Collaboration in the asset lifecycle is a new concept that is changing the way asset owners and service providers operate asset compliance. This simple change in thinking is creating a new way to improve and transform every part of asset and service event management.
Why is Asset Compliance Collaboration Important?
To maintain asset compliance and continue to grow asset services, clear communication is key. Vendors need to know when assets are due for maintenance and which services are required. Asset managers need to know they can rely on their service providers to meet set appointments and provide quick work to minimize downtime. Each relies on the other, whether they want to or not.
Unfortunately, even the best communication doesn’t offer everything needed for stakeholders in the asset lifecycle to succeed in asset compliance. Focusing on building good relationships and effective processes has become the norm for the industry, but it doesn’t offer the most successful results. Current asset owner-service provider best practices keep organizations afloat, but they don’t enable them to continue improving.
That’s where collaboration comes in.
What is Asset Lifecycle Collaboration?
With collaboration, asset and service event management shifts from “how do I meet my responsibilities” to “how do we maintain our success.” Rather than two parties working against each other to prioritize their own goals, collaboration creates a team effort that saves time and improves efficiency on both ends providing asset compliance. With the shared efforts, information, and responsibility created by a collaborative relationship, both asset owners and service providers can proactively maintain asset readiness and achieve shared goals with more success.
How does Collaboration Fit in Our Industry?
Traditionally, service providers and asset managers approach similar goals from different angles. Asset managers, for example, want to maintain full asset compliance. To do so, they need assets that are calibrated and maintained to meet regulations. Every minute of downtime equals money lost, so they need quick and reliable servicing. Likewise, vendors need to provide services that maintain asset use and compliance for their clients. The key to retaining clients and growing their business is consistent customer satisfaction, so fast and accurate servicing is vital.
In the end, a fully maintained asset that meets compliance requirements and runs as it should after servicing is the desired result. While communication is certainly necessary for this asset compliance, it simply supports stakeholder efforts rather than improving, and maybe even eliminating, them. Though commonly practiced, typical asset maintenance processes are incredibly inefficient. These processes usually include the following steps:
- The asset owner sees that their asset is due for maintenance and connects with a service provider. If the vendor is an in-house calibration lab or someone they’ve worked with before, this step may involve nothing more than a phone call to schedule the service event. If not, the asset owner then has to find a service provider that can offer the required services, spend time explaining their needs, and work to find a timeline that works for both parties. This vendor also has to spend time getting the information needed, while also balancing their scheduling needs against the client’s.
- After the service event, the vendor will provide the service event certificate, which both parties will then have to reliably input to their records. If these notes are lost, incomplete, or inaccurately recorded, both parties could face serious consequences, including the loss of business or a cessation of operations.
- If the job is completed successfully, both parties may work together in the future. Whenever an asset needs servicing, either for regular maintenance or emergency repairs, the asset manager will again have to contact the service provider, who will again have to find a scheduling option that works for both.
And so the cycle will continue, ineffective and inefficient for everyone involved.
Instead, as you will see in the coverage we’ll continue to offer this month, asset lifecycle collaboration can eliminate many of the uncertainties and redundancies created by typical asset management processes. Collaboration is the key to the next step in asset lifecycle innovation and growth, for both service providers and asset managers, so we’ll show you how to use it to your advantage.
