Asset Planning
The Asset Planning phase is typically the third phase of an AIPM implementation, and gets to the heart of asset management best practices. Whereas most asset managers and maintenance managers generally have a good feel for what assets need investment or replacement in the few coming years, it is much harder to estimate - across the whole asset base - what the long term investment needs will be to ensure that all assets continue to operate within the risk, cost and performance targets set in the strategic framework.
This is where Asset Planning kicks in. Rather than relying on asset managers to manually review the most likely long term needs for each asset class, the AIPM system models the degradation over time for each asset class (or even for specific assets within a class), computes both the costs over time associated with the various risks attached to each asset, and the replacement costs, and generates the optimal replacement timing for each asset.
Multiple scenarios can be analyzed to create a long term plan by optimizing the economic benefits and accounting for:
- Existing and committed investments (defined in the Investment Planning phase)
- Acceptable risk tolerances (safety, environmental, reliability, reputation,...)
- Replacement costs
- Recommended replacement dates for each asset
- Financial constraints (capital, O&M)
- Financial risks (e.g. lost revenue risk)
These scenarios can then be analyzed for sensitivity to a number of parameters such as discount rate, inflation rate, energy pricing, commodities pricing, etc.).
A rich configurable reporting package to communicate and defend the recommended investment plan can be generated for inclusion in discussions with stakeholders and rate filings, where applicable, to justify the recommendation.
Benefits
Implementing the Asset Investment phase will enable an organization to efficiently generate optimal replacement timing recommendations for all assets based on their current condition, replacement costs, asset-based risks and likely degradation of the assets over time. These recommendations allow you to document and defend your future investment needs to maintain the assets in line with the strategic framework. This will contribute to:
- Understanding and visualizing the longer term liabilities or risks faced by the organization across the asset base and the early determination of their impact on current plans
- A significant reduction in the development, re-work and approval cycle time for long term asset plans leaving more time for other value added activities
- One-click preparation of a comprehensive package to communicate and defend recommendations in both regulated and non-regulated environments
- Consistency, transparency, accuracy and completeness in investment plan preparation
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