Keeping track of assets goes beyond spreadsheets. Businesses with multiple resources need a strategic approach built on asset management principles. These principles ensure you understand not just how many assets you have, but also their value, maintenance costs, and performance history. Asset management strategy helps you avoid downtime, optimize spending, and ultimately, achieve your business goals.
This article breaks down what an asset management strategy is and offers tips for creating one that works for your business. By improving your strategy, you’ll gain a better understanding of your equipment and enjoy the benefits that come with efficient asset management
What is an Asset Management Strategy?
An asset management strategy is like a roadmap for how an organization handles its resources, covering everything from acquiring assets to keeping them in good shape. Basically, it’s a document that shows where the organization’s asset management efforts are now, what changes are needed in the next 3–5 years, and what steps need to be taken to make those changes happen.
Having a solid asset management strategy helps organizations make the most of their resources. It’s all about getting the best value and performance out of both physical and non-physical assets over time. By following this strategy, organizations can minimize asset downtime, cut down on repair costs, increase efficiency, and ultimately boost their bottom line.
How to Develop an Asset Management Strategy
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Identify Critical Assets
Start by figuring out which assets are really important for your business. These are the ones that would seriously affect how well your company runs if they were to stop or fail. It’s crucial not to label everything as critical, though. You need to have a clear process for deciding what truly counts as critical based on your company’s goals and values.
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Prioritize Your Assets
Once you’ve established criteria and a process for criticality assignment, prioritize your assets accordingly. It’s not just about how frequently assets are used but their importance to your production process. Consider factors such as downtime, repair frequency, maintenance costs, and impact on production. With a well-defined risk management plan, you can proactively address potential issues, minimize downtime, and optimize maintenance costs.
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Develop a Solid Asset Management Plan
Select the appropriate asset management strategy based on your company’s needs and the types of assets you manage. Whether it’s digital asset management or financial asset management, tailor your approach to meet your objectives.
Define your asset management goals:
- Are you looking to increase productivity, reduce downtime, or improve cost efficiency?
- Your plan should outline prioritized equipment, necessary resources, time allocation, and assignment of responsibilities.
- Track your progress, document improvements, and evaluate outcomes to ensure ongoing success and effectiveness.
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Engaging Your Team in Asset Management
To make your asset management program successful, it’s essential to involve all your staff members. That includes machine operators, technicians, foremen, and managers. They all play a vital role in planning and implementing your strategies. Operators and technicians know the assets inside out, while foremen and managers need to understand the procedures to organize daily tasks effectively. By clearly explaining your goals and showing how everyone benefits from the program, you can create a collaborative environment where everyone works together.
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Analyzing Data
A big part of asset management is collecting data. This data can include things like how long machines run when they’re down, repair requests, and maintenance costs. Even before you start your program, this data can give you clues on where to focus. By looking at current procedures and costs, you can see where things can be improved and plan for the future.
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Assessment and Adaptation of Maintenance Strategies
Your company probably already has some kind of maintenance plan in place, even if it’s not formalized. Often, companies just wait for something to break before fixing it, which is called corrective or reactive maintenance. Now is a good time to think about whether this approach has been effective in reducing downtime and costs. By using the data you’ve collected over time, you can see if there are better ways to manage your assets, like preventive or predictive maintenance. This lets you make smarter decisions and improve how you handle your assets for better results.
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Ensure Team Alignment
For successful asset management, everyone on your team must be working together. It’s a good idea to involve your employees in creating asset management plans because they know your assets well. Operators and technicians in particular have valuable insights into how things work and should be part of the planning process. If your company has lots of assets, hiring an asset manager to help with the new strategy can be helpful.
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Track and Share Progress
Implementing an asset management strategy takes time, so it’s important to be patient. Let your team know that it might take a while to see results, and that’s okay. In the beginning, it might feel like the new strategy is taking up more time and money, but that’s normal. Using analytics tools can help you keep track of how things are going and where you’re seeing improvements. Paying attention to things like downtime and repair costs over time can show you how well your strategy is working.
Benefits of Strategic Asset Management
If you’re thinking about implementing a new asset management plan, it’s worth checking out the benefits it can bring:
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Improved Productivity and Profitability
Having a good asset management system can help you find and fix problems that slow down your production process. This means less unexpected downtime and fewer big repairs, so your machines keep running smoothly. That can make your work more efficient and boost your profits.
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Better Customer Satisfaction
When your production process runs smoothly, it can also make your customers happier because they get what they need faster and with fewer problems. That means you can focus more on keeping them happy and less on fixing things that go wrong.
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Saving Money on Repairs
If you take good care of your equipment by doing regular maintenance, it’s less likely to break down and need expensive fixes. By keeping up with servicing, you can make your machines last longer and save money on repairs.
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Easier Planning
Having a clear picture of what equipment you have, how long it lasts, and when you might need new stuff makes planning for the future a lot simpler. By looking at your data, you can see how well things are working, which machines might need replacing soon, and where getting something new could help down the line.
The Role of EAM & CMMS
Using specialized software can significantly improve your asset management procedures. Tools like NEXGEN offer convenient solutions for tracking and managing your assets. With features such as easy integration of existing equipment using Excel imports, tracking runtime, breakdowns, repairs, and GPS coordinates becomes straightforward.
NEXGEN consolidates asset management, maintenance management, and work order management into one platform accessible to all employees with minimal training. Its cloud-based nature ensures accessibility from any location, while full mobile compatibility allows collaboration among operators, drivers, managers, and office staff. Advanced analytics tools provide essential data for informed decision-making.
Furthermore, NEXGEN facilitates centralized storage of crucial information like invoices, custom checklists, documents, and warranty details within each asset’s record. This centralized repository ensures easy access to vital information, thereby enhancing operational efficiency. Embracing a software asset management strategy represents a modern and efficient approach to managing assets effectively.
How NEXGEN Improves Your Asset Management
Managing your company’s assets well is crucial for keeping your equipment running smoothly and efficiently over time. While setting up a solid asset management plan may require some upfront investment and effort, the long-term benefits are worth it. By reducing downtime, streamlining your workflow, and boosting productivity, a good asset management strategy can save your company both time and money.
NEXGEN’s software helps you maximize your equipment’s uptime and takes care of maintenance tasks automatically, whether you’re in need of a CMMS or an EAM. Our team of experienced trainers and consultants will work closely with you to understand your maintenance processes and create a customized plan for switching to our software smoothly.
Curious to know more about the benefits of implementing NEXGEN? Click below to schedule a demo of our CMMS.
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