Heather: And one last topic area I want to cover in the last few minutes that we have is we have several questions about asset management plans, what those are like, and implementing your asset management program. So, I did want to touch on the asset management report and to be really, really cautious not to view the asset management plan or the asset management report as the end game. Like … [Read more...]
Asset Management Resources for Utility Infrastructure Management Work
Heather: Speaking of resources, let me show a couple of resources because somebody did ask, a couple of people asked about, what’s out there that you can look at to see what your utilities are doing. American Water Works Association (AWWA) The American Water Works Association (AWWA) has a whole asset management community. And if you want to be a part of that, you can check into that. … [Read more...]
Asset Management Software – What’s the Best for a Small Utility System?
Asset management software questions were so many that Heather and Ross decided to deal with them before the end of the webinar. Heather: Let’s move on to software because we have quite a few people who did ask questions about, nearly along the lines of, what software should I use? Is there a good one for a small system? What’s the best bang for a buck with software? What tools should I … [Read more...]
Risk Management – Are Maintenance Schedules A Must for Critical Assets?
Our asset management experts, Heather and Ross, continue to discuss questions on risk management. A participant asks are maintenance schedules required for critical assets. Heather: I think if you are talking about required, it is required by whom? If we are talking about a state agency that would vary from state to state, whether or not there is a specific requirement by a government or … [Read more...]
Asset Management – Monetizing Risks and Consequences of Failure
A participant asked: What are the best references available to monetized risk from a triple bottom line approach and specifically thinking about the consequences of failure? Heather: And we should remind folks what the triple bottom line is because maybe not everybody is familiar with that. But when you’re thinking about consequences, you are often thinking about financial … [Read more...]
What Levels of Service Key Performance Indicators Should We Develop?
After discussing and answering questions on asset inventory, Heather and Ross talked about "Levels of Service." In this post, they talked about some useful key performance indicators (KPIs) that asset management professionals can develop. Ross: And interestingly, last year, I talked about a terrible water incident we had in New Zealand. It has turned out, after we had a full government … [Read more...]
Asset Management – Determining the Realistic Lifespan of Infrastructure
Heather: We also have one particular question that relates to one piece of inventory is how do you determine the realistic lifespan of a piece of equipment? And it gets into that useful life question, so we always ask people to estimate how much longer you think a piece of equipment when your asset is going to last. And so, one way that people like to use is just thinking of the age. And … [Read more...]
Asset Management Planning and Implementation – Whose Job Is It?
Before moving on to a different topic, Heather and Ross discussed a question on asset management staffing that a participant presented. Heather: It is a staffing question. Who does your asset management? Is there someone that is specifically assigned to it that doesn’t do anything else? So, this is a question kind of asking like, do you have to have an asset manager, and then you turn … [Read more...]
Get to Know the Infrastructure Asset Management Experts
Ross Waugh and Heather Himmelberger held the Ask-the-Expert webinar, "Asset Management – How to Start and Practice Actively" on 30 August 2018. Inframanage.com presents the webinar topics through a series of blog posts. Heather: Thank you. And welcome everybody out there, listening to the webinar today. Just a real quick introduction for each of us. Again, my name is Heather … [Read more...]
Resolving Asset Management Issues Using Simple Solutions
When Ross commended the EFC Network for the asset management training they are doing for years now, Heather presented their resources. Heather: And one of the things that we offer is a free Access Database and a free Excel spreadsheet. There’s nothing magic, whatsoever about them. But it’s a place that people can start. And I’ll often say start with that. Get your feet wet. See what … [Read more...]
Basic Principles in Acquiring and Using an Asset Management Software
This post is the continuation of Ross Waugh’s discussion on “two important steps to consider in buying and using an asset management software,” and Heather’s rejoinder on what asset management is. Ross: In New Zealand, we have known from bitter experience in millions and millions of dollars wasted money because we’ve all done it several times. You go, “Oh, this is a nice shiny piece of … [Read more...]
Best Asset Management Practices about Using Software
Heather and Ross continue to talk about best practices in the industry and the purchase and use of asset management software. Heather: Often, communities get caught up in the 50,000 things that this tool can do. And you don’t really need to do them all if you’re a small to a medium-size utility. Some of that stuff, you don’t even have the data to make it work. So, you have to think about, … [Read more...]
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