Helena Kortelainen

Corporate Asset Management for Industrial Companies: An Integrated Business-Driven Approach

This chapter outlines the main factors of industrial asset management: physical asset creation and improvements (investments), use of assets and maintenance of assets. We introduce approaches to improve decision making in asset management. This text covers the influence of various business environments, life cycle profit approach and uncertainty aspects on asset management. The general global problems especially in the capital intensive industry seem to be even over-capacity, low returns on investment and increase of turbulence. From the physical assets point of view, these requirements mean a need for a dynamic and continual life cycle management, optimal capacity development, improved investment planning, higher overall equipment effectiveness and lower maintenance costs of the equipment. These challenges are discussed in this chapter and some solutions are presented.

Asset Management Decisions—Based on System Thinking and Data Analysis

Asset related data is collected in several information systems (e.g. enterprise resource management (ERP) and computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) systems) at industrial plants. Information systems including asset related data are typically used for operational level decisions (e.g. creating maintenance work orders) but maintenance history data is also valuable when making asset management level decisions (e.g. investment decisions). Even though there is a huge amount of stored data, tacit knowledge is needed for risk conscious asset decisions both for supplementing the data contained in IT-systems and for creating the understanding of the production system itself and its interrelationships. The paper describes how data collected from ERP and CMMS system can be utilized when improving operational efficiency and researching investment opportunities and evaluating investment options.

Methods and Tools for Sustainable Manufacturing Networks—Results of a Case Study

Manufacturers need be proactive, innovative and operationally efficient to succeed in the current business environment. The transition toward sustainable manufacturing requires new approaches in the design, manufacture and use of products and services. These approaches need to take into account the network of stakeholders who influence and can be influenced by the sustainability of the product in the course of its life cycle. This paper presents results of a case study that used and tested methods and tools developed for creating a sustainable business model for a manufacturing company. The main research questions addressed here are: how to develop a sustainable business model; and how to explicitly illustrate to potential customers the life cycle costs of different solutions.

Sustainability Improvements Through Efficient Asset Management Networks

Asset management supports long-term planning of physical assets and offers a structured approach for more sustainable manufacturing. Asset management aims to improve profitability of the production by supporting life cycle decision making by developing and applying optimal maintenance, capacity planning, and investment strategies. So far the impacts of networked business models and demands for sustainability have not been widely dealt with. The paper presents results from a road map exercise that aimed to identify future needs for sustainable manufacturing models, and focuses on the use of company networks for efficiency of physical assets. The main research questions addressed here are as follows: How does asset management contribute to the demands for more sustainable manufacturing and what implications the demand for more sustainable manufacturing has to asset management strategies?

Tapping the Value Potential of Extended Asset Services – Experiences from Finnish Companies

Abstract Recent developments in information technology and business models enable a wide variety of new services for companies looking for growth in services. Currently, manufacturing companies have been actively developing and providing novel asset based services such as condition monitoring and remote control. However, there is still untapped potential in extending the service delivery to the long-term co-operative development of physical assets over the whole lifecycle. Close collaboration with the end-customer and other stakeholders is needed in order to understand the value generation options. In this paper, we assess some of the asset services manufacturing companies are currently developing. The descriptions of the asset services are based on the results of an industrial workshop in which the companies presented their service development plans. The service propositions are compared with the Total Cost of Ownership and the closed loop life cycle frameworks. Based on the comparison, gaps that indicate potential for extended asset service concepts are recognised. In conclusion, we argue that the manufacturing companies do not recognise the whole potential for asset based services and for optimizing the performance of the end customers′ processes.

Fleet Service Generation—Challenges in Corporate Asset Management

Product manufacturers often have access to information concerning maintenance and operation of their products in customer sites. By analysing data from wider product installation base, manufacturers would be able to have a better understanding of their product’s life cycle, than any asset owner. Also this extensive body of information that is available to the manufacturer could help in finding out critical development needs. Thus product manufacturers could support asset owners and end-users by providing knowledge based fleet level services for decision making related e.g. to maintenance and operations tasks. In practise development and provision of knowledge intensive fleet services by product manufacturer is not that straightforward. There are e.g. technical and ownership related barriers on data transfer which may retard development of fleet data based services. In the paper we will discuss from the different point of views current barriers and opportunities of knowledge intensive fleet services supporting end-users’ asset management processes focusing on corporate level of companies.

Methods for value assessment of water and sewer pipelines

The value of existing assets has become a factor of special interest to the asset owners as outsourcing of maintenance duties has increased. The value of water and sewer systems should be assessed in order to follow up the development of the network’s long-term condition during a maintenance partnership contract and to determine the optimal renovation timing and method. Many factors affect the condition of the network, which makes the determination of the service life difficult. The use of existing value assessment methods is also essential in order to assess the systems economically. However, the value should be addressed holistically instead of determining only the economic value of the system. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive discussion on the value assessment of the water and sewer systems. A method for assessing the development of value during maintenance or renovation contract is presented.

Developing Knowledge–Intensive Product–Service Systems–Interview Results from Finnish Manufacturing Companies

Product manufacturers have increasingly started moving into the service business by introducing services along with their core products. However, there seem to be difficulties in the transition from product-based to service-based business. Manufacturers have strongly focused on planning and producing physical products, and services have been compulsory add-ons to products. Moreover, the design of industrial services is predominantly done with little or no systemization. We have started a research project the main objective of which is to outline a framework for the concurrent design of physical product and knowledge-intensive services. We consider it essential to develop support and service processes in parallel with the design of the product. Interviews among Finnish product manufacturers confirm this assumption. In this paper we will introduce the main results from our interviews, which focused on product and service development.