Asset Management Plan

Asset Management

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In order to achieve the asset management objectives, measures must be planned and recorded in the so-called asset management plans. Asset management plans describe the required activities, the resources to be allocated and the time frames necessary for the management of the individual asset systems (more seldom the individual asset objects). They thus relate to operational planning and control and supporting activities.

The asset management plans are derived from the SAMP and must be consistent with the asset management policy. The figure below shows the most important components of an asset management plan for an asset group (asset system), e.g. for the pavement of a road network.

The asset management plan consists of the following components (processes):

1. Collection of the relevant data, determining necessary key figures, including KPIs, and management of the data as well as information in the database (asset register).
2. Providing the relevant data to the authorized personnel of the organization (asset knowledge).
3. Definition of the qualitative requirements for the asset objects of the entire group or system. They are derived from the asset management objectives and describe, for example, the desired road condition, the performance, the maximum duration of traffic disruption during the measure implementation, the safety indicators in different time perspectives (short, medium and long-term). The technical, legal and political framework and requirements are taken into account (these quantitative requirements are referred to in asset management as the level of service).
4. Demand management, e.g. through toll rates, speed limits, restrictions on the total load of vehicles, other restrictions such as diesel-free zones (demand management)
5. Identification and assessment of risks according to established rules, e.g. ISO 31000 [2] and, if necessary, taking measures to reduce these risks.
6. Planning of measures, e.g. maintenance measures, and determination of investment costs (CapEx – Capital Expenditures) and running costs (OpEx – Operational Expenditures) for the entire life cycle.
7. Procurement of the financial resources (budget, loans, grants) for the implementation of the asset management program and, if the financial resources are not sufficient, necessary reduction of the targeted quality of the infrastructure (level of service).
8. Validation of existing procedures and technical and organizational processes to ensure continuous improvement.
9. Adoption of the plan by involving the relevant employees and, where appropriate, stakeholders.

After the separate approval of the plans for the individual asset systems, a comprehensive plan is drawn up for all systems, i.e. for the entire asset portfolio. Here, attention is paid to ensuring that, on the one hand, the total expenditure expected in the particular years does not exceed the available funds and, on the other hand, that both the staff requirements and the need for technical equipment are covered. Otherwise, necessary corrections must be made in the individual plans or measures taken to obtain the necessary resources.

The integrated asset management plan considers activities, especially larger measures planned outside the organization. These are regarded as external framework conditions. By means of a synchronization of internal and external measures, the impact on third parties (e.g. road users) and the environment of the road should be minimized.

 

1. Provincial and Local Government Republic of South Africa: Guidelines for Infrastructure Asset Management in Local Government 2006-2009, Pretoria, 2009
2. ISO 31000, Risk management – Principles and guidelines

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