Across all businesses, it can sometimes be challenging to find the best way to increase profits and meet business goals. One solution to this is asset management, a way for your organisation to look at all possible assets and align them in order to meet objectives.
Asset management is beneficial to all organisations and businesses, as it can improve the ability of an organisation to operate safely, help to meet regulatory and statutory obligations, align future business strategies to meet various performance requirements and reduce the costs of managing assets over their life cycles. In other words, it can help your business run at its most efficient capacity.
What Is Asset Management?
In order to understand what asset management is, it is important to also understand what it is not. Asset management is not the same thing as managing assets. We have been “managing” assets since the Stone Age, and over time we have created entire systems and disciplines to define the ways to care for those assets.
Rather, asset management is the development of an organisation-aligned structured approach to assure stakeholders that asset related activities are focused on extracting value for the organisation. It is about how you use and manage your assets in order to create value and achieve your organisation’s business objectives.
Asset management is a transformational process that balances costs, risks, opportunities and performance in order to realise value. Put simply, it directs resources to where they are needed to support meeting your organisation’s objectives.
Asset Management Standards and Best Practice
As with any business-related activity, there are standards and practices your company can use to make sure you are getting the most out of your asset management.
One possible tool is the Conceptual Asset Model developed by The Institute of Asset Management. This model conceptualises asset management into six subject groups, covering a total of 39 asset management subjects. It addresses everything from the top of an organisation (strategy and policy) to the bottom (the assets) in a feedback loop that includes the following groups:
- Strategy and Planning
- AM Decision Making
- Life Cycle Delivery
- Asset Information
- Organisation and People
- Risk and Review
Asset management can also be applied to your company using ISO 55000, the international standard for asset management. Specifically, ISO 55001 defines the requirements for an effective asset management system and can be implemented through accreditation.
Either way you implement an asset management system, your company will see cost, efficiency and profit related benefits, as the value of your assets helps you reach your business goals.
Tetra Tech’s Approach
Tetra Tech’s asset management consultancy delivers strategic and tactical level best practice solutions, enabling our customers to benefit from asset management application and realise direct monetary benefits and value.
We support our customers to achieve their business goals by focusing on three key areas:
- Long Term Value: Improving the understanding of risk and decision making
- Demonstration of Cost Effectiveness: Focusing on the impact of activities
- Alignment and Coordinated Direction Creation: Aligning strategy, policy and plans
Our team has delivered solutions across a variety of business sectors and is here to support your business in its asset management needs. For more information or for support, contact one of our asset management specialists, [email protected] or [email protected].
