Anyone who wants to know how to develop an asset management plan can turn to Tallard Management with complete confidence. Our expertise in all areas of risk management means that we can help businesses to manage their assets – both liquid and fixed – in a way that is cost-effective while also lowering exposure to business threats. Before looking more closely at the implementation of an asset management strategy, however, it will be beneficial to examine exactly what is meant by the term ‘asset management plan‘. Read on to find out.
What Is a Strategic Asset Management Plan For?
Simply put, an asset management plan is a strategic undertaking that aims to make an organisation’s asset management more effective. All businesses, corporations, government departments, charities and large families have assets of some kind. However, without proper management of those assets, two things can happen. Firstly, the costs involved with managing assets might outweigh their benefits even if they provide the agreed standard of service. Secondly, the whole life costs of an asset – taking into account its running costs and maintenance regime – will not be known.
Consequently, well-run organisations will want to develop an asset management plan template that they can use and reuse for all of their asset classes. In other words, an asset management plan is strategic, looking into every aspect of an organisation, with the focus being on making assets more effective over their entire life cycles. In some cases, the agreed standard of service from an asset may be found to be wanting. In other cases, assets may be costing more to maintain than they produce from an economic perspective. In this asset management plan example, it may be best to sell the asset rather than to continue to operate it.
Overall, strategic asset management plans are for any organisation that wants to run more efficiently. They are typically requested by senior executives and decision-makers within organisations to help them gain a holistic view of the assets and liabilities across their entire structure. At Tallard Management, we deal with this kind of corporate asset management but also offer similar professional services within family structures, something that can be particularly effective for helping to streamline family-run businesses, for example.
What Is a Property Asset Management Plan?
Some businesses don’t own property and, therefore, do not require a property asset management plan. That being said, many corporations, family firms and smaller enterprises do own property and, therefore, planning what to do with these assets is essential for the long-term structuring of the organisation. To be clear: property asset management is just one class of asset management. As has previously been mentioned, all asset management plans should be holistic in their nature. Why property asset management is often regarded as being so important is down to the fact that property in the form of retail outlets, offices, lettable housing or commercial premises, corporate headquarters or even agricultural land is often the least liquid form of asset that an organisation will own. As such, it usually requires the most intensive strategic thinking to develop a long-term plan.
What Is Needed For an Asset Management Project Plan?
Some organisations – typically very large ones – will have professionals in asset management working for them full-time. This way, their asset management plan can be continually updated in line with their risk management policies, changing market conditions and asset acquisition regime. However, this is out of the reach of most businesses, even medium-sized and large ones. Why? Because the professional skills needed to handle asset management strategy on a daily basis are often too costly.
Therefore, what most businesses want isn’t a continuous asset management assessment regime but an asset management project plan instead. One-off projects remain just as strategic and as holistic as continuous asset management regimes, but they are less costly and more focussed on assets as they are utilised at the moment. Typically, accredited service providers in asset management and risk management will be brought in to oversee a project of this type. If run in accordance with the guidelines, it is possible for organisations to achieve ISO 55001 accreditation for their asset management project. Certainly, this is the accepted model to follow, so any appointed contractor in asset management planning should be well-versed in this particular standard.
There are numerous factors that will need to be looked into throughout every class of asset during the implementation of an asset management project plan. The first is the standard of service, or SoS, that an asset delivers. To put this simply, this means assessing what the asset is intended for, given the organisation’s use of it. Next comes the assessment of an asset’s performance., meaning whether or not it can deliver to the specification outlined in its SoS. Any good asset management plan will also indicate any planned actions that might be taken. This could include how to improve an asset’s SoS or lower its running costs, for example. An assessment of the costs and benefits of each asset will also be made. Lastly, the asset management strategy will be finalised with any potential improvements that have been earmarked.
Overall, implementing good asset management planning helps businesses to improve the use of their assets, enjoy more productive lifecycles, comply with regulations better and gain a clearer understanding of their true asset potential.
