Asset Performance Management for Executives

Managing the Performance of Assets – What insights can be gleaned? 

As with the stock market and real estate holdings, knowing how investments are performing in relation to expectations is key. What happened in the past can have an impact on performance, but it is more important to understand the now and how it sets the stage for the future. Good performance of the past or even today is not a guarantee of good performance tomorrow. 

The Management part of APM begins with complete and reliable information providing the ability to make clear decisions and then take valuable actions to preserve higher levels of performance over time. The real value of having an APM approach comes with the ability to take actions based on real data, confident analysis, well recorded decisions as well as the documented results, both good and bad! 

It is entirely reasonable for executive leadership to expect access to the insights they need to make decisions which turn into valuable actions. Given the analysis and visualization tools we have available today, there is no reason why the executive team cannot have near-real-time and self-service access to data. However, it is a good rule of thumb not to put staff in a position where they produce reports and other deliverables that are not being used to make the hard decisions. 

Let’s explore: 

• Developing a plan 
• Defining performance expectations 

• Collecting data 

• Analyzing data 

• Making decisions 

• Taking actions 

Managing anything requires a plan. 

All the elements surrounding Assets point to the need for a plan, often called a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP). A SAMP is an excellent vehicle to clearly outline the focus groups of Assets, what is expected of them, and how they will be managed and measured over their lifecycle. Many of the sections of this article are elements of the typical SAMP. Be sure the SAMP has been published and everyone has read it! 

What is an “asset” in your context? 

The answer to this question is rarely simple. Anything the business has ever purchased could be considered an Asset, even equipment that is considered consumable. Viewing Assets with this scope immediately makes their management very difficult. Also, the accounting side of the business will most likely have a different view as to what an Asset is on the company books. A more actionable approach is to establish a list of “critical” pieces of equipment that the business relies upon, and which came with a significant investment. Any safety-related equipment should be on this list. 

Assets, which can be entities such as hotel rooms and other facilities, cost capital to acquire and funds to operate during their lifecycle, including disposal. Design, procurement, implementation, operation, maintenance, refurbishment, and then finally disposal… every step of the lifecycle has costs that the business bears. The goal is that these costs of ownership are far outweighed by the profit generated by production or product that the equipment was purchased to support in the first place. Some assets may be crucial to maintaining and proving regulatory compliance where the lack thereof can lead to costly fines and reductions to the image of the business. 

What are the performance expectations? 

Expectations of performance should be defined from the first day of commissioning all through the end of the equipment lifecycle. Changes must be made along the way to account for wear and tear. What level of production is expected of the equipment (or hotel room)? In the context of the equipment, how many widgets are expected to be produced per day? How much uptime is required to meet this goal? What is the cost to the company of downtime in terms of the labor it takes to return the equipment to service and the loss of production? 

The performance of assets quite often has an impact on business continuity and even infrastructure or distribution resilience. Their importance goes well beyond simply the ability to produce a product. Some assets may sit for years before being called into service. If they are to then perform a life-safety function, their well-being, health, and readiness while dormant are critical considerations. 

Are our staff ready to support the equipment? 

Next generation Assets will bring in the need for new skills and qualifications to operate and maintain them efficiently. It can be difficult to transfer technical knowledge from even 5 years ago to the new equipment that just appeared on the loading dock for installation. While some maintenance procedures have not changed in 50 years, assuming a pump is a pump is no longer a valid approach. A robust training and qualification program is a necessity for any organization managing Assets. 

Supply chain is critical 

The availability of spare parts and consumables over the lifecycle is often a forgotten element of managing performance. Spare parts, or the lack thereof, can be the biggest detractor to the performance of any assets. No parts… no production. With new equipment the availability of spare parts and consumables may not be much of a concern. But, for older and perfectly useful equipment, the availability of spares and even compatible consumables can become elusive. 

“Performance” data is critical to collect… but first… 

Before any performance data is collected about Assets, a determination needs to be made as to what, and which kinds of data is needed. Collecting data just for the sake of doing it in the hope that it will be useful someday is not a sustainable approach. This is especially true if the data collection process requires staff to manually enter the information. Garbage in… garbage out. Remember, in the end someone will be relying upon the data and results of analysis to make decisions and draw insights. Determine what those decisions might be well before collecting any data. 

The actual process of collecting data 

Data collection comes in many forms. Modern equipment may provide telemetry that can be used for many purposes. This telemetry can contain vast numbers of elements, often arriving at fraction of a second intervals. Telemetry may be used mostly for Operations, but it can contain a treasure trove of performance information. The trick is knowing how to gain access to it and what tools to use to interpret it. Smart meters, sensor farms feeding historians (databases), mobile “fly by” detectors, and other sources of data integrated across systems are plentiful. 

Manual data collection is a perfectly valid approach if it results in good data. The challenge with manual data entry is to make it as efficient as possible for the staff doing the work and for it to result in good data without making the process too time-consuming. Rather than having staff type values, configure the system to provide them with drop-down lists to pick from. Keep the number of required fields to a minimum and be sure they are required in the context of the work being performed. 

Change is constant 

As needs and conditions change, so will the approach used for data collection. Avoid the situation where the team has been collecting performance data for years that has rarely or never been used. Verify that the data collection efforts are refined as the operation evolves. Conducting a regular review of the data collection needs across the operation is an excellent process to have in place… and should be an element of the SAMP mentioned earlier. 

Consider external factors that impact Asset performance. Collected data might be missing some important elements. Ambient temperatures, weather patterns, usage by contractors, etc. can all have a dramatic impact on Asset performance that might not be part of captured telemetry. Using a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) technique could be leveraged here. 

At Total Resource Management, we help organizations unlock the true potential of Asset Performance Management by turning reliable data and clear insights into confident decisions and meaningful action. With the right tools and strategies in place, executives gain the visibility they need—without overburdening staff with unused reports—empowering leadership to drive higher performance and long-term value. If your organization is ready to transform data into decisions that matter, Total Resource Management is here to guide the way.