Guarding your assets

CXO. Asset Information Management or “AIM” is a business term we are hearing more frequently. Explain to us what it means.
Paul Gray. Asset Information Management, or “AIM”, is best described as a set of policies, procedures, and tools for defining, collecting, transforming, deploying, and sustaining asset information across all stages of the asset lifecycle, from design and build, to the operations and maintenance of physical assets. In the oil and gas industry, for example, AIM enables an organisation to leverage its information asset and accumulated knowledge for improved asset management decision-making and competitive advantage. In the Master Data Management arena where customer (CDI) and product (PIM) master data domains have emerged, the profile of AIM is gaining prominence.

CXO. Which business issues does an AIM strategy address?
PG. Thoughtful AIM strategies consistently tie back to an organisation’s business process improvement objectives. AIM is a foundational enabler of operational readiness and operational excellence – principal business objectives of most organisations in the energy and manufacturing sectors. In capital projects, AIM enables operational readiness [1] by helping to keep the project on schedule and budget. AIM underpins operational excellence [2] by providing the information foundation that enables safety, reliability and efficiency initiatives. For organisations consolidating IT systems and migrating data, AIM enables the programmatic migration, validation, and enrichment of massive amounts of technical data.

CXO. What are benefits can an organization expect from deploying AIM?
PG. A well-designed and implemented AIM strategy produces better, faster and more consistent decision-making leading to improved results in the management of assets across the entire asset lifecycle.

More specifically, organisations deploying AIM can expect benefits such as reduced risks to project schedule and costs, improved startup results and accelerated time to revenue, improved labour efficiencies, reduced EH&S incidents, increased reliability, improved workforce knowledge retention, and improved MRO supply chain and MRO inventory practices.

CXO. What are some examples of where organisations are deploying AIM?
PG. In the energy sector, AIM is quickly becoming the solution of choice to gain control of, and efficiently manage, the large volumes of asset information required in new capital projects. Organisations are also deploying AIM as a core part of their IT system consolidation initiatives, for example, data migration projects where AIM solutions are used to ensure the integrity of technical data relating to physical assets.
AIM is used extensively in business process improvement initiatives on brownfield sites, such as existing oil refineries and power plants, to assist with reliability, maintenance effectiveness and efficiency, and operational risk management initiatives. Organizations also deploy AIM to remediate their asset (master) data, and as a solution for management of change to ensure ongoing data integrity.

CXO. How would you recommend an organisation go about deploying AIM?
PG. First, the organisation needs to have a well-defined AIM strategy, which it develops through prioritisation of key business objectives. The organisation should then organise a team representing capital projects/engineering, operations and maintenance (O&M), IT, and information management to meet and discuss their AIM challenges and requirements. Once the challenges and requirements have been identified and documented, the organisation should create a business case. The next step is the evaluation process for an appropriate AIM solution. If the organisation needs help, the major consulting companies can assist, as can NRX. Now, a company is ready to select a project to begin its AIM implementation. By beginning with an initial success, an organisation can build support for an enterprise rollout, so the business can realise the full benefits of AIM.

Since 1993, Paul Gray has been actively involved as an entrepreneur in the funding, strategic development, and expansion plans of numerous companies which collectively raised in excess of US$400 million. At NRX, Paul guides the strategic vision and direction of the company, and the execution of its global go-to-market activities. He works actively with key customers to position the value of Asset Information Management (AIM) as a foundational enabler in their business process improvement initiatives.

Footnotes:
[1] Operational readiness refers to the preparedness, of an organization and its physical assets, for productive use of its assets in a safe, reliable, and efficient manner.
[2] Operational excellence refers to the management of an organization’s operational areas in a manner that achieves and sustains world-class performance, while upholding its core values and attaining its objectives for safety, reliability and efficiency.