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#1. 

Obsessed with relevancy of Asset data – Asset data is dynamic as it changes with asset location, type and description. Leading teams obsess over the relevancy of their asset data and review it frequently to keep it fresh and relevant for their team. For example, asset images are refreshed every six months to represent asset age appropriately.

Their Asset Management Software is configured with user-friendly protocols for data entry. To avoid duplication, data entry formats are agreed and implemented by all users. The trade-off between all users authorised to enter and amend data (speed of asset data entry) against selected users making data entry and changes (accuracy of asset data entry) is taken after consulting users.

Historic data is never deleted; it is archived or made obsolete.  This helps to preserve the accuracy of asset reports.

#2.

Asset Management Software is kept free from misleading field names - Field names within software are guiding pillars to create and maintain accurate asset data. During the implementation stage, the field names are agreed with the users of the system rather than one person deciding it for the company. For well managed systems, field names that are mandatory are bigger fields than the others.

#3.

Reports are for information and decision making, not data - For most dynamic asset-intensive industries, reporting parameters are tweaked every quarter. Leading asset managers ensure that their software systems reflect changing reporting parameters. In order to ensure reports are reliable, data freshness and data audits are frequently undertaken. To ensure users don’t spend time on unnecessary data, asset reports have minimum segmenting columns. Real time alerts on asset performance reports are set to ensure that the right alerts get full attention (an alert on every change loses the urgency factor, so an alert should only be set when it influences key performance indicators). As with any data, leading teams do not delete reports but obsolete them.

#4.

Influence adoption of Asset Management Software with User Meetings – High performance asset teams use lunch-and-learn type formats to drive adoption of their asset management software. Every few months, users of the system get together for:

•    Short refresher trainings

•    Error Reporting

•    Software User Experience

•    Feedback for the software vendor

•    Changes required to workflow

#5.

Influence Software Development with Vendor meetings – Every six months to a year, leading maintenance teams meet with their software vendors to review:

•     Success of implementation

•     Suggestions for product roadmaps

•     Management of software upgrades

#6.

Support statistics reveal more than incidents – Leading teams get more out of their support data by observing trends. For example, if the number of incidents on the user interface are higher than reporting accuracy, then the teams will arrange a training session on user interface. The support trends are very useful for longer periods (twelve to twenty-four months) wherein high performance teams can identify well-adopted parts of their software and workflow.

#7.

Software Upgrade Plan is tested - There are two elements to the upgrade that leading teams evaluate critically: 1) Timing of the upgrade and 2) Implementation of the upgrade. 

On timing, early adoption has some significant advantages, especially if the new product upgrade is driven by your company. However, quite often early upgrade means you experience a product that has more bugs than a stable version.

Implementation of the upgrade - Whilst most teams test upgrades on a virtual machine or a dummy computer, leading teams ensure that the upgrade is not just tested by IT but also by identified superusers before rolling out the upgrade across all their users.

#8.

An eye on alternative options – The convergence of SaaS, machine-learning-driven predictive analysis, Internet of Things and mobile devices is changing the asset maintenance landscape continuously. Leading teams always keep an eye on the upcoming technologies to ensure they leverage on relevant technological trends.

This blog post was written for Maintworld-magazine by Prasanna Kulkarni, Founder and Product Architect of Comparesoft Ltd. Prasanna is a mechanical engineer and has direct experience with Asset Intensive Industries.