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Thought Leadership
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A. Gatland & M. Lind (Auckland Transport)
Āpōpō Congress 2025
Full Article Coming Soon!
Abstract
In its report “Taking care of tomorrow today”, the Infrastructure Commission highlights a lack of awareness about the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of asset management in many sectors. For infrastructure organisations, the ‘why’ refers to the strategic rationale for ensuring assets deliver value, while the ‘what’ pertains to how the organisation is structured to deliver that value.
Often asset management is seen as a collection of technical processes rather than a holistic strategic approach. This leads to a disconnect between stakeholder needs and asset management processes, hindering organisational understanding, control, and continuous improvement.
An asset management framework offers an end-to-end description of how an organisation has implemented asset management, defining the ‘what’. This paper discusses the framework’s crucial role in modern public infrastructure organisations and presents a case study of Auckland Transport’s journey in developing and implementing its Asset Management Framework for New Zealand’s largest city.
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J. Congalton & L. Petersen (Unison Networks Limited)
Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference, 2024
Abstract
The benefits of standardising asset information across the electricity industry include data sharing, collaboration, knowledge transfer, and cost efficiencies. For example, when a major event affects one part of the country and staff from other organisations are brought in to assist, a common understanding and definition of the data being used and updated would reduce the learning curve required. Such a standard could include a standard glossary, asset classification hierarchy and data model. Common asset information models exist for other infrastructure sectors in New Zealand including water and roading.
In addition to the cross-industry benefits of standardisation between organisations, there are additional benefits to individual organisations of adopting standard asset information. A challenge that some organisations face as they seek to establish or uplift their data governance is developing common definitions of the data attributes they hold. Common definitions of data help facilitate communication between asset management and information technology teams and provide a foundation for master data management. In addition, the process of implementing an enterprise asset management system requires each organisation to define their asset information requirements. This process would be streamlined by being able to start with an industry standard set of asset information requirements which are already in use at other similar organisations.
To test the concepts of an asset information standard, an example is presented of the asset information captured at a New Zealand electricity distribution business. This includes all asset information captured that is required to meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders. To meet the needs of these stakeholder groups requires having a complete view of an asset, including (among other things) parts, labour, construction details, maintenance, faults, and planned work. This case study is used to develop a possible high-level structure for an asset information standard.
This paper considers the information standards that already exist for electricity assets. In general, existing standards focus on specific subsets of asset information and do not meet the full range of stakeholder needs. A review of international electricity information standards is presented along with the reasons for and against developing a New Zealand standard. The paper contributes to the conversation about developing a New Zealand electricity asset information standard. This includes considering the benefits and risks of developing such a standard, why there may be value in a New Zealand specific model and what the requirements for such a standard could be.
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R. Blakemore (ProjectMax Limited) & J. Congalton
ProjectMax, Asset Dynamics Webinar Series, October 2024
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R. Blakemore (ProjectMax Limited) & A. Gatland
ProjectMax, Asset Dynamics Webinar Series, August 2024
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R. Blakemore (ProjectMax Limited) & J. Congalton
ProjectMax, Asset Dynamics Webinar Series, July 2024
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J. Congalton & A. Gatland
The Asset Journal, June 2024
Abstract
Low confidence in the accuracy of asset information is a common issue for asset managers who are charged with making decisions that have far-reaching consequences for customers and stakeholders. International research conducted by the Asset Management Council in 2020 found that 72% of asset managers do not have confidence in their organisation’s asset information. This has significant implications for the achievement of asset management objectives, including ensuring safety of workers and the public, compliance with legislation, customer satisfaction, and financial sustainability.
Information errors may be identified through automated data checks, but the data being checked may not be the most critical data for decision-making, and such approaches often reveal that much data is imperfect, making improvement seem hopeless. Understanding which information matters and which data errors are most important requires linking information requirements to asset management processes. Using an asset management framework to understand how information is used reveals the consequence of information gaps to the achievement of asset management objectives.
This paper examines how combining an organisation’s asset management framework with automated data quality monitoring can help address risks and enable data dependent asset management strategies to be successfully delivered. We propose a practical and innovative methodology to achieve this which is aligned with the requirements and good practices outlined in ISO 55001:2014 (asset management systems) and ISO 8000 (data quality). We then provide a recent case study of how this methodology has been successfully applied. This paper will be of interest to leaders in asset-intensive sectors seeking to create alignment between asset managers and information managers to realise asset information improvements that can be sustained.
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A. Gatland & J. Congalton
Uptime Magazine, December 2023
Abstract
In 2006, British mathematician Clive Humby famously stated that “data is the new oil”, recognising correctly that the transformation of data into useful information would become a significant driver of new economic growth globally. However, while technology companies, retailers, and governments have embraced data as a key source of competitive and comparative advantage, infrastructure managers continue to struggle to realise full value from these assets.
Low confidence in the accuracy of asset information is a common issue for asset managers who are charged with using it to make decisions that have far-reaching consequences for customers and other stakeholders. International research conducted by the Asset Management Council in 2020 found that 72% of asset managers do not have confidence in their organisation’s asset information.[1]
This has significant implications for the achievement of asset management objectives, including ensuring safety of workers and the public, maintaining compliance with legislation and regulation, meeting customer service levels, efficiently delivering work on assets, and realising value from new technologies such as digital twins and the internet of things.
When events bring asset information issues to the fore and they are escalated to top management, a typical response is to initiate projects to “clean up the data”. While such projects may deliver short-term benefits in specific areas, they rarely result in the improvements that are truly required – the root causes of the data and information issues are not addressed.
In this article we will argue that addressing asset information shortcomings requires the establishment of asset information governance. We propose a practical and innovative methodology to achieve this which is aligned with the requirements and good practices outlined in ISO 55001:2014 (asset management systems) and ISO 8000 (data quality). We then discuss examples where this methodology has been successfully applied in New Zealand’s electricity distribution sector, delivering significant and enduring business benefits.
We believe that this article will be of interest to senior managers accountable for asset management and information management, as well as asset management and information management practitioners in the infrastructure sector.
[1] The Asset Journal, Issue 01, Volume 14, 2020, Asset Management Council
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J. Congalton & A. Gatland
Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference, 2023
Abstract
In 2006, British mathematician Clive Humby famously stated that “data is the new oil”, recognising correctly that the transformation of data into useful information would become a significant driver of new economic growth globally. However, while technology companies, retailers, and governments have embraced data as a key source of competitive and comparative advantage, businesses in the electricity supply chain continue to struggle to realise full value from asset data and information.
Low confidence in the accuracy of asset information is a common issue for asset managers who are charged with using it to make decisions that have far-reaching consequences for customers and other stakeholders. International research conducted by the Asset Management Council in 2020 found that 72% of asset managers do not have confidence in their organisation’s asset information.
This has significant implications for the achievement of asset management objectives, including ensuring safety of workers and the public, maintaining compliance with legislation and regulation, meeting customer service levels, developing risk-based asset management plans, efficiently delivering work on assets, and realising value from new technologies such as digital twins, LiDAR, and the internet of things.
When events bring asset information issues to the fore and they are escalated to the senior management level, a typical response is to initiate projects to “clean up the data”. While such projects may deliver short-term benefits in specific areas, they rarely result in the improvements that are truly required – the root causes of the data and information issues are not addressed.
In this paper we argue that addressing asset information shortcomings requires the establishment of information governance. We propose a practical and innovative methodology to achieve this which is aligned with the requirements and good practices outlined in ISO 55001:2014 (asset management systems) and ISO 8000 (data quality). We then discuss examples where this methodology has been successfully applied in the New Zealand electricity distribution sector, delivering significant and enduring business benefits.
We believe that this paper will be of interest to senior managers accountable for asset management and information management, as well as asset management and information management practitioners in the electricity supply industry.
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J. Congalton & A. Gatland
Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference, 2022
Abstract
Information quality is critical to asset management in the electricity sector with both digitalisation and the changing energy landscape increasing dependence on accurate data. In July 2021 the Commerce Commission published guidance that, given the increasing reliance on data in asset management practices, electricity distribution businesses should ensure that they have robust data quality and governance standards. Also in 2021, the Electricity Engineers’ Association published an Asset Information Maturity Model for use by electricity generation, transmission and distribution organisations in New Zealand. Maturity models provide a method for organisations to benchmark their current capability, map out an improvement strategy and measure progress. This maturity model enables an assessment in the four core areas of asset information identified by the Institute of Asset Management which are strategy, standards, systems and data management.
The Asset Information Maturity Model has begun to be used at organisations within the New Zealand electricity sector. This paper reports on the experience of applying this maturity model to identify organisational strengths and opportunities for improvement in asset information governance, quality assurance and information systems. The paper presents findings from the initial application of this model and how it can best be applied to improve asset management outcome in New Zealand’s electricity sector.
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J. Congalton & A. Gatland
Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference, 2021
Abstract
The strategic environment for electricity distribution in New Zealand is rapidly evolving due to advances in technology, changing customer expectations, and climate action by central government. In this context asset management must become a core competence of electricity distribution businesses. Unison Networks Limited established an asset management system certified to ISO 55001 which has improved its asset management capability and performance and has had the collateral benefit of focusing and facilitating digital innovation. This paper examines Unison’s asset management journey and discusses digital innovation in an asset management context. Three areas of Unison’s digital innovation development are discussed: asset information governance, asset management digital strategy, and automated overhead conductor condition recognition. The paper concludes with a summary of key lessons that Unison has learned from its asset management and digital innovation journey.
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J. Congalton & A. Gatland
Electricity Engineers’ Association Conference, 2019
Abstract
The ISO 55001 standard specifies a quality systems approach for asset management. Since its release in 2014 over 200 asset intensive organisations have been certified internationally. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the essential nature of the service and the high value of the assets, uptake amongst electricity utilities has been strong, with the sector accounting for over 20% of certifications to date.
In New Zealand, Unison was the first New Zealand electrical utility, and the first company in New Zealand to become ISO 55001 certified. This paper discusses the lessons learned at Unison from the first year operating an ISO 55001 certified asset management system. This includes the value of the system to the organisation, the challenges encountered, the changes made since the initial implementation and the future changes planned. This paper will be of interest to organisations considering implementing an asset management system aligned with ISO 55001.
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