AN EFFECTIVE, SIMPLE STARTING POINT FOR ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Like many wastewater agencies, the Vallecitos Water District knew they needed an asset management program. They also knew that they needed a better understanding of what that meant to their utility, how to implement a practical program, and the impact such a program would have on their organization, staff, information systems and priorities.More than spending their time on a philosophical understanding of other national models, they wanted to make practical changes in their organization that would have immediate and measurable effect. Furthermore, they wanted to get started quickly and affordably.Recognizing these needs, they asked Westin's Asset and Maintenance Management Team to help them assess their organizational readiness. In a four-day series of presentations, interactive workshops and on-site evaluations, Westin worked with their staff to help them understand the roles of asset and maintenance management and give them the information they needed to make informed decisions about objectives, strategies, and plans. The Readiness Assessment helped Vallecitos:Educate stakeholders on “best practices”Explain what it takes to make a project succeed and what to avoidWrite a practical asset management vision that is achievable and appropriate for VallecitosOutline program elements: processes, systems, data, training, integration and managementIdentify transition steps required to move from their current environment to the new oneEstablish stakeholder buy-in early in the projectDevelop a shared vision for technology related to asset and maintenance managementDefine common objectives and metricsIdentify program requirement and constraintsWestin worked with Vallecitos to develop a curriculum and an assessment approach that was appropriate for their team's size and level of knowledge. The assessment was conducted in four days of interactive workshops and presentations. Highlights included:Education on asset and maintenance management fundamentals, industry best practices, standard performance metrics, technology issues, and organizing for “world class” maintenance. Current asset and maintenance management environment, current maintenance performance levels and metrics and current levels of automation were discussed and an initial vision for the future asset and maintenance environment was developed.Facilitated, interactive sessions helped define Vallecitos' maintenance objectives, current asset and maintenance strategies, current use of performance standards and metrics, current practices and processes, technical capabilities and overall organizational readiness.Walkthroughs and site visits helped identify specific maintenance activities in use at district facilities. Discussions were also held with executives and senior management to discuss organizational issues and alternatives.A final round of interactive workshops was used to finalize the organization's vision, objectives and critical success factors for asset and maintenance management. The role of technology was articulated. Finally, they developed a framework of phases of the program as well as the metrics and critical success factors used to determine success.After the four-day Readiness Assessment, Vallecitos had the foundation of information and justification to move forward. This included:A common understanding of the functions, types and maturity of maintenance managementClearly defined vision for future maintenance activity improvementsDeveloped and defined objectives to achieve the program visionInsight into industry benchmarks and best practicesInitial analysis of gaps between current and desired performanceSpecific metrics used to measure progress toward desired, best practice objectivesExpressed and delineated the current and future organizational structuresPotential applications for information technology to improve processesIdentified constraints and/or requirements for making upcoming decisions on the application of information technology in support of achieving your vision for managing assets and maintenance.A list of near-term action items to begin the alignment of the maintenance organization to industry best practices.Perhaps most importantly, Vallecitos Water District was able to explain their program goals, objectives and plan to their board of directors. This helped them attain the necessary buy-in and approval for the first phases of the following phases.