Effective Decision-Making Process for Asset Management to Determine which Maintenance Plan to Adopt
In our previous blog, we covered the topic of ageing assets and their impact on facility management. Having determined an asset doesn’t necessarily need to be old to be “ageing”, all organisations need to look at a process to manage their assets regardless of the physical age of the equipment or facility.
Deciding how to maintain fixed assets or facilities
Regardless of the age or complexity of the facility, or the equipment, we need to make decisions as to how we are going to maintain (or not maintain) our assets.
The decisions made need to be what is best for our organisation and our processes. There is no “right or wrong” decision, however, there does need to be some sound reasoning behind the decisions we make. “Just because…” or “that’s the way they do it” is not sound reasoning.
As all assets age and deteriorate, wear or become obsolete, our decision-making process needs to look at a number of issues.
Determining an asset maintenance plan
A key issue we need to consider when determining the maintenance plan and how we are going to manage an asset, is what is the consequence of failure. Here are two examples:
1. High-risk asset management
If the asset we are considering is the drain valve at the base of a 100,000-litre tank containing sulphuric acid, the consequence of failure is extremely high. Not only would the business risk the financial loss of the value of 100,000 litres of acid, but it would also pose a high risk to the safety of staff, and neighbouring businesses as well as the potential environmental impact.
In the case of a high-risk asset, decision-making with regard to managing the asset will need to look at planning:
- rigorous testing
- inspections and
- monitoring so repair or replacement prior to any sign of wear and long before failure.
2. The low-risk asset management, and Run to Failure (RTF) method
On the other hand, if we are looking at the lighting in the admin office, what maintenance and asset management regime should be employed?
Again, our decision needs to consider what is the consequence of failure.
Should one of the fluorescent tubes fail, what would happen? As there are many light fittings in the office, the loss of one tube would have little to no effect on the operation of the business, there would be little safety impact and production would not be affected in any way.
When the fluorescent tube does fail, it is an easy job for the electrician to replace the tube and if there are no spare tubes on hand in the spare parts stockroom or service van, they are easily and quickly sourced from their supplier. Therefore, when we are making decisions regarding how we handle the ageing light fittings, we may decide that “Run to Failure” (RTF) is the appropriate method of managing the asset.
RTF means the assets maintenance strategy is that the assets are used until they break down, and require repair or replacement.
As shown by the example of the drain valve and the light fitting, there is no one solution that will suit all assets. RTF may in fact be the chosen management method but the decision process used to make this choice must be sound.
Adopt a rigorous & robust decision-making process
Regardless of what the asset is, there needs to be a rigorous and robust decision-making process in place to effectively and efficiently manage all assets as they age.
Contact MCGlobal Solutions for a review
MCGlobal Solutions are highly experienced to demonstrate how you can improve your asset and maintenance management decision-making process. Contact us to arrange a free consultation with our team to discuss a review your asset management and maintenance plan best practices.
Enterprise Asset Management Series
Next in our series, we discuss Why is it Beneficial to Implement an Enterprise Asset Management Plan for your Maintenance Teams + What to Consider When Formulating the Framework.
