- Customer Challenges -
Capital Asset Intensive Industries Challenges
In asset-intensive industries, owner operators, engineering firms (EPCs) and equipment suppliers are dealing with enormous amounts of asset information in capital projects, and in the on-going operation and maintenance of assets. Due to the unique domain needs of each party, information from each domain is not readily and seamlessly transferable to other domains.
For example, EPCs experience difficulties transferring asset information to owner operators (the “data handover” issue) in capital projects for use in asset management and supply chain processes and applications. Beyond plant commissioning, owner operators need to collaborate with EPCs and equipment vendors on an on-going basis to maintain asset information integrity for the remaining life of the assets.
Owner operator asset information needs differ from EPC and equipment supplier needs
All parties experience major challenges managing asset information across the entire asset lifecycle in an efficient manner. To date, no effective methodologies and tools have been available to accomplish this task.
This is a very costly issue. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the lack of interoperability in the capital facilities lifecycle costs U.S. organizations $16 billion annually, $10 billion of which is borne by owner operators.
The lack of common standards, tools, and scalable implementation methodologies contribute to each domain reinventing the wheel when managing asset information. Existing point-to-point solutions do not address the need for interoperability with multiple parties and systems, and the need for a lifecycle approach to collecting, transforming, deploying and sustaining asset information. A different approach is required!
Owner Operator Challenges
Many owner operators have limited asset visibility and experience user adoption issues with their enterprise systems. As a result, they have difficulty in realizing the full value of their business process improvement initiatives and IT investments.
Corporate Executive Perspectives
Owner operators face challenges in:
- Accessing complete and accurate asset information to make better business decisions across the enterprise, i.e. engineering, operations, maintenance, reliability, supply chain
- Retaining knowledge in the face of an aging workforce and asset base
- Treating asset information as valuable IP that can be leveraged on an enterprise basis
- Minimizing the cost of managing information across the asset lifecycle by replacing manual processes with automated digital processes
- Addressing the need for asset related information driven by more stringent compliance requirements (i.e. health, safety, environmental, financial)
- Increasing supply chain efficiency by reducing duplication and obsolescence in the supply chain
- Improving asset reliability and availability (asset management effectiveness) and productivity (asset management efficiency)
- Increasing competitiveness by leveraging asset information (i.e. work packages, maintenance BOMs, task lists, maintenance plans etc.) that enable the organization to transition from a reactive to proactive asset management paradigm
EPC Firm Challenges
EPC firms face challenges in:
- Cost and time to manage asset data - The large volumes of data and content involved are costly and time consuming to manage and can delay project delivery
- Reusability of asset data - Knowledge accumulated in one deliverable is not leveraged in other projects
- Completeness of asset data - Data handed over to owner operators is incomplete due to the inability to collect and structure the required information. The focus traditionally has been on the base equipment data as opposed to the higher value data required for a proper maintenance and reliability basis
- Meeting customer requirements for information usability - Structuring data and content in a format that can be consumed by the owner operator. EPC firms receive technical manuals from an equipment supplier and typically flow them through to the owner operator "as is"
- Standardizing asset information - Owner operator contracts require different specifications for formating and organizing information, and for populating different EAM/ECM systems
Equipment Supplier Challenges
Equipment suppliers face challenges in:
- Delivering value to customers and developing long-term strategic relationships with the owners and users of the equipment that they design, manufacture, distribute, maintain and support
- Providing equipment information that can be quickly and easily accessed and utilized by owner operators and EPC's to ensure that equipment operates efficiently and reliability for its full design life
- Efficient and effective information sharing for capital assets over their useful life. This creates substantial costs for both providers and users of information, and is a prerequisite for optimal utilization of the customer’s assets
- Distributing asset information in a format other than in hard copy and electronic files such as PDF. The information is difficult to locate, utilize and maintain for the vast majority of users over a lifespan that can span several decades
- Cost effectively supporting their equipment and servicing repetitive requests for information regarding the equipment, from design and reliability engineers to operators, maintainers, and supply chain personnel