Asset turnaround - an operations perspective on maximising return on investment

Effective management of assets is an imperative for any business seeking to optimise shareholder value across the asset's lifecycle. However, failure to adequately maintain assets and failure to optimise the benefits accruing from good asset management leads to assets entering a distressed and potentially unsafe state. With assets nearing the end of their operating life, reduced investment in operating and maintenance budgets and the need to balance the continued operations of aging infrastructure with the requirements of operating legislation can result in inspection and maintenance backlogs, lower levels of kit redundancy and increased outstanding repairs. This paper presents an approach to managing the turnaround of such assets when capital investment is made available and the asset lifecycle is to be extended. Through the use of an active client case study it discusses the approach, highlights some critical success factors and describes some of the issues faced and challenges that need to be addressed if the turnaround is to deliver the expected return on investment. It then extends these concepts out to look at their broader application within the discipline of Asset Management and the lessons that can be drawn from the experience and applied in practice elsewhere, including improving wrench-time.