technologies also enable the remote diagnosis and repair of assets, thereby reducing the need for physical interventions and minimising the downtime associated with asset failures. Remotely assessing the condition of an asset and determining the appropriate course of action before arriving on-site saves time and resources while ensuring more accurate works.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE

As AI and machine learning capabilities develop, the FM market is gradually moving towards a more predictive approach to asset management. A suite of AI-powered technology can process much more data than any human is capable of and can do it in real-time. The result is more intelligent insights, where trends and patterns analysis across different data sets help deliver more strategic, nuanced asset management.

However, this shift is not without its challenges. FMs need reliable data, robust integration between systems and the right skill sets to maximise the impact/benefit of these technologies. This puts the onus on the facilities management industry to nurture the technology skills that enable this – those who are not only comfortable with using technology but also capable of interpreting and actioning data.

Finally, for this shift to a smart asset management approach to be successful, FMs must focus on achieving buy in with a range of stakeholders, from end users and the engineering teams delivering the service to a site, to the business leaders who might carry assumptions about the FM department and asset management. As critical as innovation is, developing a data-driven asset management strategy is equally about changing the way people think and the way they behave.