Who is Responsible for Asset Management?

This Ain't Utopia

In a perfect world, everyone involved with asset management is a "reliability leader" or has certification. There may be some organizations where leadership has this background but most are not there yet. This can certainly be a goal, but in the near term, it is prudent to identify strategic roles in support of asset management. Yes, we need people to "take a stand" for reliability, but at the end of the day, the larger initiatives will need a budget. And where will this budget come from?

A Never Ending Cycle

The vendor releases new software. The clock starts. You are obligated to upgrade to newest version before there is a lack of support (from the CMMS vendor). The IT department anticipates new versions every 18-24 months and sets up budgets accordingly. But who is responsible for asset management?

Who’s Responsible for Asset Management?

What is asset management? Does the “AM of EAM” infer an asset management system? Who is responsible for data accuracy and analytical report creation? The IT department is quick to say, “We only install, upgrade, and maintain the database, and therefore we are not responsible for how the users use it -- or it's accuracy”. Is it therefore the people who use the system who must be held accountable? This is like herding cats. How will that process be managed? Round and round we go.

IT Administrator and the Core Team

There might be an IT Administrator for the CMMS/EAM. But is it fair to hold this person responsible for all matters related to asset management? There might be a Reliability Engineer or CRL or CMRP in the organization. But is it right to place all responsibility on them? Ideally there is a core team in place that fairly represents all user departments. But does a “core team” have a budget? Answer: probably not. Quite often, the core team goes begging to other budget holders for money. But this dialog only occurs if they are savvy enough to ask about process improvement initiatives.

Reliability, like Safety, is Everyone's Responsibility

Organizations that want to be best of the best will optimize ROA and enhance work force productivity/safety need to promote a reliability culture throughout. But sometimes there can be so many things that need to be done, even leadership can lose track. Some improvement initiatives are easy and some are hard. Some offer greater reward if implemented. And some initiatives have a price tag requiring a budget line item.

The Goal is Process Improvement

To be more precise, process improvement means (1) to realize the inherent safety and reliability levels of an asset, (2) to restore asset to inherent levels, (3) obtain the information necessary for design improvement of the asset where inherent reliability proves inadequate, (4) to accomplish these tasks at a minimum total cost, and (5) seek continuous improvement through refinement of maintenance strategies (i.e. create a living program).

What is an Asset Manager?

It would be great if you had this position. But it would not be great if this position had no budget authority. Either way, this position should help create the asset management policy and SAMP documents. This position should also lead the core team, direct the business analyst, assist the reliability engineer and empower the gatekeeper. And, in his spare time, he would maintain the long range plan for continuous improvement and sustaining excellence.