What is Asset Management?The notion is known by various names; asset management, advanced asset management, infrastructure asset management, total asset management. Advanced asset management seems to be gaining in popularity. Consider the following definitions.
A comprehensive and structured approach to the long term management of assets as tools for the efficient and effective delivery of community benefits.
–American Public Works Association Asset Management Task Force
Combining the most appropriate infrastructure set and management practices to provide the desired service at the lowest life-cycle cost. Or, the strategy that yields the most bang for the least bucks over the long haul.
–Carl E. Brown
Advanced asset management can be boiled down to these five groups of questions.
- What do I own, what is it's condition and where is it?
- What level of service do I want my system to provide?
- What components are critical, how do they fail and what should I do about it?
- What are my system configuration and operating alternatives?
- For the system configuration and operating alternative I have chosen, how much will it cost and what rates are needed to support this alternative set?
Advanced asset management can save a typical water or sewer system significant money, probably enough to erase most of the system's funding gap. Get access to more resources on this topic by joining the Tool Shed.