Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Learning About Asset Management

Asset management is a organized process that focuses on operating assets. Business and engineering practices combined result in tools that offer a more organized approach to decision making, to best fit the business requirements.

It includes identifying the need for a particular asset, operating and maintaining the asset, as well as disposing of the asset when the need for it no longer exists.

Organizations from different industries now focus on a cross-disciplinary view of this type of management. That is why modern and optimized asset management targets an integrated business model.

This management should be not only cross-disciplinary, but also applied in a structured way. It should be sustainable, integrated and risk-oriented.

It shows how an asset-dependent company sets and achieves its goals. The company's business plan should cover the strategy and objectives included in the management. Good management leads to good decision making. It is important also to focus on the optimization of cost, performance and risks.

When dealing with this type of management, risk management is an important part of it. It is essential to identify and keep the risks under control, this being a good practice. A good information system also boosts the performances of asset management.

It is also a good practice to give specific training to the team members, so that they can incorporate business essentials with engineering skills. This will result in smooth asset management processes, with best decision-making results.

There are browser-based management solutions that allow asset team members to work together, even though they are located in different places. These types of online solutions are web-based project management solutions that offer tools and services to make it easier to manage projects.

Web-based asset management systems assist team members with collaboration tools, real-time visibility and centralized data and assets. There are integrated asset databases available, when working with a web-based management system.

Centralized information is offered and data integrity is ensured. From a corporate standpoint, there is more accessibility and control, as well as visibility. Asset monitoring and evaluation can be performed.

There are online inventories of fixed and rolling assets that are kept continuously up-to-date. Using performance indicators, one can measure the business parameters of interest. Analysis of different types may be performed, as regards risk management and budgeting, for improved decision making.

By : Jack_Wogan

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