3 Key Milestones in the Facilities Asset Management Journey

Facility managers must monitor and maintain a host of physical assets ranging from heavy equipment and security and control systems to the buildings and structures that contain them. Across facility types, there are many shared challenges facilities managers face, including limited asset inventory tracking, non-integrated systems resulting in communication issues, lax planned work management and a reliance on legacy processes that have not kept pace with advanced technology.

Common goals among facilities managers are keeping critical assets in good working order and avoiding unwanted and costly downtime. Knowing which assets are critical and which are run-to-fail depends on whether an organization has implemented an effective enterprise asset management (EAM) strategy.

To control the sprawling complexity of assets found in a single industrial process, on an educational institution's campus, or across global manufacturing sites, EAM systems have become more mobile, responsive and predictive in managing asset data. Facilities managers looking to improve maintenance scheduling with a more complete risk picture in mind can benefit from a robust and data-driven EAM solution.

The following are three (3) key milestones facility managers must meet on the road toward effective facilities management and reliability.

1. Foundational Data

Map the journey.

Implementing an effective facilities EAM program is a journey to improve preventive maintenance (PM) and become more efficient. To arrive at the desired destination—an effective and sustainable state of operation—organizations must assess whether they have a firm foundation to begin, as well as the essential asset management components.  

The first step in any journey is to create a roadmap. This guide should clearly define the organization's vision for an effective asset management strategy and the processes that will promote a culture of continuous improvement.

Mapping the journey will require assessing the organization's readiness (does it have a firm foundation to manage its facility maintenance?), developing a Master Asset List (MAL), ranking a facility's critical and noncritical assets, and determining how to reduce labor waste and maintenance costs.   

Consider the following indicators to help guide the way:

• Does our plan get us where we want to go?
• Do we know where or how to start?
• Does it meet the needs of our business?
• Do we have the tools to get us there?
• How do we know when we’ve made it?

2. CMMS Utilization

Know what's critical.

Facility managers often spend too much time and effort repairing assets that may be less critical or should run until they fail and are replaced (versus paying more through quarterly or annual maintenance to fix them). Conversely, some managers may only perform routine maintenance on assets that may need a deeper dive from a PM perspective using Failure Mode Effects Analysis or Root Cause Analysis to understand how to remediate those assets' failure problems and avoid unforeseen and costlier downtime.

Each asset has its own unique maintenance needs which must be met to deliver maximum value to the enterprise, therefore, having a MAL and ranking assets' criticality are important aspects of this reliability journey. In addition, selecting and implementing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to manage this foundational data will move the organization ahead in better utilizing and managing its assets.

3. Continuous Improvement

Document and use data more effectively.

Once the processes are defined and put into place, and the facility's assets are ranked accordingly, facility managers must consider whether they are putting adequate information into their CMMS tool, or EAM system, to facilitate better decision-making.

If the asset criticality data are not inputted into the system, the EAM system will not be as effective in managing an asset's PM strategy, for example, when monitoring and stocking critical spare parts and documenting lead time for repairs. This can result in unnecessary spend around inventory and additional stocking fees as well as redundant or duplicated data within the system. Further, if data are not inputted correctly into the system, facility managers will not be able to perform a true data analysis and run the proper key performance indicators used to improve performance.

Data must be managed effectively and efficiently to make better decisions based on business needs.  

In Pursuit of Excellence

Deploying a modern, data-driven EAM system and surpassing these three milestones will improve the effectiveness of your facilities management strategy for more reliable operations. Learn more about our proven methodologies and asset management solutions such as IBM Maximo and Infor EAM by requesting our EAM System Maintenance Toolkit.