Making the Case for Critical Assets

摘要

The most bang for the buck. That goal—in its most basic form—is what asset management strives to achieve. By definition, asset management is the optimization of an asset's life-cycle costs to meet customer performance standards in a safe, environmentally sound manner. Asset management is a hot topic in our industry for good reason. In its most basic form, all utilities practice asset management by maintaining pipes, equipment, and vehicles. New assets are added when it makes sense. A systematic asset management program is basically a framework in which each phase of the asset life cycle is analyzed as it progressively consumes resources, requiring operations and maintenance (O&M) personnel to monitor performance, condition, and cost. It is also the single most reliable method for utilities to get a handle on what to do with assets and when to do it.