Efficient Plant May 2018 - 48

column | seeking reliability

Establish
An Asset
Management
Policy
Drew D. Troyer, CRE, CMRP
Contributing Editor

This column explores, from a management
perspective, the Five Pillars of Knowledge,
as defined by the Society for Maintenance
and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), Atlanta
(smrp.org). Expanded, more technical,
takes on topics covered here will appear in
Efficient Plant's monthly "Reliability Solutions" e-newsletters. To receive them, visit
efficientplantmag.com and select Subscribe
under the Magazine menu item.

Based in Tulsa, OK, industry veteran Drew Troyer is
principal with Sigma Reliability Solutions.
Email Drew.Troyer@sigma-reliability.com.

| EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

S A RELIABILITY-engineering consultant, I get to
visit operations in a wide range
of industry sectors around the world.
Whenever I enter a new plant or headquarters office, I like to look at what's
on the wall. Almost always, I'll find an
excellent, clear, eloquently worded safety
policy hanging there-often bearing the
signature of the CEO or other appropriate executive. I'll also frequently see
documents pertaining to an organization's environmental policy and, in some
cases, a quality/customer-satisfaction
statement. These documents are public
proclamations of the organizations' commitment to safety, the environment and/
or quality/customer satisfaction.
What's rare, however, is to see an
asset-management policy on display. I
find that fact surprising and, candidly,
somewhat disturbing.
In a physical-asset-dependent type
of operation (that would be yours, if you
are reading Efficient Plant), achieving
mission objectives, including profitability/maximizing owner equity, safety,
environmental performance and quality/customer satisfaction, depends upon
the performance of your physical assets.
Thus, the importance of an asset-management policy can't be overstated. It's
in the First Pillar of the SMRP Body of
Knowledge. Likewise, creation of an
asset-management policy is literally step
number one in the ISO 55000 standard
for asset management, as well as its
predecessor, the Publically Available
Specification (PAS) 55, published by the
British Standards Institute (BSI).
While I can't explain why so few
organizations seem to have made the
commitment to create and adopt an
asset-management policy, I can help

move yours in that direction. You'll find
an example of an asset-management
policy in an upcoming Efficient Plant
e-newsletter and here (efficientplantmag.com/1805troyer).
Keep in mind that an effective
asset-management policy must succinctly state the organization's commitment
to physical-asset management. It must
be written in such a way that it is easily
understood by anyone in the organization, as well as visitors to the plant
or offices. It must serve as the basis for
creating strategies, codes of practices,
plans, and procedures. Furthermore, it
must address physical-asset management across the asset's lifecycle, including acquisition, operation, maintenance,
and disposal/reuse, as defined by PAS 55
and ISO 55000.
Last, but not least, the document
must be signed by the organization's
CEO and/or other executive-level
managers, then framed and conspicuously posted in all areas where business
is conducted-usually the same places
where safety, environmental, and quality/customer satisfaction policies are
posted.
I can't overemphasize the importance of having executive signatures on
the asset-management policy document
and putting it on public display. That's
what makes the organization's commitment real and strengthens compliance.
If an organization doesn't have
a signed asset-management policy
prominently displayed throughout its
operations, it hasn't completed step
one in the journey to world-class asset
management.
Check out my sample policy (efficientplantmag.com/1805troyer) and
then get to work creating your own. EP

MAY 2018

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant May 2018