Implementing ISO 55000 eBook-Your Complete Guide
Implementing ISO 55000 eBook-Your Complete Guide
Implementing ISO 55000 eBook-Your Complete Guide
Implementing
ISO 55000
Your Complete Guide
Contents
INTRODUCTION 3
CONCLUSION 107
REFERENCES 109
Contents | 2
Implementing ISO 55000
Introduction
In this book we will provide an overview of the ISO 55000 series of standards,
the value of implementing an Asset Management System, and practical
guidance on how to complete the ISO 55000 implementation journey.
In this book, we will address these questions, and the following topics:
Introduction | 3
Implementing ISO 55000
Chapter 1:
3. Pause for a minute and consider will this really add value to my organisation?
The following resources are essential sources of information about ISO 55000
and Asset Management and should be your starting point:
• The standards itself. We recommend that you buy (and yes, read) the
full suite of standards, ISO 55000, 55001 and 55002. This will provide an
overview of the requirements but also provide some guidelines to the
application of the standard.
This sounds again like common sense, but there are more to this definition
than meets the eye. E.g. What is the real meaning behind “coordinated” and
what is real “value”?
Value can mean different things to different organisations and part of this
journey is to uncover what matters to your organisation and how to use your
assets to achieve it.
• Assurance - Asset Management gives assurance that assets will fulfil their
required purpose. This requires the organisation to measure progress and
performance with discipline and purpose, and typically include setting up
performance measures and performing periodic reviews and audits.
ISO 55000 suggests that the following value can be gained from applying
the standard:
• Managed risk
• Demonstrated compliance
• Enhanced reputation
The above are some generic examples of the value of good Asset Management
but what is the real value in the context of your organisation?
• What costs can I save by taking decisions that consider cost risk and
benefit of the life cycle of an asset?
The diagram below shows some of the value drivers that could be considered:
It may still not be 100% clear what the benefit will be to your organisation,
but be sure to start this conversation before committing to the Asset
Management journey.
Another aspect to consider is the cost and time required for implementing an
ISO 55000 Asset Management system. A key consideration here is the level of
alignment or compliance with ISO 55001 that you may wish to achieve. There
are a range of ways that an organisation might seek to apply ISO 55000:
1. Get leadership buy in – this is definitely a top down initiative. Make the
leadership team has a good understanding what an Asset Management
is and the benefits. An introductory course or conference would be a good
starting point.
2. Get input from stakeholders on what benefits they expect to gain from
Asset Management will be and therefore what will the drive behind the
journey will be.
»» Compliance - aiming to comply but not certify, this may cost less but
have significant benefit.
»» Alignment - also a lower cost option than certification but with some
value gained.
5. Get agreement that the funding and resources will be required for this
initiative and create a clear picture of what will be required in order to
minimise surprises down the track.
Chapter 2:
Firstly, there is not one new standard for Asset Management. What is
commonly referred to as “ISO 55000” is really a suite of three documents.
These three documents are:
ISO 55000:2014
This standard provides an overview of the principles, concepts and
terminology relating to Asset Management. It provides an outline of the
business case, as well as a brief description of how each element of an
ISO 55000 management system interacts (as opposed to the prescriptive
statements in ISO 55001:2014). These elements are:
• Organisational context
• Leadership
• Planning
• Support
• Operation
• Performance evaluation
• Improvement
ISO 55001:2014
This standard is the document against which auditing is undertaken. It
specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining and
improving a “management system for Asset Management” that complies with
ISO requirements. There are no diagrams and, depending on how you divide
up sub-clauses, you can count up to 177 “shall” statements that must be met
to achieve certification.
ISO 55002:2014
This standard provides guidance and explanatory notes on the requirements
in ISO 55001:2014 – that is, it is intended to support implementation. It follows
the same 7 element structure as the other two standards, but with more
elaborate “should” statements in place of the “shalls” in ISO 55001:2014.
Of note, it contains a diagram showing one possible model for an Asset
Management system, annotated with clause numbers from ISO 55001:2014.
History of Development
It has been a long road to consensus on an Asset Management standard. The
project was launched in London in June 2010, followed by meetings of the full
PC251 (Project Committee 251) at regular intervals across the world. Each of
the 31 participating countries has its own mirror committees and processes to
review and comment on the various drafts, resulting in thousands of hours of
time going into the process. This culminated in a meeting in Calgary Canada
in April 2013, where the final drafts of the standards were presented. Following
this meeting – and some last minute work – the standards were released to
the world slightly ahead of schedule on 15 January 2014.
These lists are not comprehensive, but they clearly show the growing
awareness of Asset Management and professionalisation of the discipline over
the last two decades. The release of ISO 55000 has accelerated the pace of
change and promoted a consensus approach to the discipline.
Chapter 3:
Although the above already sounds like a journey in itself this will set you up
to start the bulk of the work towards compliance (or certification) ‘on the right
foot’. Once you have a clear mandate to proceed we recommend stepping
through the journey as shown below.
Readiness Assessment
To gain an understanding of where the major gaps in your Asset Management
system are the first step usually is to do an ISO 55000 readiness assessment.
This could be done internally or externally and should provide you with a high-
level assessment of your organisations level of maturity and whether it will
be feasible to embark on the journey. The readiness assessment will typically
assess the existence and level of application of the foundation documents and
should give you an opinion on where to start.
Foundation Documents
Start developing your Asset Management System by ensuring that the Asset
Management ‘Foundation Documents’ are in place namely:
Organisation Structure
Processes and Procedures, in association with RACI charts, help to determine
the organisation structure required to execute them. We discuss organisation
structure issues in Chapter 9.
Support Tools
Specific support tools and systems (such as decision support tools and ERP
systems) will be identified when the processes and procedures are developed.
Competence
Once you have determined what needs to be done, who is going to do it,
and the tools that are to be used to perform the relevant tasks, you are in
a position to identify the training and coaching that will be required, and
who will need it, in order to build competence in applying the Processes
and Procedures using the specified Tools. We discuss Asset Management
Competence in more detail in Chapter 12.
Execution
Given competent personnel with adequately documented processes and
procedures, and properly implemented tools and systems, your are then in a
position to execute the actions from the SAMP and AMPs.
Performance Measurement
Performance measures need to be set up to measure performance against
process requirements and against the requirements from the SAMP and AMPs.
This is an important aspect of ISO 55000. We discuss Asset Management Data
and Decision-making in Chapter 10.
Improvement
Project Management
Project management is a key component to delivering a comprehensive
Asset Management system through your journey to alignment or compliance.
Although leadership and change are important, there is usually a fair amount
of actual work that needs to get done. Planning and resourcing the work to be
performed during the journey could be challenging since this requires extra
effort from people over and above their normal duties. Active management
of timelines and risks will be required to ensure the work gets done. A project
schedule is essential, and regular management review will be required to
ensure sustained progress.
Chapter 4:
Before starting, it is important to note two key definitions which are contained
in ISO 55000:2014.
Alignment
First, ISO 55001:2014 states (in Section 4.3) that the scope of the organisation’s
Asset Management system should be aligned with the Asset Management Policy
(International Organisation for Standardisation [ISO], 2014b, p.2). By way of
a reminder, as far as ISO 55000 is concerned, the Asset Management System
is the management system for managing the organisation’s assets. It is used
by an organisation to plan, coordinate, control, execute, monitor and improve
the activities associated with managing assets. It is not just a computerised
information system, although this may form part of an organisation’s Asset
Management System. In addition, Section 5.2 of ISO 55001:2014 requires that
the policy is aligned with and consistent with other organisational policies
and plans (including the Strategic Asset Management Plan) (International
Organisation for Standardisation [ISO], 2014b, p.3).
ISO 55002:2014 also (in Section 5.2), suggest that the policy commits the
organisation to applying specified principles when making decisions relating
to Asset Management, and gives some examples of the types of commitments
that could be made, such as (in addition to some already mentioned earlier)
(International Organisation for Standardisation [ISO], 2014c, p.7):
First, it should be short – no more than one or two pages. Consider your Asset
Management Policy as being similar in nature to your organisation’s Safety
Policy or Environmental Policy. Typically, these are one page documents that
are posted conspicuously around your organisation – in the main reception
area if nowhere else! Remember that the policy should provide high level
guiding principles only, and the detail should be contained in other documents
Third, there are some mandatory elements that should be in any Asset
Management policy. These are:
As anyone who has been involved in these types of workshops before will
know, getting alignment and consensus amongst Senior Managers regarding
the content of this type of document is not easy, and can often take longer than
you might expect. One of the casualties of gaining consensus, frequently, is
brevity – and so, while we recommend that the Asset Management Policy be
no longer than one or two pages, if a longer document is required in order to
gain consensus and commitment from Top Management, then be prepared to
accept that gaining this consensus and commitment is much more important
than the document length. It is also important that the structure and length
of your Asset Management Policy is consistent with other policies (such as
Safety Policy and Environmental Policy) that your organisation may have. This
sends a consistent message regarding the importance of all of these policies
– so strive to ensure that the length and level of detail contained in your Asset
Management Policy is consistent with these other policies.
And in all cases, make sure that people understand what the implications of
this Asset Management Policy is for them, and the decisions that they make that
have an impact on your assets.
• Yarra City Council’s Asset Management Policy (Yarra City Council manages
buildings and other assets typically owned and managed by a local
authority)
Note that the first two of these are longer and more detailed than we would
recommend. This does not make them non-compliant with the requirements
of ISO 55001, but it does make them more difficult to communicate to a
wider audience within the organisation. On the other hand, the level of detail
contained in these policy documents could be as a result of wide consultation
through the organisation when developing these policies – which can only be
a good thing. Our suggestion would be to try, if possible, to move some of the
detail contained in these documents either to the Strategic Asset Management
Plan, or to other documents which make up the Asset Management Framework.
For those that may be interested, we have prepared a sample, editable, Asset
Management Policy template which can be downloaded from here.
4 August 2015
Ensure compliance with all statutory requirements applying to physical assets and asset
management
Ensure that all Asset Management decisions and activities comply with [Company] policies
relating to Occupational, Health, Safety and Environment
Ensure that Asset Management decisions and activities consider and balance the needs of all
relevant stakeholders, both within and external to the organisation
Ensure alignment between all organisational functions that impact on Asset Management,
including Projects/Engineering, Production, Maintenance and Supply
Ensure that [Company] assets are managed in accordance with recognised asset
management techniques that consider the achievement of both short term and longer term
business objectives
Formally assess both risk and economic outcomes when making decisions relating to the
management of physical assets
Ensure that asset purchase, replacement, refurbishment and disposal decisions are made
based on an assessment of expected future customer demand, life cycle costs and risks
Operate assets in a disciplined manner, and with precision
Maintain assets in such a manner that they continue to meet operational requirements for
the duration of their expected life
Ensure that adequate resources are provided to permit the achievement of agreed Asset
Management objectives
Continually improve Asset Management processes and performance
____________________ ____________________
[Person A] [Person B]
Managing Director General Manager
Chapter 5
Document Purpose
Let’s start with the definition of the SAMP, as drawn from ISO 55000:
This gives us a broad flavour of the document, clearly showing that its role is to
capture Asset Management objectives that link the organisational objectives
(typically part of the organisational plan/corporate plan/business plan) to lower
level plans. The SAMP therefore has a pivotal role in the Asset Management
document hierarchy as illustrated below:
In this role, the content of the SAMP must be driven by the larger Asset
Management planning process. Without going into excessive detail, an ISO
55001 compliant planning process is illustrated in Figure 6.:
We see here how an iterative planning process will generate Asset Management
objectives that are aligned with the organisational objectives, informed by
demand information (i.e. Stakeholder wants and needs) and consistent with the
condition, performance and capability of both the asset portfolio and the Asset
Management system. What, however, is an Asset Management objective? These
are the “results to be achieved” or the aims/goals/targets for Asset Management
(ISO, 2014a, p.11). They address both the assets and the tools for managing
them (i.e. The Asset Management system) and examples might include:
As can be seen from the examples, these objectives reflect the outcomes that
Asset Management should produce rather than the methods for achieving
them. They therefore need to be supported with appropriate high level actions
(which we like to call “strategic initiatives”) that will deliver them. As with any
actions, good strategic initiatives will be adequately resourced with clear
timelines, measures of success and accountabilities. These high level initiatives
may, however, be delivered either as a project in their own right or by allocating
appropriate levels of service and detailed objectives to subordinate plans as
illustrated in the figure above. Possible initiatives matched to the objectives
above might be: (illustrative only – initiatives do not need to map directly to a
single objective)
• Implement SAP across the business by the end of the year (Chief
Information Officer)
When combined with the Asset Management objectives, the strategic initiatives
provide the required direction for lower level planning. These are, however, the
deliverables from the planning process and the SAMP is merely the method for
documenting these. The quality of the planning process will determine whether
the Asset Management objectives and strategic initiatives are appropriate,
achievable and accomplished. The quality of the SAMP will determine whether
these objectives and initiatives can be communicated to the people who
need to use them. Consequently, the SAMP will be “good” if it is a successful
communication tool that delivers the right information to the right people at the
right time. Let’s look at each of these individually.
While the “right people” will clearly vary with organisational structure, the
customers for the SAMP usually aren’t in the Asset Management area, since
these people already know what is happening in the area. The most common
customers are:
• Executives, who need to understand what the assets (and the Asset
Management system) are going to deliver, sign off on the associated
resources and track progress
Delivering the information at the “right time” is more about the method of
delivery, since the SAMP is always there waiting. The key is to ensure that the
document is presented in a way that lets the “right people” get the information
they need, which implies a short, readable document that clearly lays out the
Asset Management objectives and strategic initiatives with enough background
to understand why they are important and appropriate.
ISO 55002 provides guidance on implementing ISO 55001 and makes the
following recommendations regarding the structure and content of the SAMP
(ISO, 2014c, pp. 2-5):
• The SAMP should document both the framework for achieving the Asset
Management objectives and their relationship to the organisational
objectives
• The SAMP should include a statement of scope for the Asset Management
system
There are also a few other items that are required by ISO 55001 as documented
information and are therefore candidates for inclusion in the SAMP (ISO, 2014b,
pp. 4-5):
• The processes and methods for managing assets over their life cycles
It is obvious from this limited guidance why confusion has arisen regarding the
requirements around the SAMP. Taken all together, the ISO standards leave a
great deal of latitude regarding the content and structure of this document. In
fact, you don’t even need to call it a SAMP – you can call it an Asset Management
strategy or whatever else you like (ISO, 2014c, p. 2).
Our Recommendations
Taking into account all of the above, we believe that a “good” SAMP has the
following key characteristics:
• Has a clear role with broad and consistent understanding across the
organisation
»» Relative priorities
»» Timeframes
»» Accountabilities
• Key Risks – identification of the key risks to achievement and any mitigation
actions required (this should link to corporate risk management systems)
TEMPLATE
Asset Management
Assetivity
Chapter 6
Document Purpose
Let’s begin with the ISO 55000 definition of an Asset Management Plan:
This definition really captures the intent of the Asset Management Plan –
writing down the things that need to be done to deliver the Asset Management
objectives. As these objectives are derived from the organisational objectives
(documented in the SAMP), it also emphasis the hierarchical nature of the core
Asset Management documents as illustrated below:
We have indicated multiple plans in this diagram, but we should note that this
is not a requirement of the definition, nor is it a requirement of ISO 55001:2014,
which simply states:
Taking all of this together, Asset Management Plans need to capture the lower
level outcome of a comprehensive Asset Management planning process that is
integrated with other organisational planning activities (in fact, this integration
is an additional requirement of ISO 55001:2014 (ISO, 2014b, p. 4)). Without going
into excessive detail, an ISO 55001 compliant planning process is illustrated in
Figure 8.
These then roll up into coordinated projects across multiple asset classes and
eventually into strategic programs across the organisation. At each stage, the
resources required are compared with the resources available and iteration is
undertaken to balance these. The final outputs will be delivered and tracked
through other organisational frameworks such as budgeting, risk management
and project management.The key take-away from this discussion is that the
Asset Management Plans are about communication. The planning process
establishes what needs to be done to deliver the organisation’s objectives and
the job of the plans is to communicate these requirements. In order to achieve
it, the plans communicate from the asset managers (who conducted the
planning) to:
Recommended Content
In order to deliver on its role as a communication tool, an Asset Management
Plan must clearly be read and understood. To this end, we recommend a
focus on the following three points with regards to the content of an Asset
Management plan:
• Keep it short – everybody is busy and long plans simply don’t get read.
Short plans are also much easier to maintain.
• Make it visual –tables and graphs can convey significantly more information
than the equivalent space in words. They also break up the document,
making it easier to read.
Use references – by referencing other plans and data sources, the information
is available for those that need it without cluttering up the plan for those who
don’t. It also avoids issues with discrepancies between the different data
sources that could lead to incorrect decisions and allows for each document/
reference to be reviewed and updated on a timescale appropriate to its content.
including the criticality and value of the assets and any interdependencies
with other assets for the delivery of that value. For example, customer
facing assets such as trains are often dependent on a large number of
other Asset Classes (track, stations, signals, and so on). Changes in these
other assets can have a significant impact on delivery of value if not well
considered.
• Life Limiting Factors – a description of the key factors expected to drive the
equipment out of service – e.g. Fatigue, cost, obsolescence or demand
changes. This content recognises that asset lives from acquisition are
merely estimates used to justify the expenditure and that the true disposal
point requires more careful tracking.
• Life Cycle Strategies – this section describes the approach to each phase
of the asset’s life cycle and any known issues. It would typically reference
detailed content such as the maintenance program, basis of design
documentation, statement of operating intent or similar information. It
would, however, identify issues with these documents, such as a recent
change in operations that is outside the original strategy.
• Risks – a summary of the key Asset Management risks (not the entire risk
register – though this might be referenced) that currently affect the asset.
• Actions – the list of prioritised and resourced actions to address the gaps.
Examples of actions might include:
As can be seen, this structure “tells the story” of the asset, with the final actions
building from the issues identified in each section. We suggest that you aim
for no more than 6-8 pages of content per asset class, bearing in mind that
the audience for the document is not the technical experts in the asset – they
already know (or should know!) what is required.
Recommended Structure
We have already discussed how there is no one “right way” to structure your
Asset Management plans. There are, however, some broad classes that you
might consider, and these are discussed in this section.
The simplest case is for discipline-led organisations. Here, the organisation has
a strong central technical group broken into “disciplines” with clearly defined
responsibilities for specific areas of the asset portfolio (for example, many
organisations recognise structural, mechanical and electrical disciplines). In this
case, it is generally sensible for each discipline to maintain one or more Asset
Management Plans, each covering a specific Asset Class. Risks associated with
this approach include a prioritisation of technical requirements over business
objectives, including inadequate interfaces between the disciplines and poor
overall prioritisation of activities. These can be addressed by a strong SAMP
process to force cross-functional collaboration.
Another option is a single Asset Management Plan covering the entire asset
portfolio. This minimises the effort required in the preparation and maintenance
of the plan, and is therefore suited to organisations with simple asset portfolios
or minimal Asset Management resources. The risk is, naturally, that the single
plan does not provide enough resolution to identify key Asset Management
issues lurking in the detailed performance information for the assets.
Our final option is a zone-led approach. Here, the organisation is divided into
operational regions or zones that are largely independent. If there is limited
central technical support, it makes sense for each zone manager to run their
own Asset Management Plan(s), even where they operate similar assets. In this
case, the risk is generally around inconsistent approaches to the same Asset
Class, resulting in sub-optimal performance. This can be offset by establishing
exchange forums to ensure differences in practice are discussed and best
practice is shared across the organisation.
You may, of course, utilise different structures for your Asset Management Plan.
For example, you may operate a zone structure, but allocate specific Asset
Classes to each zone manager to conduct planning. If this works for you, then
we would be delighted to hear about your experience and share it with others.
Ultimately, the test of the Asset Management Plans must be the effectiveness of
the organisation in achieving its Asset Management Objectives.
Chapter 7
and culture (ISO, 2014c). There are many ways to do this, but the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) approach is a good way to start.
In our diagram above, these two activities (understanding context and engaging
stakeholders) are part of the “demand analysis” process shown on the right and
is the key to success in the planning process.
• Excessive length. Many organisations make the document too long and
then find that their people don’t have the time to read and understand it or
the organisation as a whole doesn’t have time to maintain it.
These issues are not new – similar problems emerge with any change to an
organisation’s key planning documents. Consequently, we have a good idea of
what will work to solve them: design the Asset Management planning process.
Some good steps:
• Plan first, write later. The planning process itself needs to be at the heart
of the activity. As we said in our Strategic Asset Management Plan chapter,
the document is a communication tool. Start by designing a process that
gets the right people in the room with the right information to genuinely
understand the organisation’s objectives and translate these into Asset
Management objectives. This will usually occur through a workshop or
series of workshops, and we suggest the following tips to get the best out of
these:
• Define the audience. Regardless of the specific documents in use, you need
to have a very good idea of who the reader is for each document. This will
allow the structure, content and length to be match to them and create
a document that they are much more likely to actually use. For example,
executives need to get to the heart of the matter very quickly and with a
focus on the linkage to the organisation’s objectives and the resources
required to achieve them. Lower levels need more technical detail so they
can execute their specific responsibilities.
• Keep it simple, sunshine. Work out how to match the content to the
audience. For example:
»» Appendices with details for those who need them – minutes of the
workshops, project plans for the strategic initiatives, stakeholder
analyses and so on.
• Each Asset Management Plan should be short and visual, which can be
achieved by using references to access other plans (e.g. the maintenance
plan) or data sources (e.g. risk registers and full budgets) for those who
need them.
• Be clear on the audience and use the Asset Management Plan to tell
the “story” of the asset that lets them understand and execute their
responsibilities, including:
Above all, strongly resist the temptation to make the Asset Management Plan
the repository for every single piece of information the organisation possesses
on an asset! This is probably the number one reason for the creation of
shelfware Asset Management plans and represents a significant lost opportunity
for the organisations that succumb to it. There is no doubt that detailed
information is valuable, but it needs to be kept in the right location for those
who need to use it.
Chapter 8
The organisation shall plan, implement and control the processes needed to
meet requirements…(ISO, 2014b, p. 8)
The clause goes on to identify, implement and monitor the processes and
treat/monitor risks, but it does not dictate specific processes. ISO 55002
does not provide much additional guidance, so we turn to the Institute of
Asset Management’s (Institute of Asset Management’s) Conceptual Asset
Management Model shown in Figure 10.
Commercial
Customers Legislation Investors
Environment
Lifecycle
Delivery
Asset Information
For example, an organisation that builds civil assets from raw materials will
need quite different acquisition processes to an organisation that buys and
operates vehicles from the manufacturer. This means your organisation is
going to have to do some work to identify what processes it needs and how
sophisticated they need to be. Luckily, there is a global consensus to start from
– the Asset Management Landscape.
The colour coding on this diagram aligns with the Institute of Asset
Management conceptual model above, helping you get an idea of where each
subject fits. There are also good references around to help you understand the
content of each subject, including the Institute of Asset Management’s Asset
Management – An Anatomy, the Asset Management Council’s Asset Management
Body of Knowledge and the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia’s
International Infrastructure Management Manual.
In many cases, the required processes can even vary within the organisation.
For example, an airline might apply strict processes to the maintenance of its
aircraft but much simpler processes for the maintenance of its office facilities.
These distinctions are driven by the different risk profiles of the two asset types
and highlight the fundamental importance of risk in determining the processes
required in an organisation. It is worth spending some time discussing this
process.
Process Documentation
ISO 55000 draws a distinction between process and procedure that is important.
Under clause 7.6.1, ISO 55001 requires an organisation’s Asset Management
system to include:
The notes following this clause state that the extent of documentation will
vary with, amongst other things, the complexity of processes. The message is
clear. ISO 55000 requires organisations to think about risk associated with its
processes and to document only those processes where failure to do so would
threaten the effectiveness of the Asset Management system.
With this clause in mind and a view to reducing the administrative burden
associated with implementing ISO 55000, we recommend the following
principles be applied when identifying necessary procedures:
• Second hand can be just fine – Following on from the previous point,
your first preference when you do need a document should be to modify
something that already exists. This is usually quicker, reduces the total
number of documents and gets better buy in. It is, however, good
practice to maintain a cross-reference matrix that shows how each of the
requirements in ISO 55001:2014 is met within your structure.
Chapter 9
While neither ISO 55001:2014 nor ISO 55002:2014 provide significant guidance
on how to build an appropriate lower level structure to support an Asset
Management system, our experience suggests that the possible models fall on a
spectrum between the following two extremes:
As with most spectra, there are costs benefits and risks associated with each
option. The trade-off is illustrated in Figure 12.
One organisation we worked with was close to this extreme, where the
division of responsibility was primarily functional, with each operational
manager taking responsibility for a group of assets that were geographically
and functionally linked. These managers had their own operational and
maintenance resources, with central “technical” support minimised. This
central support was also functionally grouped into (for example) projects,
maintenance and information systems. There was no dedicated Asset
Management workforce, although a reliability manager was appointed as
part of the development of Asset Management capability and the technical
manager would be considered the “champion” for Asset Management
within the organisation. This arrangement was close to the “fully
distributed” model and required minimal on-going investment in personal
and modest temporary investment in consulting resources. Unfortunately,
it was only partially effective as the various operational managers could not
be held to account by the centralised technical support. More “teeth” in this
organisation were required. If the organisation reverses direction and tries
to centralise its Asset Management activities, we see the above problems
go away and another set of issues appear in their place. Firstly, the organisation
needs to establish new positions with dedicated Asset Management skill sets
and finding the resources to do this can be a challenge. Next, these highly
skilled Asset Management experts need to find a way to engage with the day to
day maintenance and operating activities of the organisation without creating
a silo mentality, where Asset Management is seen as something done “over
there” with no real connection to the actual workings of the organisation. If
these challenges are not navigated successfully, then the Asset Management
department will be under-resourced and disconnected from the remainder of
the organisation. It will (quite rightly) be seen as an ineffective overhead and the
Asset Management system will fail.
Perhaps the best gains we have seen with the implementation of Asset
Management were in an organisation where there was already a strong
discipline-based technical workforce (i.e. An electrical engineering department,
a mechanical engineering department and so on). An Asset Management ‘centre
of expertise” of just a few personnel fitted naturally into this organisational
model and was able to focus on building processes and templates while the
disciplines applied these templates to their particular classes of asset. This
required a moderate on-going investment to staff the centre of expertise, but
with consulting resources only required to transfer new knowledge and skills
into the organisation.
In our opinion, this “centre of expertise” structure located between the two
extremes is the most likely to generate a sustainable improvement in Asset
Management capability. The exact size and structure will depend on the
organisation, so we offer the following guidance to support selection of an
appropriate structure:
There is one more key ingredient – there must be what we like to call a “visible
champion” amongst top management and they must have sufficient control
over the Asset Management resources to drive the system forward. Of course,
control over the resources is not the only requirement for this visible champion,
so let’s take a deeper look at who they might be and where they might fit.
In one organisation we have worked with, a specific but temporary position was
created at the executive level to oversee the creation of the Asset Management
system. When this temporary position ceased, the responsibility reverted to
another executive who was already heavily tasked with line management of a
significant element of the asset portfolio. A small number of staff, including a
mid-level manager were also transferred. We saw the following:
• The organisation made good progress while the temporary position was in
place
In another organisation, the “champion” was the senior technical manager, who
reported to the operations executive. In this structure, we observed a reluctance
for Asset Management activities to be directed at the organisation’s real
problems, with artificial boundaries drawn around the technical and operating
disciplines.
• The executive’s existing responsibilities must span the full asset portfolio
• The executive’s existing responsibilities must span the full asset life cycle
This last criterion is particularly important and is why we prefer the term
“visible champion”, which gives a sense of how the individual must act to
engender success. Given the criticality of visible top management support to
success of any change initiative, the preferred approach to implementing an
Asset Management system must be to appoint a dedicated executive-level
“champion.” We acknowledge, however, that this is simply not practical for most
organisations and a suitable position must be found from within the existing
executive workforce. Our criteria suggest allocation of Asset Management
accountability (and, therefore, associated resources) to either the operations
executive or a corporate strategy/risk executive. It should be noted, however,
that such individuals may require significant support to understand their
responsibilities as the majority of Asset Management professionals currently
come from technical backgrounds.
One more note on leadership: top level involvement is essential, but this does
not mean that mean that Asset Management leadership stops with the CEO.
Leadership is independent of organisational position, and a Maintenance
Manager, an Operations Supervisor, or even a Reliability Engineer can still
shape the culture within their circle of influence and create meaningful change.
There will be limits to what you can achieve at lower levels in the organisation –
particularly where your people interact with those from other workgroups who
may not share the same cultural beliefs or perspectives. Nevertheless, you CAN
make a difference.
Chapter 10
In the context of this chapter, when we use the term “data”, we are generally also
referring to “information” and occasionally “knowledge” – especially when this
knowledge is captured in the form of documents and procedures.
• Determine
However, the devil is in the detail. When was the last time that the organisation
you work for seriously considered what data it needs in order to make effective
decisions? Are there adequate specifications in place which describe the
quality of data required? And if there are, to what extent are these specifications
adhered to?
Data as an Asset
There is a comparatively strong case for considering data, information and
knowledge within an organisation as assets in their own right. Certainly the
ISO 55000 definition of an asset as being “something of potential value to an
organisation” (ISO, 2014a, p. 13) could well apply.
And the similarities do not end there. It is also possible to consider that data
and information and the systems that collect and process data and information
have lifecycles, just as physical assets do. It could be visualised as shown below.
Of these elements of the data lifecycle, the most important aspect is the first –
Identifying the Need, and we will discuss this element in more detail.
It therefore makes sense that these should be the starting points for
determining what data and information you need, and for designing the
systems and procedures for collecting, managing and analysing this data and
information. This is, in essence, a top-down approach.
Most of the data collected will go towards making more effective asset
management decisions. Accordingly, you should consider the types of asset
management decisions that will be made and the comparative importance
of those decisions in the context of achievement of the organisation’s Asset
Management objectives.
The data to support these decisions can come from both within and outside
the organisation, and both sources must typically be consulted to make
informed decisions.
Data from within the organisation may come from corporate Information
Systems, from Operational Technology systems, or from neither of these.
For all the data being considered, it is not sufficient to just identify what is
needed, ISO 55001 also requires you to assess:
• How and when to analyse and evaluate the data collected (ISO, 2014b, p. 6)
• Consistency (are the same definitions and standards applied across the
organisation)
• Identifying the types of decisions that you will make which will have the
greatest potential impact on the achievement of your asset management
(and organisational) objectives. These decisions could include:
For critical assets and critical decisions, you should carefully consider what
information you need to have in order to make an effective decision, and
therefore what data you require in order to be able to provide that information.
The data that you may need could take many different forms including:
• Data about the assets themselves (what they are, what they cost to acquire,
where they are located etc.)
• Data about the current level of performance of the assets (in terms
of technical performance and cost performance – operating and
maintenance)
• Data relating to the activities that have been performed on the assets –
operational activities, maintenance activities and modifications/upgrades/
replacements
• Data about the financial or other impacts if the assets underperform or fail
to perform at all
Clearly, the data that is required for more critical decisions and/or reports must
be collected, evaluated and analysed with a high degree of quality and rigour. In
an organisation with effective asset management decision making in place, we
would expect to see that the organisation has:
• Specified the quality standards for those data elements in terms of the
attributes mentioned earlier in this article (Completeness, Accuracy,
Timeliness, Accessibility and Consistency)
• Collecting Data – some data may be collected without the need for human
input – for example, asset performance or condition data may be able
to be collected directly from the machine. It will be important to ensure,
particularly for data that is obtained via human input, that the data
collected complies with the relevant quality standards for that data. For
example, when collecting data relating to new assets, it will be important
to ensure that “as built” data is collected, not just “as designed” or “as
approved for construction”.
• Validating Data – given the issues associated with assuring the quality of
data collected, frequently an additional step is required in order to ensure
that the data collected does comply with the relevant quality standards,
and that, if needed, adjustments are made to the collected data. For
example, when collecting downtime data for key assets, if control room
operators assign codes to this data to indicate the cause of the downtime,
then these may need to be reviewed on a daily basis in order to ensure
that the causes assigned by the control room operators accurately reflect
reality.
• Processing Data into Information – this is the sexy bit that gets all the
attention and costs all the money. Suffice it to say that data, until such time
as it is processed into meaningful information, is of limited or no value.
Great care should be taken, therefore, to ensure that the functionality
required of information processing systems (whether they be ERP systems,
Reliability Modelling software or other optimisation algorithms) is properly
defined, and that rigorous testing is performed to ensure that data is
accurately translated into information that is meaningful for effective
decision making.
• Utilise Information – if data that has not been processed into information
has no value, then this is even more true for information that is not
effectively utilised. In order to effectively utilise information, business
processes associated with reporting and decision-making must require
the relevant information to be used. Those utilising the information must
understand its meaning and importance, and decisions made must be
actually implemented. These requirements have less to do with the quality
of the information (although obviously the information must be presented
in a manner that enables its effective use), and more to do with business
processes, accountabilities and competence.
• Archive and Delete Data – there should be formal processes in place for
periodically either archiving or deleting data that is no longer required. This
could include processes for summarising data (for example, consolidating
minute-by-minute data into daily averages) prior to archiving. The key item
to consider here is the likely need is for future access to this data. In some
cases, there may be legal or other statutory requirements for data retention
that may need to be complied with.
There is a common view that electronic data storage is cheap and getting
cheaper, and that therefore we should collect as much data as we can
(particularly now we are talking about the possibilities of Big Data), even if
we are not sure how we will use it yet. But the reality is that unless you apply
appropriate quality standards to that data then all that you will end up with is
a lot of unusable junk cluttering your corporate hard drives. Data storage may
be cheap, but assuring data quality can be expensive in time and effort, so be
careful to make sure that you think carefully before you decide what data you
need to store. Some engineers are inveterate hoarders, never wanting to throw
anything out because “it may come in handy one day” only to find that they
can’t get into their workshop/shed/warehouse because it is piled high with
rusting rubbish. Make sure you aren’t the same with data.
Along similar lines, most commercial software packages these days have
capabilities that are far in advance of what organisations currently use. The
business case for using these more advanced capabilities is often seductively
attractive. But frequently we find that the organisational discipline and
competences required to provide the required data to the quality standard
required for effective use of these new capabilities is seriously lacking, and the
effort required to enhance competence and implement the required level of
discipline is far greater than expected. As a result, the capabilities are never fully
implemented, the information systems are often filled with low quality, non-
useable data, and considerable time and expense has been spent in inputting
this data – a totally non-value-adding activity.
As previously mentioned – just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.
Make sure that the decisions you make regarding data and information
management are firmly grounded in a pragmatic view of how things work in the
real world.
Chapter 11
Specifying Tools
The specifications for the tools that are the most appropriate for you will
depend on your industry, your organisation and your asset management
objectives. Nevertheless, a few tips for ensuring that you get the most
appropriate tools (especially software tools) are as follows:
Make sure that you are clear about what you NEED, rather than what you WANT.
It is easy to get caught up in the adrenalin rush associated with feature envy and
end up with software that is overly complex for what you currently need, and
that has features that you may, maybe, perhaps, if the stars align, one day in the
distant future, use.
Most reputable software packages these days will be capable of meeting almost
all of your needs – the differentiators between alternatives are less likely to be
feature-related (unless you have very specialised needs) and more likely to be
related to usability, the availability of support, and the vendor’s investment in
ongoing development.
As we will see later in this chapter, most organisations will have a need to
use a lot of different software tools. How these will integrate and/or interface
with each other will be a very important consideration. It will be important to
ensure that, as far as is possible, there is a “single source of truth” for each data
element.
We will discuss some examples of tools under each of these headings in the
next two sections.
Transactional Tools
By transactional tools, we mean those tools that are intended to capture
information about assets, including:
There is a wide range of software tools that are available that provide the
functionality required to meet these objectives.
Some of these tools may not be relevant to your organisation, and the specific
functionality required will vary from industry to industry and from organisation
to organisation, depending on the organisational context and the asset
management objectives that are specific to your organisation. Some of these
tools include:
Accounting Systems
As costs are one of the three pillars of operational performance, it will be
essential to have an accounting system that captures the costs associated with
all aspects of the asset lifecycle, from specification, procurement, installation
and commissioning, through operation and maintenance, to disposal. The
degree of detail with which these costs will need to be captured will depend
on specific circumstances, but you should bear in mind, when deciding on the
level of detail required, that the information captured will need to be able to be
used later for effective decision-making. If costs are captured at too high a level
or are highly aggregated, this may not meet that objective. For example, cost
data aggregated at the whole vehicle level for a truck cannot be used to inform
decisions about which of two engine variants should be preferred.
In addition, where spare parts or other materials are being held in stock, ready
for use in a maintenance activity, there will be a need to effectively manage
these materials, and a system will be required that can:
• Keep track of what items are in stock and where they are stored. For
larger organisations, the system may need to be able to manage multiple
warehouses, but as a minimum, it should be able to record where in the
warehouse the items are stored (e.g. rack location etc)
• Keep track of whether stock items have passed their “use by” date (e.g.
spare batteries)
• Recording actual labour, spare parts and other resources used on all
maintenance activities
ERP/EAM systems
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems or Enterprise Asset Management
(EAM) systems typically incorporate the functionality previously listed separately
against Accounting Systems, Procurement and Inventory Management Systems,
Maintenance Management Systems and Human Resource Management
Systems in one, single, integrated software package.
For organisations with “linear” assets (such as rail lines, power lines, long
pipelines etc.) there may also be a need to identify specific segments of these
assets both in the GIS and in the Maintenance Management system.
RTLS can also be used to monitor the location of critical spare parts.
• What parameters should values be recorded for (you may not want to
record the history of every single parameter that is measured in your plant)
• What time periods should data be aggregated into (e.g. once per second,
once per minute etc)
In addition to this, rate and quality losses can also be applied to this model.
Nevertheless, you may find, if you have a large number of analyses to complete,
that a database for arranging these analyses, tracking the reasons for the
decisions being made, and providing an audit trail is useful.
When implementing these processes, great care should be taken to realise that
the objective of these processes is not to identify the causes of defects, but to
implement effective controls that prevent them. In other words, we are only
interested in causes in order to assist us to identify and implement effective
solutions. There are a range of tools and methodologies available to support
this, such as the simple “5 Whys” approach or more sophisticated Cause-Effect
Diagrams, as well as dedicated software packages that can be of assistance
in providing visibility and repeatability. The key to realising the benefits of
defect eliminate is more in the consistent application of the process to genuine
business problems, rather than the methodology or the tool selected.
• The costs associated with owning and storing the spare parts, such as:
• The costs associated with not having a spare part when it is required, such
as:
• The likely demand rate (and pattern) for the spare part
• The predictability of the requirement for the spare part (in turn largely
determined by the preventive maintenance program for the equipment
that the spare is fitted to)
Bear in mind that the algorithms and data sources used by these software tools
may be different for spare parts that have high usage, compared with those
required to optimise slow (or non) moving but high potential consequence
“insurance” spares.
Lean
The Lean methodology is derived mostly from the Toyota Production System
and is a systematic process for eliminating “waste” from within an organisation.
The original seven wastes identified within the Toyota Production system are:
• Transport (moving products that are not actually required to perform the
processing)
• Inventory (all components, work in process, and finished product not being
processed)
There are several different tools that can be applied within the overall Lean
methodology to address each of these wastes. Some of these (such as Root
Cause Analysis and Defect Elimination) have already been mentioned earlier.
Others have Japanese names such as Poke-Yoke (mistake-proofing) and
Kanban (just-in-time scheduling). Other useful tools in the Lean tool kit include
Value Stream Mapping (for analysing and designing processes), and 5S (for
organising a work space for effectiveness and efficiency).
Six Sigma
Six Sigma originated within Motorola in the 1980s as a means of identifying and
eliminating product quality defects by applying problem solving and statistical
techniques to reduce process and product variability. The key differentiator
between Six Sigma and other problem solving techniques is its focus on using
data, and the statistical analysis of that data, to drive decision-making. Some
organisations have incorporated some of the Six Sigma principles within their
Lean processes to form a hybrid approach called Lean Six Sigma.
Predictive Analytics
Predictive Analytics is analysis which is used to make predictions about
the likelihood, potential timing and consequences of future events. While,
in practice, engineers have been using predictive analytical techniques for
decades to predict equipment failure, these days the term tends to be used in
conjunction with Big Data and the Internet of Things. In this sense, Predictive
Analytics uses many techniques from data mining, statistics, modelling,
machine learning, and artificial intelligence to analyse current data to make
predictions about the future (Predictive Analytics Today, 2016).
A detailed examination of this topic is outside the scope of this e-book, but
you can read more about our assessment of Big Data, Predictive Analytics
and Maintenance at http://www.assetivity.com.au/article/maintenance-
management/big-data-predictive-analytics-and-maintenance.html.
• Business Process Alignment – make sure that the processes and procedures
which make use of the tool are clearly documented
Chapter 12
Asset Management
Competence
So far we have tackled the key requirements for successfully implementing
ISO 55000 relating to documentation and management processes. Now we
turn our attention to ISO 55001’s requirements in terms of Asset Management
competence.
• Understand any competence gaps that exist, and have plans and processes
in place for bridging those gaps, and
These are fairly general requirements, and do not provide much guidance
regarding how to go about ensuring that these are met. The intent of this
chapter is to help to fill that gap.
1. Policy development
2. Strategy development
• Etc.
Each of these competence units are then broken down further into 153
elements of competence which provide more detailed guidance, and have titles
such as:
• Develop key strategies for the overall system, asset portfolios and/or asset
groups that support strategic aims and objectives
In practice, it is highly unlikely that the roles and position descriptions within
your organisation map neatly to the generic roles contained within the Institute
of Asset Management Competences Framework. For you to make effective use
of the Institute of Asset Management framework it will be necessary to map
each of the 27 competence units (and in some cases even the 153 individual
competence elements) to each specific position in your organisation’s
structure that is involved in managing your assets. If you are using the Asset
Management Council list of competences, you will also need to map these to
the roles and positions in your organisation. To perform this activity, we would
suggest that you use the process maps and RACI charts discussed earlier in this
chapter to identify the competences required, but in the absence of these, then
you may be able to work directly from the position descriptions for each role
involved in Asset Management. This assumes, of course, that your organisation
structure is clearly documented, and that the position descriptions for all Asset
Management related roles in your organisation have been developed and are
up to date.
These will need to be incorporated in the competence matrix that you develop
for your organisation.
In addition, you may choose to specify the level of competence that is required
for each competence element for each role in your organisation. It may be
useful to think of competence as having four levels as illustrated below:
So you can see that developing a comprehensive view of all the competences
that are required for effective Asset Management is not necessarily a simple
or straightforward task. At this point, you may even be considering that it will
be an overwhelmingly complex and time-consuming task. But it need not
necessarily be the case. As with all decisions relating to Asset Management,
in determining the scope and level of detail associated with mapping
competences to roles you should consider:
• Benefits – what are the potential benefits to the business if certain roles/
positions /activities are performed by people who are highly competent?
Focus on defining the competences required for those roles and activities
that may provide the greatest opportunity for business benefit.
• Costs – how long will it take and what will it cost to identify the competence
requirements and assess current levels of competence for this role/
position/activity. Perform this work only if the risks and/or benefits
outweigh the costs.
All of this, however, only ensures that you understand the competences that
you should have in place in your organisation. It does not address the question
of how you assess whether those competences are actually in place.
»» Oral questioning
In order to comply with the requirements of ISO 55001, your organisation will
need to determine what and how much evidence is required to make the
assessment judgement. However in making this determination, you should
consider the following four “rules” of evidence (Department of Training and
Workforce Development, Western Australia, 2015. p.12).
• Valid
• Sufficient
• Current
»» Is recent enough to show that the skills and knowledge are still able to
be applied
• Authentic
Once the evidence requirements have been determined, then the next step is
to develop and execute a plan for collection of the relevant evidence, including,
where required, on-the-job assessment of work performance.
• Ensuring that position descriptions are up-to-date, and that roles and
responsibilities for each position are accurately described
Subsequent to the publication of this standard, and aligning with it, the GFMAM
Competency Specification for an ISO 55001 Asset Management System Auditor/
Assessor contains more details of what the Asset Management community
believes are adequate levels of competence.
In brief, anyone who has acquired the Certified Asset Management Assessor
(CAMA) qualification or the Institute of Asset Management’s Diploma
qualification are likely to have the required competences.
Chapter 13
Asset Management
Leadership and Culture
While it is tempting to focus on processes and systems as being at the core
of good Asset Management, success is only achieved by ensuring that the
right behaviours and attitudes are in place in an organisation. This chapter
discusses the behaviours that are essential for good Asset Management, and
the elements that drive them.
What is Culture?
What is culture? A simple definition is “the way we do things around here”. If you
want a more complex definition that, in essence, means the same thing, you
can define it as (BusinessDictionary.com, n.d.)
The values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological
environment of an organization
There are many, many books and articles written about organisational culture,
and it is not our intent to discuss the general aspects of organisational culture
in this chapter, but instead to discuss some key points relating to organisational
culture as it applies to Asset Management and ISO 55000.
Deal and Kennedy in their classic book, “Corporate Cultures: The Rites and
Rituals of Corporate Life” (Deal, Kennedy, Kennedy & Deal, 2000) consider the six
elements of an organisation’s culture to be:
• Rites and Rituals – the ceremonies and routine events which bring people
together
Our Asset Management culture, then, will be the way that these elements
interact to shape the management of – and indeed the way we think about
– our assets. These elements therefore provide a valuable basis for informing
us as to how we might influence Asset Management culture but do not in
themselves answer our question with regards to what “good” looks like. To do
this, we turn to Ledet’s model of Operational Improvement, illustrated below.
• Organisational Discipline
• Ensure that their actions are aligned with the achievement of those goals.
• Are working towards the achievement of shared goals. These goals are
optimised for the organisation as a whole, rather than being optimum
for one department without consideration of the impact on other
departments, and
This characteristic is also part of the Value element of Deal and Kennedy’s
model, as well as Ledet’s Alignment (shared vision) element and the ISO 55000
Value Fundamental. In addition, it contributes to Ledet’s Integration element
and the ISO 55000 Alignment Fundamental and is therefore a key characteristic
of an effective Asset Management culture.
Organisational Discipline
Organisations that perform Asset Management well adhere to clearly defined
processes and procedures – particularly where the risks associated with
non-compliance are significant. Individuals hold a high degree of personal
accountability for compliance and need to operate within a culture that values
and promotes understanding of the importance of compliance in ensuring
that the organisation achieves its goals. This is not a culture of “grudging
compliance” – it is one where compliance is genuinely valued and appreciated.
The ISO 55000 Fundamentals of Leadership and Assurance exist, in part, to drive
informed compliance and the Leadership Fundamental explicitly recognises the
importance of culture in achieving this. Within Ledet’s model,
A Proactive Mindset
One of the key features of Asset Management excellence within an organisation
is a relentless focus on being ahead of the game. Organisations that are good
at asset management don’t just let things happen – they make them happen.
And when events do occur that are outside their control, they are already
prepared for them, and have contingency plans, systems and processes in
place to deal with them. This constant, proactive mindset is an essential
element of the culture of high performing Asset Management organisations. It
has much in common with the High Reliability Organisations studied by Weick,
Sutcliffe and Obstfeld. High reliability organisations are characterised by
“processes of collective mindfulness which are indicated by a preoccupation
with failure, reluctance to simplify interpretations, sensitivity to operations,
commitment to resilience, and deference to expertise”. This aligns with the
“System Performance” focus in Ledet’s model and the Assurance Fundamental
of ISO 55000.
One useful (and visual) model that describes the various tools that can be used
by leaders for changing organisational culture is outlined in an article by Steve
Denning (Denning,2011) in Forbes magazine. This diagram is reproduced below.
Threats Fiat
This diagram draws the distinction between Leadership Tools (the “softer” stuff),
Management Tools (which we engineers typically focus on most) and Power
Tools (which we sometimes resort to, but should be avoided if possible). Using
the Power Tools for culture change can lead to short-term grudging compliance,
but any behavioural changes will not be sustained (“the floggings will continue
until morale improves”).
Denning points out in his article that effective culture change requires the right
balance between the use of Leadership Tools (creating an inspiring vision and
continually communicating it, finding and telling stories that inspire alignment
with the new vision, walking the talk etc) and Management Tools (ensuring that
roles and responsibilities are clear, establishing the right performance measures,
recruiting the right people, ensuring that the organisation has the right
competencies etc). Many people are more comfortable using the Management
Tools than the Leadership Tools. However those that swing the balance to
increase their use of Leadership Tools frequently achieve great results – these
are the ones that you see collecting the awards for outstanding performance.
• The measures that you select are absolutely critical, and need to be chosen
to drive the behaviours that you are seeking. If you are seeking compliance
with procedures, then you will need to establish some form of measure
that determines whether this is occurring. If you are seeking to eliminate
the causes of failures, then once again, you will need to establish some
form of measure that determines whether this is occurring. Measuring an
output, without some form of measure that indicates whether the desired
behaviours were applied in achieving that output is generally too indirect.
However, do not lose sight of the fact that the desired behaviours are
intended to produce a desired outcome (so somewhere you will need to
measure the outputs). If you and your people are doing the right things,
but not achieving the right results, then you will need to reconsider the
direction you are heading.
• Too few measures is better than too many. Give someone twelve measures
against which their performance is being evaluated, and all that happens
is that you confuse them. They will probably focus on the 3 or 4 that
means most to them (and which are the easiest for them to achieve target
performance on). Far better for you (as a leader) to pick the 3 or 4 that
are most important to the organisation, and ensure that they buy into
those measures and align their behaviours with the achievement of those
measures.
In addition, you also need to keep reminding people of the vision – why do they
work here? In what way can they contribute towards the achievement of this
higher cause? If you can inspire them, then they will require less management.
They will, within the limits of their capabilities, direct their energies towards the
achievement of your shared goals. This will help to achieve the goal of Vertical
Alignment discussed earlier in this article.
But in addition to that, look for situations where an individual has gone above
and beyond expectations, and demonstrated behaviours that you would
like to see repeated in your organisation, and ensure that that performance
is recognised – a pat on the back, or a mention in a meeting can be a very
powerful tool for creating “Heroes” that illustrate to others the behaviours that
they should aspire to display.
Create a Mythology
Following on from the previous point, don’t be afraid to use story-telling as a
powerful tool to create an organisational mythology which demonstrates the
way in which individuals have, in the past, demonstrated the behaviours that
you would like others to emulate. This can tap into both the Heroes and History
elements of Deal and Kennedy’s model and powerfully influence culture.
Some time ago, Fedex’s slogan was “Absolutely, Positively On Time, or your
Money Back”. Their formal performance measurement systems reinforced
this value – On-Time Delivery Performance was one of the first measures
discussed at just about every meeting, whether it was a daily pre-start meeting
with delivery drivers, or a meeting of senior executive. But in addition, there
was a series of anecdotes that were frequently told through the organisation
about the extraordinary lengths that Fedex staff would go to in order to ensure
that every possible package was delivered on time – including, in one case,
chartering a helicopter as the recipient (in a rural area) was snowed in. These
anecdotes were sources of great pride, and served to reinforce the types of
behaviours that were accepted and encouraged in pursuit of the organisation’s
mission.
ISO 55001 makes several references to the role of top management and
leadership in establishing sound asset management practices. Many of the
activities expected of top management in ISO 55001 are managerial in nature
(for example, ensuring that an asset management policy, Strategic Asset
Management Plan etc are established). However many are true leadership
activities and involve words such as:
• Communicating
• Supporting, and
• Promoting
Chapter 14
• Why are you Certifying? We will revisit the reasons for certification, which
we discussed in Chapter 3, as your reasons are likely to affect certification
choices.
• The ISO 55000 Certification Process. What to expect during the certification
process will be discussed, including:
It is very important that organisations enter into the certification process with
a clear understanding of the business case, including both a realistic estimate
of the resources (time, money and otherwise) required to achieve certification
and the benefits to the organisation of achieving that certification. Without
this, there will be a natural tendency to adopt a “tick the box” approach to
certification that focusses on cost rather than the quality of the outcome.
These CAABs ensure that any organisation accredited as a CAB has appropriate
processes and subject matter in specific areas to conduct conformity
assessments. In particular, CABs for ISO 55000 are bound by the requirements
of ISO/IEC 17021:2011 – Conformity assessment – Requirements for Bodies
Providing Audit and Certification of Management Systems and ISO/IEC 17021-
5:2015 – Competence Requirements for Auditing and Certification of Asset
Management Systems. Together, these standards provide prohibitions against
conflict of interest (i.e. the same company both consulting to and certifying an
organisation) and ensure the use of appropriately skilled auditors.
This system is broadly accepted and is the first choice for most organisations.
One word of caution, however – the wheels turn slowly in organisations such
as ISO and, as at July 2016, there is not yet international agreement on how to
audit against ISO 55000. Some CAABs, such as JAS-ANZ, have issued guidance
to CABs seeking accreditation (click here for details), while others are still
allowing any CAB accredited to conduct management system audits to certify
against ISO 55000.
If you wish to pursue this route, seek out your relevant CAAB, who will provide
a list of CABs accredited to assess against ISO 55000 (or rather ISO 55001:2014,
which is of course the requirements document).
Non-ISO Certification
While ISO has gone to considerable lengths to develop a framework to ensure
that assessments against its standards meet strict quality requirements, there
is no practical impediment to any organisation holding itself out as capable
of certifying other organisations as compliant with an ISO standard, including
ISO 55001:2014. As mentioned previously, obtaining certification outside of the
ISO scheme simply removes the right to place the relevant logo on the certified
organisation’s stationery – and you can expect that ISO will protect this right!
Given the above, an organisation seeking certification could look outside the
ISO framework for an appropriate scheme (and – if they really like audits – could
even choose to apply both!). The risks associated with this approach include:
• Recognition – while the ISO logos are well known, other certification
schemes may not be widely recognised and therefore may not deliver the
credibility desired by the organisation seeking certification.
Nevertheless, organisations may find that this approach is adequate for their
needs. They may even find that organisations offering these services are
genuine asset management consultancies that have deep experience to draw
on, rather than generic management system auditors that may be accredited
as CABs through the ISO scheme and that have appended ISO 55000 to existing
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 accreditations. In this way, alternative certification
schemes have the potential to support genuine improvement in asset
management practices, rather than mere compliance.
The only such scheme that we are aware of is the IAM’s Endorsed Assessor
Scheme. This scheme originated to provide certification against PAS 55, but
has been extended to cover ISO 55001:2014. This scheme offers less stringent
(though still effective and perhaps more realistic) conflict of interest protection
than the ISO process while still requiring evidence of both organisational and
individual auditor competency and has been running successfully for many
years. If you wish to pursue this route, visit the IAM by clicking here.
Within this process, you will see a Readiness Assessment, Gap Assessment
and the Certification step itself. All of these activities are, in essence, audits
and we will discuss them shortly. You may be able to conduct some of these
yourself, but your certification audit will certainly need to be conducted by an
independent assessor and it is common practice to have a Gap Assessment
or Pre-Certification Audit conducted by the same party earlier in the process.
Consequently, your first requirement is to identify a suitable organisation to
conduct these audits.
You should note that these are in addition to your on-going internal auditing,
as required by Clause 9.2 of ISO 55001:2014. It is also important to be aware
that ISO 55000 (and, most likely, future ISO management system standards)
is more exacting that previous standards. On your surveillance and re-
certification audits, you will be required to demonstrate that:
• Preparation – the auditors will obtain and review your documentation and
use this to plan out the remainder of the audit process, including:
• Site visit – the auditors will visit your site and undertake the required
interviews and workplace observations. This may lead to further requests
for documents, interviews and workplace observations to explore specific
issues that arise during the audit.
• Analysis and reporting – the auditors will review their results, finalise their
assessments and prepare a report. This must include a list of any non-
conformances, but should also include strengths and observations. Based
on this report, they will make their findings and issue a certificate (or not!).
Note that further evidence may be required during this step in order to
Maturity Assessments
Conclusion
Certification is an arduous process, which is why we only recommend it to
those clients that have a clear business case. If you are in that situation, then we
would suggest the keys to success are:
• Keep the business case in mind (both benefits and likely resources)
• Find a CAB that is accredited and can offer an audit team with the right
credentials, experience and personality to work effectively with your
organisation
Good luck and happy auditing! If you believe you need assistance to prepare
for or undertake a certification audit, we would be delighted to hear from
you. Click here to request an obligation-free consultation with one of our
experienced consultants.
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Implementing ISO 55000
Conclusion
In this e-book we have attempted to provide you with some insights and
practical tips, based on our experience in assisting a range of organisations to
implement improved Asset Management practices and processes. However
the discipline of Asset Management continues to evolve as more and more
organisations use Asset Management and ISO 55000 as a lever to improve
organisational performance. Assetivity plans to be in the vanguard in this field,
providing practical advice and assistance to our clients to help them improve
the productivity and performance of their assets and their people.
We will, from time to time, publish articles and other advice on our website
at www.assetivity.com.au and in our e-mail newsletter. If you are not already
subscribed to our newsletter, but would like to do so, then please register here.
Assetivity may be able to help you. Please contact us so that we can better
understand your needs, and develop a customised proposal to provide the
assistance you require.
Conclusion | 107
Implementing ISO 55000
About Assetivity
Assetivity is a Maintenance, Reliability and Asset Management consultancy, with
a small dedicated team of specialists located in Perth and in Brisbane.
References
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Bowman, D. (2015). Data Quality Standards. Retrieved 7 October 2016 from http://
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Deal, T., Kennedy, A., Kennedy, A.A. & Deal, T.E. (2000). Corporate Cultures: The Rites
and Rituals of Corporate Life. New York: Basic Books
Hodkiewicz, M.J. (2015), ‘Asset management - quo vadis (where are you going)?’,
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International Accreditation Forum - IAF (n.d.). Find IAF Members, addresses & contact
details. Retrieved 7 October 2016 from http://www.iaf.nu/articles/IAF_Members_&_
Signatories/4%20
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Implementing ISO 55000
References
International Organisation for Standardisation. (2014d). ISO/IEC 17021-5:2014 -
Conformity assessment -- Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification
of management systems -- Part 5: Competence requirements for auditing and
certification of asset management systems
References | 110