Company, Community, Country, Planet

"It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best." // Deming

Asset management can be a fickle business. The ever-evolving world requires agility, resilience; strategic foresight; and a commitment to continuous improvement. Success however has many prerequisites. Differentiation in business often focuses on innovation in pursuit of operational excellence. More importantly, the business of asset management should support both the company objectives and the environment.

Weak Asset Management and Under-Utilization of the CMMS

Who should be accountable? We certainly cannot put any of the blame on the vendor – or can we? What if the product we bought fell short of performance promises? Maybe the product lacked a bad actor report and weekly schedule. The implementation team may have done a poor job training staff. Maybe the staff operating the software was not trained in maintenance/reliability best practices and failed to use the product correctly. There could be numerous reasons.

Both groups have a responsibility, however, the on-site staff has final accountability. As reliability leaders, your best course of action is to identify what the asset management system should do and then draw up the ideal model. Without this endgame in mind, you most certainly will not reach that goal. The CMMS is only one element of an asset management system but it is a very important one. Unfortunately, many leadership teams only use the software to “manage assets and workers.” A better strategy is to establish a critical business system that supports asset performance management, craft efficiency, and job safety which optimizes ROA.

Your Business Model May Be Good, But the Competition May Be Better

Imagine a similar company, the same size, selling the same type of product, but over the last 5 years grew at a faster rate. Healthy competition is good but how did they become so much better? Perhaps they were more aggressive at business benchmarking. The goal of competition is not to win, so much as it is, to be unique. Somehow, they achieved greater customer satisfaction at a better price point. Further, their manufacturing success benefited from better asset performance, reliability, and worker productivity. It certainly helps to have everyone believing in the company mission and rowing in the same direction.

It is a gamble but sometimes taking a calculated risk is beneficial. Pursuing an improvement initiative that has some risk can result in optimized decision-making which in turn enables profitable ROA. High-reliability organizations (HRO) take calculated risks, such as, when implementing advanced processes.

Poor Leadership Affects the Bottom Line

Bad leadership can lead to low team morale. Employees who feel disrespected, undervalued, or unsupported are less likely to be engaged and motivated. When there is no leadership, executive sponsorship, or understanding of industry best practices, then the asset management system will struggle to support decision-making as to failure analysis, work scheduling, and managing risks.

New Regulations Can Require You to Change

Some things you can control but this is not one of them. Therefore, resilience and agility are important skills to have so that organizations can change and adapt. Resilience is the ability to cope with adversity, uncertainty, and stress, and to bounce back from challenges and grow. Agility is the ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, such as by adjusting strategies and operations. These are attributes of successful organizations in difficult times.

Poor Use of Craft Resources

Environmental Impact

The business of asset management should support both the goals of the organization and the environment, i.e., the planet. Environmental impact is the effect of human activities on the environment. In addition to harming human health, industrial pollutant emissions also harm plants, animals, and their habitats, altering breeding cycles and biodiversity.  Examples include:

(1)   Air pollution: Industrial processes release toxic gases into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which can contribute to climate change and increase the risk of respiratory diseases in humans.

(2)   Water pollution: Industries can pollute fresh water and oceans, that are essential for human life and natural ecosystems.

(3)   Soil contamination: Chemical manufacturing can contaminate soil, harming wildlife and ecosystems.

(4)   Depletion of natural resources: Industries can deplete natural resources through mining and other processes

Toxic Culture

A toxic culture is a negative work environment that can harm employees and organizational performance. A toxic culture can be especially impactful to the implementation of advanced processes. It is characterized by unethical behaviors, disrespect, and even sabotage. This ongoing behavior can lead to high turnover, communication problems, lack of trust, and poor support of critical business systems.

The UN-SDG and Asset Management

The UN sustainable development goals are a universal set of 17 goals that were agreed upon by UN member countries to solve some of humanity's biggest challenges within 15 years. They aim to end poverty and hunger, increase access to education, address migration, combat climate change, and reduce inequality.

Good asset management contributes to seven of the UN-SDG goals: clean water and sanitation; decent work and economic growth; industry, innovation, and infrastructure; sustainable cities and communities; responsible consumption and production; climate action; and affordable clean energy.

What Will You Do in 2024?

What improvement initiatives will you pursue? Should you plan for improvement, or “just let it happen?” Successful organizations have a prioritized roadmap that provides direction. They also are quite capable of adapting to change in difficult times. The most effective maintenance programs understand the importance of advanced processes that enable staff to do more with less and support the environment. If the goal is to be better than the rest, then you should be more effective at preventing those failures that matter the most.

Humans could go the way of the dinosaurs for many reasons. Global conflict, pandemics, global warming, bioterrorism, and increased pollution are threats to business, society, and the world. It is time to take a stand. There is no Plan B.