A Comparative Study of Engineering Asset Management Best Practice in Australia, New Zealand, UK, AND USA

Abstract

Integrated Engineering Asset Management (IEAM) involves integrated processes of managing physical assets during their useful lives, and requires a certain level of management insight and expertise from diverse organisational disciplines. IEAM is a systematic, structured process covering the whole life of physical assets whereby the underlying assumption is that an organisation's assets exist to support the organisation's delivery strategies. The principal objective of IAM is thus to achieve the best possible match of assets with an organisation's delivery strategies. This paper considers the findings of a best practice comparative study of the basic principles of Integrated Engineering Asset Management, as represented by current thinking with asset owners as well as professional organisations representing asset owners, in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. These principles relate to concepts or themes that can be presented in the form of an integrated asset management structure or framework namely, asset service delivery, strategic planning, decision making and risk assessment; asset full life cycle costing and budgeting; asset usage modelling, monitoring, maintenance, and replacement; asset data acquisition, information systems, and performance measurement. It is on the basis of an integrated asset management framework that an organization can benchmark its own asset management practice.