In today's economic scenario, organizations around the world are grappling with
a problem of how to make the most of their existing resources. In order to
maintain a healthy level of profits and effective operations, they need to operate
at an optimum level. Hence, it is imperative to proactively reduce costs, increase
productivity and respond to a rapidly changing regulatory and economic
environment. This demands an accurate inventory, detailed analysis of cost history,
movement tracking, maintenance and repair calibrations, work and asset
management.
It is important to manage assets across the entire organization from a strategic
view as well, rather than solely from a purchase or maintenance perspective. Apart
from this, the responsibility of corporates to reduce their carbon footprint is also a
driving factor for them to adopt solutions that help reduce their carbon emissions by
effective operations and process streamlining. For asset-intensive industries,
effective asset management becomes the primary motto in to excel in a competitive
economic scenario. The fundamental business goal for asset-intensive industries is
to utilize capital assets to provide services at lowest cost, in a safe, secure,
sustainable, and sufficient manner.
Enterprise asset management (EAM) refers to the optimal management of
physical assets of an organization across their lifespan to maximize value. It
covers design, construction, commissioning, operations, maintenance and
decommissioning/replacement of plant, equipment and facilities. "Enterprise"
refers to the management of assets across departments, locations, facilities and,
in some cases, business units. By managing assets across the facility,
organizations can improve utilization and performance, reduce capital costs,
reduce asset-related operating costs, extend asset life and subsequently improve
return on assets.
The functions of asset management are taking a fundamental turn where
organizations are moving from historical reactive (run-to-failure) models and
beginning to embrace whole life planning, life cycle costing, planned and proactive
maintenance and other industry best practices. Some companies still regard
physical asset management as just a more 'business-focused' term for maintenance
management - until they begin to realize the organization-wide impact and
interdependencies with operations, design, asset performance, personnel
productivity and lifecycle costs.
THE INDIA STORY
While organizations across the world have recognized the need
for an effective asset management solution, Indian counterparts
have also followed suit. However, there are various asset-intensive
organizations in India which still run operations on a reactive
model rather than a proactive asset and works management
model. This may result in revenue losses and sometimes it might
be the deciding factor between profit and loss or compliance and
non compliance.
Typically the driving factors for adopting an enterprise asset
management solution are include underperforming assets,
scheduling issues, increase in unplanned outages, growing
maintenance costs, strained cash flows, lack of data around
assets, risk-safety & environmental concerns etc. Thus, both
public and private asset intensive industries are looking for an IT
solution that would help them in maintaining their infrastructure
and assets. Enterprise asset management is one such solution
which is gaining quick popularity by providing a holistic view of
the organizations' assets, and greater control over the operational
quality, efficiency, and carbon footprint. Enterprise asset
management solutions are specifically helpful in managing huge
and complex assets in asset intensive industries like
manufacturing, oil & gas, energy & utilities, and transportation
where operational efficiency and downtime management is the
holy grail.
Rapid population growth combined with an accelerated
economic growth has put a stress on the Indian energy and utility
sector and this trend is predicted to continue over the coming
years. The energy and utilities sector is a flourishing sector in
India with a plethora of private and government organizations
vying for this lucrative pie. The power sector in India has always
been instrumental in the urbanization and industrialization of
India. Experts opine that the power sector is going to play a
crucial role in the next phase of economic growth in India. The
power ministry of Government of India has realized this and has
launched various transformational projects to cope with the huge
demand that has been forecasted. The power ministry has realized
that before taking up the regular distribution strengthening
projects, there are two things to focus on - the establishment of
reliable and automated systems for sustained collection of
accurate base line data and the adoption of Information
Technology in the areas of energy accounting.
One such spin-off, has been the Restructured Accelerated
Power Development & Reforms programme (R-APDRP)
launched by the power ministry. This programme will include
asset mapping of the entire distribution network at and below the
11kV transformers. This includes the Distribution Transformers
and Feeders, Low Tension lines, poles and other distribution
network equipment. The power distribution sector has always
been identified as a significant link in the chain of power
generation & supply. This is because the financial viability of the
entire power sector depends on distribution to be responsible for
collecting energy charges from consumers. However burgeoning
commercial and technical losses in this sector have always placed
enormous financial burden on state and Central governments.
An enterprise wide asset management solution is clearly the
answer to the power development and reforms. There is a
spectrum of enterprise asset management products which are
gaining global popularity. IBM MAXIMO, LOGICA ARM, SAP
PM are a few of such popular products which have been adopted
by various global enterprises in order to achieve a better asset
management operational quality and efficiency. The current
scenario and the investments made in the energy and utilities and
other sectors in India make it imperative and logical that
Enterprise asset management plays an important role in
managing huge and complex assets in critical sectors like
manufacturing, transportation, energy and utilities etc.
Not only the power sector but even the physical infrastructure
sector has grown leaps and bounds in the recent decade and is
expected to continue its growth story. Construction of new metro
rails, ports, roads, railways and airports is an indicative of the
huge amount of investments in assets and infrastructure. While
the growth story continues, it becomes imperative to track and
maintain the existing assets and infrastructure. Thus, the
consistent high volume growth in asset intensive sectors has
created a huge scope and market for enterprise asset management
solutions, which are about to play a pivotal role in justifying and
creating value for the investments.
(Sudhir Sharma is Delivery Head-Energy & Utilities, Logica)