In hard economic time cities are faced with greater pressure to preserve facilities and assets over even greater life spans in the most cost effective manner possible. Maintenance departments are faced with ever-decreasing budgets for day-to-day maintenance and large capital asset replacements. However, the expectations to maintain consistent conditions and overall reliability of those assets have risen over the years. With the help of asset tracking software or CMMS, organizations can better understand the state of their physical assets, replacement costs, lifecycle analysis, and current and future funding needs.
Every city hopes to become the go-to city for efficiency and maximizing financial resources. With hundreds of assets such as pavement, curbs, sewers, drainage, trees, snow removal equipment, parks, and facilities, many cities are turning to Asset Lifecycle Management to better plan for the future. Asset Lifecycle tracking in collaboration with a CMMS can help tell managers which assets take longer to maintain, which need to be replaced more often and which are costing the city more money. This is critical for cost analysis on a detailed level and for budget purposes when presenting to the city council.
Though Asset Lifecycle tracking has many benefits here are four benefits every city should consider.
1. Detailed Asset Master List
Asset Tracking Software can define assets in extraordinary detail that can relate uniquely to each cities time-keeping system. For instance, facility assets can be defined hierarchically starting with Building ID, then room #, then actual asset. Assets can even be defined down to specific square footage in a room. By compiling a master list in such detail, city maintenance departments can implement accountability and tie costs to each hierarchical level. This helps cities budget responsibly due to the large amount of information.
2. Asset Lifecycle Analysis
Lifecycle analysis provides a grading mechanism that can plan capital expenditures and evaluate PM effectiveness. Each asset is graded on a pass to fail scale, A being in good condition and F failing. By grading each asset on its condition and frequency of breakdowns, managers can step away from the poor practice of replacing equipment or assets solely on age. Many older assets could perform at optimal levels for many more years while newer assets are draining the budget with constant repairs. With Asset Lifecycle analysis, departments can shift spending to where it is most needed.
3. Improvement in Average Life of an Asset
Implementing Equipment Maintenance Software and/or a CMMS can extend the average life span of an asset and reduce the amount of necessary replacements. By setting up recurring PM schedules. This keeps maintenance consistent and keeps assets running at their optimal levels. This can reduce the amount of the budget that is spent on equipment replacement that could have been avoided.
4. Cost analysis and Reporting
Producing consistent reports to the City Council that are designed to deliver accurate planning data in an easy to understand format will aid in receiving the necessary funding for day-to-day maintenance and large capital replacements. Reports can contain the costs associated with a specific category of assets as well as project future asset replacements and failures. This allows for long term planning and better allocation of each years budget.
No matter the size of a city, or the size of the budget Asset Lifecycle tracking can help maximize financial resources and improve efficiency.