Modernizing Asset Onboarding Practices to Reduce Risk and Improve Lifecycle Outcomes

Asset data and information developed during design, construction, and asset rehabilitation and replacement projects is foundational to support long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) and asset management related activities. However, current industry asset on-boarding practices are often not given the same intentional and thoughtful approach and standardization of practice as other design, construction, and O&M activities (e.g., contract drawing, specification, and standard operating procedure (SOP) development). The result is often a chaotic world of data and information located in a variety of applications and storage repositories, managed by multiple stakeholders - or worse yet, information that is not collected at all. The lack of organized, structured, complete, accurate, and accessible data and information leaves many stakeholders scrambling to allocate resources to organize and execute final O&M and asset management system of record uploads (e.g. work management systems, O&M manuals, asset registry, record document repository) creating delays and missed opportunities. Ultimately, this hinders efficient support and execution of day-to-day O&M activities of the new assets and facilities, creating unnecessary long-term O&M, asset management and cost of service risks. The UMC 2024 podium presentation titled Leveraging the Dataverse to Enable Living Data Management from Design to Operations featured a case study of Portland Water Bureau's (PWB) development of a Data Collection Tool (DCT) to improve asset onboarding outcomes for its $1.5B Bull Run Water Treatment Program. To support the desire for improved outcomes, PWB decided to move away from its historic spreadsheet-based data collection process in favor of a more robust DCT developed on the Microsoft Power Platform using Dataverse in Azure with a PowerApp user interface. PWB included requirements for use of the DCT in the construction contract documents, and engineering services during construction service contracts with the engineers of record. The DCT leverages data structure and outputs from the program comprising 135 million gallon per day (MGD) water treatment plant and pipeline design CADD/BIM models, along with the associated asset management asset hierarchy structure, to collect and organize required data and information and will be used to populate their new Asset Management System, fixed asset registry, and develop an interactive electronic operations and maintenance manual (eOM). This proposed Session topic will build on that presentation including PWB DCT implementation challenges and early use lessons learned. The session will expand coverage of this important industry topic to include a robust panel discussion from and owners and constructors on the risks associated with poor asset onboarding practices and the supporting elements necessary to achieve improved outcomes including:

Foundational business processes and workflows
Tools and technology enablement
Cross functional collaboration and role and responsibility definition for organizational workgroups and service providers: o Engineering o Project Management/Capital Projects o Operations & Maintenance o Asset Management o Contractors o Engineering Consultants
Leadership commitment
Organizational change management
Standards and contract adherence

Session participants will benefit from insights and lessons learned through a facilitated discussion with panelists who will draw upon their experiences with state of the industry owner organization (brief descriptions included below and above for PWB) and service provider efforts to improve asset on-boarding outcomes in support of more effective and efficient long-term operations, maintenance, and asset management programs. Speaker 1 - Portland Water Bureau: PWB is leveraging a Data Collection Tool (DCT) built on Microsoft's Power Platform with Dataverse in Azure and a user interface in PowerApp, that provides a program level tool for the collection and management of data across the host of design, construction, program, and owner contributors from design completion through construction. The DCT is currently being rolled out for stakeholder use with contractor, engineer of record, and program user training sessions and supporting training materials. The PWB conference panelist will draw from tool roll-out and early use and broader industry constructor experiences to present on and inform contributions to the panel discussion. Speaker 2 - King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD): As part of King County's WTD vision to achieve higher capital delivery throughput to improve system resiliency and compliance on its Offsite Facilities Program, the asset management department is developing a robust model driven Asset Control Tool (ACT) application on Microsoft's (MS) Power Platform with Dataverse in Azure to replace an existing MS Excel spreadsheet-based tool as a 'system of record' for asset data and information collection and storage from initial capital project planning through design, construction, and transition to long-term O&M. By replacing the existing spreadsheet tool-based process with the ACT, organizational work groups and external service providers and business partners will be able to track and monitor asset status throughout the newly defined project lifecycle stages. This new capability will provide visibility and transparency to cross functional (asset management, operations, maintenance, engineering, project management, and external contractors) teams and facilitate consistent, complete, and efficient collection and interim structured storage of asset data and information for defined extract, transform, and load (ETL) processes (batch and whole project) to WTD's new Maximo computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and document management system. The ACT is planned for progressive roll-out and use across WTDs entire capital delivery portfolio (estimated at >$1.0B/yr.) as well as O&M managed asset replacement projects. The WTD conference panelist will draw from historical on-boarding practices, the tool development process including a robust requirements definition effort and cross-functional stakeholder engagement efforts, user acceptance testing, and early user roll-out to present on and inform contributions to the panel discussion. Speaker 3 - Central Contra Costa Sanitary District: In 2015, Central Contra Costa County Sanitary District (Central San) developed the Asset Management (AM) Implementation Plan which outlined workflows describing the organization's asset handover process. However, despite this effort, several issues have persisted. Central San felt the need to initiate an asset handover process improvement project to address the challenges in transitioning assets throughout the project delivery lifecycle into Central San's ownership and long-term operations and maintenance. The project followed a structured, collaborative methodology, through four phases: current state evaluation, future state visioning, gap analysis, and implementation plan development. Each phase was used to engage stakeholders across different workgroups (Asset Management/Optimization, O&M, Capital Projects and an external contractor), to identify barriers and opportunities, and develop actionable solutions to streamline the asset handover process. Findings of the current state evaluation revealed recurring barriers that included unclear roles and responsibilities, fragmented communication, lack of process understanding, and limitations in existing tools and systems. Staff across workgroups expressed a strong commitment to excellence but cited resource constraints and the need for improved training and documentation. Collaborative envisioning sessions were then used to define Central San's desired future state which emphasizes early stakeholder engagement, structured communication, standardized processes, robust tracking and monitoring, and lifecycle integration. Key recommendations include appointing dedicated asset handover roles, developing comprehensive guidebooks, implementing digital tracking tools, and enhancing training programs. A structured gap analysis effort identified multiple closure elements that were consolidated into six strategic implementation plan initiatives: 1. Define and Document Optimized Asset Handover Process 2. Develop and Deploy Digital Tracking Tools 3. Change Management and Adoption 4. Update Standards, Specifications, Contracts, and Asset Numbering Schema 5. Expand Use of PMIS 6. Develop Asset-Level Condition Assessment Methodology and Tools The Central San conference panelist will draw from historical asset handover practices and completion of the described handover improvement process evaluation project to present on and inform contributions to the panel discussion.