AM Framework: Activation

This article concludes the AMP Asset Management (AM) Framework miniseries by describing steps for its activation.? The subject AM Framework is shown below:

As introduced two articles before in Implementation – How to Start , activation initiates use of the AM Framework for risk-informed resource and investment decision-making.? Activation is dependent on preceding activities that define and establish the AM Framework.? These implementation activities include:

• Executive Leadership decisions that define the organization’s approach to asset management.
• Carrying through on these decisions to develop supporting policies, inclusive of the organization's Asset Management System (AMS) and AM Framework.
• Using this policy to establish Organizational Objectives and Asset Management Objectives .
• Developing and exercising supporting processes to achieve these objectives,
• Developing and executing a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) and supporting Asset Management Plans (AMPs) to guide activities dedicated to achieve these objectives, and
• Developing and deploying technologies to facilitate and enable process execution.

Activation is hitting the AM Framework “ON” button.? It requires trust in “management system thinking”, that is believing that the system will perform as it is supposed to and that things will work out as planned.? This concept of operation is different than how many professionals and decision makers learned how to be an Asset Manager.? The “classical” approach to learning involves years and decades of experience to develop cause and effect understanding to support good decision making.? As detailed in Strategies to Renew Federal Facilities , the Asset Management Paradox , and Managing Assets in the Context of Asset Management articles, this “classical” approach is reinforced by a “managing asset” perspective.?

Activation of the AM Framework described in this miniseries requires more.? It requires "asset management" “management system thinking”.? Employment of “management system thinking” involves, to a certain extent, giving up some level of individual control.? This is unfamiliar and uncomfortable to leaders and decision makers who developed their decision-making expertise in a “classical” context.? As detailed in Pathway to Limitless Asset Management , traversing this divide involves two management system breakthroughs.? These breakthroughs are related to:

• Asset Definition:? The definition of an asset applies to both physical assets that are managed through “classical” methods that involve asset life cycle and asset portfolio management as well as the management “asset” that involves the organizational means to apply this knowledge and knowhow.? The breakthrough needed is recognizing that the asset definition includes non-physical assets, which includes the management system used to manage assets.? This requires knowledge and knowhow on how to employ “classical” “managing assets” knowledge and knowhow.? This too is a distinctive asset that is a major contributor to value generation and achievement of Organizational Objectives and Asset Management Objectives .? Activation of the AM Framework requires deliberate actions that recognize this knowledge and knowhow as an asset that is managed in its own right – that is through an ISO 55000/1 conforming AMS.
• AMS Definition:? The definition of the organization’s AMS frames the second breakthrough needed to activate the AM Framework.? This breakthrough is recognizing that the organization’s asset management policy is not focused on assets, but on generating value from and through assets.? In terms of an ISO 55000/1 conforming AMS, this is implemented through deployment of “policy, objectives, and processes needed to achieve those objectives”.? The soon to be published update to ISO 55001 will evolve this understanding by recognizing the role an AM Framework has in decision making and the definition of value.? This breakthrough is made by being aware that organizing decision making and defining value are interdependent and the product of intelligent design.? With this awareness, activation of the AM Framework requires:? 1) that the asset management policy be integrated throughout the organization’s policy pantheon, ?2) that the resulting AMS focus the definition of value using Organizational Objectives and supporting Asset Management Objectives in the context of the AM Framework, and 3) that the AM Framework be used for risk-informed resource and investment decision making related to the management of assets (both physical and non-physical).

Activation of the AM Framework introduced in this miniseries requires these breakthroughs.? These breakthroughs lead to the “management system thinking” needed to see things differently.? This thinking arms the “ON” button that can only be pushed by the organization’s Executive Leadership.?

This makes AM Framework activation entirely an executive decision.? The output of this decision defines how the organization will approach asset management.? If equipped with the knowledge unlocked by the breakthroughs detailed above, the organization will be able to advance its "asset management" maturity to new levels by using this AM Framework.?

This AM Framework than, as an integral element of the organization’s AMS, coordinates decision making and more importantly the organization’s approach to managing risk through asset-related resource and investment decision making.? This provides clarity, and through exercise, certainty in how decision making will occur.? Through repetition, consistency in how risk is managed using the AM Framework becomes an organizational competency.? This then becomes a foundation for trust in the AMS that Executive Leadership needs apart from trust in the individuals who make decisions.

These are the building blocks for AM Framework activation.? This all starts from seeing the asset management Context that leads to definition and relationship of the AM Framework’s Management Activity Groups (MAGs):

• MAG #0 – Operating Context ,
• MAG #1 – Organizational Objectives ,
• MAG #2 – Asset Management Objectives ,
• MAG #3 – Capabilities Assessment ,
• MAG #4 – Risk Management & Resource Planning ,
• MAG #5 – Strategic Asset Management Plan ,
• MAG #6 – Execution of Asset Management Plans , and
• MAG #7 – Performance Evaluation & Reporting .

Once the AM Framework is assembled, that is defined in policy, it needs to be calibrated to the organization.? This includes topics covered in the Alignment , Objectives and Requirements , Investment Decision Making , and Optimization articles.? These steps are prerequisites for AM Framework implementation, the step before activation.?

Implementation activities prepare the organization for AM Framework activation.? They include “How to Start ” and “What to Focus On ”.? This leads to the last step, Activation.? This step is an intentional executive decision, and one that requires the support of Asset Managers who are knowledgeable of asset management and "management system thinking", aware of the organization’s context, and are responsive to risk, change, and performance needed to fulfill key stakeholder needs and expectations.?

If the executive decision views asset management as just something about “managing assets”, it will lead to positive outcomes, because, at least, asset management is recognized as a discipline that can be improved.? But this view is limited by a definition of value that is inconsistent with the definition of asset management given by ISO 55000. ISO 55000's definition of asset management is that it is not about assets, but about managing the value that can realized from assets.? On the other hand, if the executive decision views that asset management is about managing the value realized by assets, both physical and non-physical, then the vision for asset management is boundless and limited only by the organization’s context, imagination, access to resources, and time.

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Written by: James J. "Jack" Dempsey | January 2, 2024

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