With more utilities adopting asset management systems to facilitate risk-informed decision-making for capital investment and operating portfolios, the crucial role of leadership must be considered in any asset management implementation or changes to their current approach.
The ISO 55001 standard defines the leadership requirements for establishment, implementation, maintenance, and improvement of an asset management system. The standard breaks down the leadership requirements into three areas:
Leadership and Commitment
It is management’s role to ensure:
- Asset management objectives and the asset risk management approach are aligned to the organization’s
- Communication and support for these objectives and associated business processes across cross-functional teams
- Resourcing needs and continuous improvement of the approach is upheld
Policy
Senior leadership is responsible for establishing an asset management policy that:
- Fits the greater organizational purpose
- Gives direction on setting asset management system objectives
- Commits to the objectives and improvement of the system
Organizational Roles, Responsibilities and Authorities
Senior leadership must ensure the roles and responsibilities of the asset management system are in place. The asset management roles support the creation, execution, monitoring and improvements of the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP).
To facilitate their organization’s asset management journey; leaders can uphold and translate these requirements into a tangible implementation plan by incorporating the following key activities during an asset management system:
- Objective Setting – Upfront planning of strategic objectives for the asset management system will align leaders on the value of the implementation and allow them to prepare their teams for what’s to come
- Structured communication and change planning – Identifying how to address the communication of the asset management system’s purpose, objectives, and directives will provide impacted employees with an understanding of how they can benefit, and how they are affected both individually and within their areas of responsibility. This will promote faster adoption of any changes required to support the implementation.
- Feedback mechanisms: Providing opportunities for employees to give feedback on the asset management system will uphold the continuous improvement loop and identify any resourcing requirements to further support their organization’s asset management objectives
Any asset management system implementation will have wide reaching impacts across an organization; however, through thoughtful leadership, alignment to the ISO 55001 standard’s requirements, and defined planning; the journey will be paved for success and the value of the system can be realized sooner.
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Brandee Fiissel has over 11 years of experience in the oil & gas and energy efficiency industry with a focus on software project management, business and strategy analysis, and change management.
As the Solution Delivery Lead, Brandee brings her extensive expertise in project planning and execution to lead the team in delivering multifaceted projects with ENGINTM.