The ISO 55000 standard for asset management system which was released in January will have a positive effect in terms of raising awareness about the importance of asset management, states physical asset management company Pragma research and development director Arnold Botha.

He adds, however, that it does not cover the full scope of asset management and is only focused on its management system.

“ISO 55000 defines a management system as a set of interrelated or interacting elements of an organisation to establish asset management policies and objectives, as well as the processes to achieve those objectives,” says Botha.

He points out that asset management has grown in stature over the last few years and that most asset-intensive organisations realise the need for proper asset management, although opinions vary about what that is.
In addition, investors, insurers and regulating bodies deem it necessary to require assurance that organisations have proper asset management in place to reduce risks. Such assurance should be based on an internationally recognised standard.

In the absence of such an international standard, the British Standards Institute published a specification for asset management in 2004, called PAS 55. The document was a major breakthrough in terms of defining concepts and providing a framework for an asset management system. It was also based on the iterative four-step management method used in business for the control and continuous improvement of processes and products called Deming’s plan-do-check-adjust (PDCA) cycle in line with ISO standards for other management systems.

“Although PAS 55 was only partially recognised and adopted, it formed the foundation for the new ISO 55000 standard. It means that organisations that have embarked on a PAS 55 journey will have to make only cosmetic changes in transitioning towards ISO 55001 certification,” says Botha.

Once the regulators and insurers start insisting that an organisation becomes ISO 55001 certified, senior management will have to take note and give asset management the attention it deserves.

The certification process will also require participation from other functions in the organisation, like operations, human resources and finance, which means that it will have to be driven by senior management to be successful.

“If there is an urgent need by senior management to achieve ISO 55001 certification, there will be pressure on the asset manager to not only establish all the required processes, systems and documents but also demonstrate that they are being used by accumulating records of improvements as evidence.”

Botha asserts that, in addition to a number of definitions and concepts, the standard contains seven major clauses, each with sub- clauses. These include context of the organisation, leadership, planning, support, oper- ations, performance evaluation and improvement.

However, the first thought asset management practitioners have when looking at ISO 55001 is one of disappointment, Botha states.

“After all the anticipation and hype, we were a bit disappointed by it being only 13 pages. Clause 8 Operation, which addresses all asset life-cycle activities, is less than a page in the standard and just more than two pages in the supplementary ISO 55002. No mention is made of maintenance decisions or best practices, asset portfolio management or asset acquisition,” he says.

The missing pieces, Botha notes, are found in the Asset Management Landscape document, issued by the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM).

“It provides a more comprehensive framework of asset management through its 39 subjects, which include aspects such as life-cycle value realisation, demand analysis, shutdown and outage strategy, operations and maintenance decision-making, as well as asset decommissioning and disposal.

“It is available free of charge on the GFMAM’s website and is about to be updated with more detail on each of these subjects. I believe that these two documents should be read and implemented together to ensure successful and sustainable asset management,” concludes Botha.