Why Asset Collection Is Only Half the Story
Learn why successful asset collection includes condition surveys, maintenance history and data cleansing, creating the foundation for better maintenance decisions.
Ask someone what an asset data collection project involves and they'll probably picture engineers walking around site recording asset details, serial numbers and equipment locations.
They're not wrong.
Creating an accurate asset register is an essential part of any maintenance improvement programme. Without it, it's difficult to plan maintenance effectively, determine asset criticality or build a reliable Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
However, collecting physical asset information is only half the story.
To make informed maintenance decisions in the future, organisations also need to understand how those assets have performed throughout their lives. That means understanding the current physical status of the asset in addition to collecting and validating maintenance history alongside the asset information itself.
Together, these provide the foundation for better maintenance decisions.
Building More Than an Asset Register
An asset register tells you what you own.
It records information such as:
Asset descriptions
Equipment locations
Manufacturers and models
Serial numbers
Asset hierarchy
Parent and child relationships
Asset condition
Asset importance and criticality
All of this information is essential.
The financial asset register will include most of the above information along with purchase history, deprecation value, original cost etc.
But on its own, it tells you very little about how the asset actually performs.
To build a complete picture, organisations should also gather historical maintenance information wherever possible.
This should include:
Preventive maintenance history
Breakdown records
Repair history
Failure causes
Downtime
Spare parts used
Labour hours
Maintenance costs
Inspection records
Condition monitoring results
Together, with information on the asset condition this information provides context. It helps maintenance teams understand not only what assets they have, but how those assets have behaved over time and when they need replacing, refurbishing or a change in maintenance strategy.
Asset Collection and Cleansing Go Hand in Hand
One of the biggest opportunities during an asset collection exercise is improving the quality of the information already held.
As assets are inspected and maintenance records reviewed, it's common to discover:
Duplicate assets
Assets that no longer exist
Equipment that has never been registered
Incorrect locations
Missing manufacturer information
Inconsistent naming conventions
Incomplete maintenance history
Missing failure information
Obsolete maintenance plans
Rather than treating data cleansing as a separate exercise, it often makes sense to validate and improve the information while it's being collected.
There's little value in importing poor-quality information into a new CMMS. Taking the time to collect, validate and cleanse asset information before implementation creates a far stronger foundation for future maintenance planning, reporting and decision-making.
What Is Your Maintenance History Telling You?
Discover how analysing maintenance history helps identify failures, improve reliability, track KPIs and make better maintenance decisions.
Why Good Information Matters
Imagine trying to answer questions such as:
Which assets fail most often?
Which equipment costs the most to maintain?
Are preventive maintenance tasks effective?
Which assets should be replaced?
Where is downtime occurring?
Which maintenance strategies need reviewing?
Without accurate asset information and reliable maintenance history, the answers are unlikely to be reliable.
Good maintenance decisions depend on good information.
Better Maintenance Decisions
Once organisations have accurate asset information and a reliable maintenance history, they can begin identifying trends, analysing failures and measuring maintenance performance with confidence.
After all, an asset register tells you what you own. Asset surveys tell you the condition of the asset.
Maintenance history tells you how those assets perform. Together, they provide the knowledge needed to make better maintenance decisions.
