Full Lifecycle Management

Asset lifecycle integration:

The asset lifecycle has eight main stages, each with people silos responsible for them, and technology silos they might use:

  • Strategy/plan: Depending on the industry, senior management develops a long-term capital plan that includes replacement of aging assets, as well as new assets that accommodate growth and an ever-changing strategic plan for the overall corporation. Software tools: capital asset planning software; strategic planning software
  • Design: Execution of the Stage 1 plan begins with the design phase, where internal or external engineering resources are responsible for the design of new or replacement assets. Software tools: Computer-Aided Design (CAD); Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE)
  • Assets installation and moving them into production
  • Build/Procure/Acquire: Once stakeholders accept a design, the asset is built, purchased or acquired through the efforts of the procurement department using external vendors. Software tools: CAD; Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Fixed Asset Accounting and Procurement modules
  • Installation: Internal engineering, operations and maintenance resources work with external vendors to install and test the asset. Software tools: ERP Fixed Asset Accounting module; CAD; project management; various off-the-shelf and asset-specific quality assurance and testing software
  • Operation: This stage provides the greatest source of revenue, and ultimately, the return on capital employed. It’s the longest and most expensive stage in an asset lifecycle, most often managed by the Operations Department. Software tools: ERP Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and other operational modules; shop-floor data collection; Human-Machine Interface (HMI); Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA); Programmable Logic Controller (PLC); Building Management System (BMS); a wide variety of asset-specific, proprietary software
  • Maintenance: The Maintenance Department is responsible for maximizing the availability, reliability and performance of the asset at minimal cost during the Operation stage. The Maintenance stage is interspersed throughout the Operation stage, such as whenever there is a breakdown, during planned shutdowns, for periodic preventive maintenance inspections and so on. Software tools: CMMS
  • Modification/Refurbishment: From time to time, a business need or technology change precipitates a modification to the asset by engineering, maintenance or an outside vendor (eg, to boost performance). Refurbishment simply brings the asset back to “good as new” condition, usually following a functional failure. Software tools: CMMS; CAD; ERP Procurement and Fixed Asset Accounting modules.
  • Disposal: The final stage of the asset lifecycle begins when an asset is no longer satisfying the needs of the business in a cost-effective manner or is at the end of its useful life. Engineering and Procurement Departments are typically involved in retiring assets. Software tools: ERP Procurement and Fixed Asset Accounting modules.