Читать книгу Organization-Wide Physical Asset Management - Dharmen Dhaliah - Страница 12
ОглавлениеTHE STRATEGIC ASSET MANAGEMENT PLAN
For the last couple of weeks, Darren has been quite busy. On one side, he has been busy teaching the three courses he has ongoing, and, on the other side, he has been catching up with reviewing some papers his students have drafted.
At home, also, things have been quite busy for him. He tries to spend some good quality time with Debbie as much as possible, while at the same time training hard for long hours to prepare for his next triathlon. With his medium height and slim build, Darren is very fit and does not look his age at all. If it were not for his salt and pepper hair and shortly trimmed beard, he could easily be mistaken for someone in his mid-forties. He is often asked how he manages to keep up with all his activities. To tell the truth, Darren himself doesn’t have a clue at all. He just plans what he needs to do over the year and months, looks at the upcoming week, and takes it day by day. Two of his best-kept secrets are “stick to the plan” and “be consistent.” Debbie plays an instrumental role in keeping him focused and to the task, as she sometimes surreptitiously adds her dose of pressure. She knows very well how and when to do it so as to keep Darren in line. Darren is fine with Debbie’s approach and actually enjoys it, as it allows him to practice his preferred activities while staying focused and aligned. This is something that Darren has witnessed many organizations struggle with: performing all the required tasks in coordination while maintaining alignment to deliver on Strategic objectives.
Training for Ironman races has taught Darren a lot about the importance of having a vision, setting goals, developing a strategy and plan, and executing the plan according to the strategy. Also important for him is constantly measuring his performance to continuously improve while at the same time doing as much research as possible. Darren is always ready to change and to adapt while leveraging new tools and techniques to achieve the right balance, discipline, and consistency required for success.
Step 4: Strategic Asset Management Planning
It is a beautiful Sunday, a little chilly outside. Debbie and Darren just came back from their morning swimming session. They have been doing this routine for years and enjoy waking up early and having their workout. Debbie is a petite woman but very physically fit. Typical Sunday breakfast consists of lemon juice, half an avocado with honey, toasted brown bread with a boiled egg and cheese, half a banana, and a big cup of tea. They enjoy chatting and watching the news as they have breakfast. After breakfast, it is time for some household chores.
By around eleven o’clock Darren makes himself comfortable in the family room, switches on the TV, and selects a movie. He then fires up his laptop and starts catching up on some of the draft papers from his students. One of them— written by Neel, a brilliant student in his second year—caught his attention. The title of the paper is “Why Physical Asset Management Plans Fail,” and it talks about some of the reasons why organizations are not successful in implementing their asset management plans and fail to realize the best value from their portfolio of physical assets.
One of the key factors cited is a lack of strategy in organizations to operationalize their asset management plans. It talks about the importance of having an asset management strategy and asserts that organizations are in such a hurry to put together their asset management plans, they forget to consider the strategies needed to implement them. In his paper, Neel goes to great lengths to explain what an asset management strategy is and what should be included in it. He references ISO 55002’s definition of a strategic asset management plan:
Documented information that specifies how organizational objectives are to be converted into asset management objectives, the approach for developing asset management plans, and the role of the asset management system in supporting achievement of the asset management objectives.
Darren continues reading the paper, as it is really very well written and makes very much sense in the context of how organizations should be managing physical assets. Darren believes that a few sections like the ones below will be very beneficial to share with Jerry the next time they meet. The sections explain the purpose of a strategic asset management plan (SAMP):
The SAMP sets out a strategic framework that guides future assetrelated initiatives to support the organization’s strategic plan. The plan documents and specifies how the organizational objectives are to be converted into asset management objectives, the approach to develop asset management plans, and the strategies to build and support an asset management system. It helps organizations to set up a framework to be able to make fact-based decisions regarding the building, operating, maintaining, renewing, replacing, and disposing of physical assets to maximize benefits, manage risk, and provide satisfactory levels of service.
In the draft paper, Neel goes on to explain why organizations sometimes fail to implement their physical asset management plan:
Organizations spend time and money preparing fancy binders of asset management plans which end up sitting on shelves collecting dust. The plans are sometimes not executed because of a lack of strategy.
He also explains that it is important to differentiate between strategy and plan:
A business is managed through the development and execution of strategies and plans. An organization may have a plan to roll out a new product. Research, design, manufacturing, marketing, and sales will all happen at specific times according to the plan. The new product will continue to go through the same process, but behind the plan there is a strategy for the new product to be innovative, with an improved design, manufactured with the latest technology, and targeting a certain market to ensure it becomes a success. Why is the same approach not applied to managing physical assets?
Neel clarifies the confusion that exists between the terms “strategy” and “plan,” which are often mistakenly used interchangeably. He explains:
A plan is usually a list of steps taken to accomplish a goal and tackles questions like what, when, who, etc. A plan is always a good thing to have in place to be successful, but it should not be the first step in addressing a task (Figure 3.1).
FIGURE 3.1 Strategy and plan.
A strategy, on the other hand, is bigger than a plan. Strategy tackles the question of why. It has a large scope and looks at the end result as well as the many paths to the desired outcome. Strategy speaks to the reasons why, whereas the plan is focused on how.
A strategy is an overarching framework, a high-level, big-picture, and long-term approach that spans across the whole organization. Given that physical asset management does impact many functional areas in an organization, it makes total sense that a strategy in some form is critical and should come before any physical asset management plan. A well-crafted and well-communicated strategy will achieve consistency and promote collaboration, two key aspects for successful implementation of physical asset management plans.
While reading the paper, Darren starts to realize that this is absolutely true when he looks back at how he actually approached his first Ironman race. He remembers setting the goal and developing a three-year strategy to get to the fitness level required to participate in his first Ironman race. The three-year strategy was broken down into strategies for different aspects of the race, e.g., strategies for swimming, biking, running, nutrition, and equipment and gears required. For example, one of the strategies he had was to focus on “try-a-tri” distance in the first year, a sprint distance in the second year, and an Olympic/long distance in the third year. To execute the overarching strategy and meet his goals, Darren remembers developing training plans for the different strategies with realistic goals to achieve over the years. He realizes that if he hadn’t had an overall strategy in place, but instead started working with only training plans, he may have found himself all over the place with his fitness and performance. Maybe he could have been successful with some luck ... But it is never a good idea to leave things to luck.
Neel talks further about the lack of understanding of the importance for organizations to have a strategic asset management plan. He compares how other functional areas have a strategic approach as well as a plan in place to deliver results, while the physical asset management field seems to be somewhat lagging behind. Very often you will hear about corporate strategy, finance strategy, human resources strategy, or even IT strategy. What about a physical asset management strategy? he argues.
Neel elaborates on what a strategic asset management plan should consist of and what role it plays. First of all, he highlights one caveat that practitioners should be well aware of: the difference between an asset management strategy and a strategic asset management plan.
Neel further clarifies that an asset management strategy is the strategic approach that an organization takes to realize maximum value from its physical assets. It ensures that alignment across all functional areas allows coordination in delivering asset management activities and promotes collaboration during decision-making processes to achieve a common goal.
On the other hand, Neel explains, a strategic asset management plan consists of applying strategic actions to deliver the asset management objectives derived from the organizational strategic objectives. It is a high-level, long-term action plan that includes objectives for managing the organization’s physical assets.
The draft paper goes on to describe the process of developing a strategic asset management plan, arguing that, in order to develop a plan, it is necessary to apply the asset management strategy to “something with a goal.” The “something with a goal” is the physical asset stock and the value the organization wants to derive from it. This means that, in advance, the organization needs to know the physical assets it owns, their current conditions and risks, the estimated service lives, and the estimated rehabilitation and replacement costs required to maintain them in good order to deliver the required levels of service at minimum risk.
In addition to that, organizations need to know what value means to the external and internal stakeholders. This is important so as to be able to determine the organization’s physical asset management objectives. Usually for proper alignment, the organizational strategic objectives are converted into physical asset management objectives which would relate to effectiveness of the physical asset management system as well as the performance of physical asset classes/systems. Neel finds that this is an area where significant work needs to be done and there is general confusion about what physical asset management objectives should be. He cites two examples—one for a physical asset management system and the other for a physical asset system:
• To apply an optimized decision-making process for future capital investment
• To achieve 90% reliability in the processing plant
Neel argues that the issue is that organizations do not do a good enough job at documenting physical asset management objectives. The main reason is that physical asset management is not seen as a strategic initiative, and as a result their objectives are either buried in other functional areas or are sometimes neglected outright.
To build a sound strategic asset management plan, Neel reiterates that organizations need to look at the following two key components:
1. The physical asset management strategic approach the organization needs to take to ensure alignment
2. What the organization owns in terms of physical assets and what it will take to keep them in a state of good repair
Neel’s paper stresses the importance of having both components developed in sequence, as one feeds and informs the other to produce a solid SAMP document.
“What is this again that you have bought?” Debbie looks at Darren while holding a white package in her hands.
Darren grabs it from her and starts ripping the packaging apart to open it. Debbie stands there, both hands on her waist watching him. Darren takes the item out of the box and holds it in his hand turning it around a few times as if he is inspecting it. He has bought a new nutrition pouch for his tri-bike to replace his older pouch, which he does not like any more. This new pouch fits on the frame of the bike in front of him, is a little bit roomier, with compartments, and, on top of that, is more aerodynamic.
“You always have money to spend on these things!” Debbie exclaims with her hands still on her waist. “For the last two years I have asked you to redo the laundry room with proper cabinets and to install recessed lighting outside the house. I am still waiting for these things. You keep telling me we have to save money for that, and yet I see that you are spending money left and right on your triathlon things.”
Debbie is right. For the past few years, Darren has spent a small fortune on things for the triathlon—his bikes, wetsuits, trisuits, and shoes; his swim, bike, and run apparel; and different gears and accessories, plus the cost of training programs, registration fees for races, and the travel expenses to attend those races. All these little things add up over time and can become a significant separate budget.
As a result, he has a ton of triathlon junk in his basement, in the garage, and in his closet that needs to be sorted out. Maybe Darren should start with doing an inventory of what he has, assess the condition things are in, select the ones that bring value to him to keep, and identify those that can be disposed of.
Darren shakes his head and decides to deal with his triathlon asset management stuff later. For now, the main thing is to escape Debbie’s wrath and let her cool down. Darren gives Debbie a big smile, and, without a word, he makes his way in the basement where he has his bike set up on his trainer. Within minutes he installs the nutrition pouch on the bike frame and jumps on his bike to start riding along with a group of cyclists online. He is riding on one of his favorite circuits, the Volcano Climb. He gets into an aero position and cruises downhill, with the volcano in the background spitting large streams of red-hot lava. He loves the beautiful scenery as he rides hard with drops of sweat trickling from his forehead.
“Wake up! Wake up!” Darren hears a voice in the background calling. He opens his eyes and sees Debbie standing over him and smiling. Darren is confused and does not understand where he is. The last he knew, he was just on his bike in the middle of a ride. After a few seconds he realizes that he had dozed off while reading Neel’s paper. He looks at the clock and notices that it is half past noon.
“We won’t have time for lunch,” Debbie says. “Darren, you have to be ready quick; otherwise we will miss the start of the movie.”
He actually forgot that they are supposed to go out today to the movies. The show they are targeting starts at quarter to two. He better get ready quickly, and grab a quick bite, so they can head out to the movie theater before it’s too late.
One thing for sure is that during the show Darren will not fall asleep, because he has already had his few minutes’ nap coupled with a very nice dream on his tri-bike. He jumps up and gives Debbie another one of his killer smiles and disappears upstairs to get ready.
The movie is, in fact, quite interesting, and both Debbie and Darren like it a lot. It was the type of thriller suspense movie that keeps you focused and tense for the whole duration. After the movie, they decide to go for a walk in the nearby park talking about the boys and how much they miss them.
Rémi and Lucas are both in their twenties now and not living with them any-more. Rémi has moved out since he got married last year. He lives about thirty minutes’ drive from them and is enjoying his married life. Lucas is in his last year in university and lives on campus. He comes home two or three times a year. With Darren’s busy schedule, one can imagine how lonely Debbie must be sometimes (or very often). Darren, however, does his best to be with her, and she understands him even though sometimes she can get upset.
After about half an hour of strolling, they decide to drive back home before it starts to get dark and chilly. Overall, it is a very relaxing time for both Debbie and Darren. As usual at this point, Darren is already starting to think about the next busy and exhausting week ahead. Lately he has been quite worried about the progress he is making to get his PhD and how long it might take. He is especially concerned about how long he and Debbie can sustain themselves on the salary of an adjunct nontenured professor. Surprisingly, a few times, Darren thought of quitting, which is very unlike him.
