Understanding the Extent of the Backlog Maintenance
Understanding the extent of the backlog is crucial to minimizing the volume of deferred maintenance and substantiating the need for funding. An assessment (often called an audit) can help eliminate any unknowns and provide a clearer picture of how big of a problem deferred maintenance has become.
The assessment should evaluate the plant and equipment's condition and code compliance, as well as the performance and age of all equipment and systems. The result is a total inventory and list of necessary projects, repairs, and system upgrades for each asset type.
When conducting an assessment, maintenance managers should consult with the professionals that are most familiar with each of the plant and equipment types and its systems in particular. On completion, these professionals would provide a detailed report, including the findings and a prioritized list of recommendations for repairs/maintenance.
However, in some situations, it may be wise to employ the services of a third party to perform the assessment; your own maintenance team may not see the deterioration that is in front of them.
Asset Identification
This must be done thoroughly to ensure that every asset is identified. If the correct processes are followed, it would not be necessary to repeat this afterwards.
Because of the expense involved, this is generally avoided, which means that any of the steps that follows is lacking subsistence, and, essentially, meaningless.
The Asset Register is a key to understanding in detail what assets are owned and controlled and, depending on the complexity of information entered, can be used to determine:
- The likely current condition of assets.
- When assets need to be replaced.
- Information required in meeting accounting standards and other regulatory requirements.
- Asset locations and asset custodians for stock-takes.
- The level and frequency of asset maintenance programs; and
- Life-cycle costs by asset, program and business activity.
Asset Verification
A physical verification of assets is a process that is used to determine that the assets in the Asset Register are in fact in the possession of the company. Usually, the goal is to confirm the physical existence of the assets and ensure that they are accounted for.
But that is only part of the process. For insurance purposes, you need to verify that the records match the asset's nameplate detail. Apart from the engine, gearbox and differential, the remaining part of a vehicle could have over ninety specification fields that have to match. Make, type, model and serial numbers are simply not enough.
Roles and Responsibilities of Board Members
It has become obvious that the Public Service Board Members, specifically Councillors, have very little to no clue of what their Roles and Responsibilities are in terms of Asset Management. The dilapidated infrastructure that we see on TV and/or in newspapers is a clear indication that Councillors are not fulfilling their fiduciary duty. Very soon the public will "wake up" and then we could probably see more criminal charges being laid against individuals such as Municipal Managers, Directors Engineering (Technical Service) and Finance and Councillors.
We are busy preparing a "special" newsletter in which we will deal with the Roles and Responsibilities of individuals with respect to Asset Management and invite you to let us know of cases where anyone of the aforementioned individuals have been charged for not fulfilling their fiduciary duty with respect to Asset Management.