Good Asset Management: The Key to Sustainability Goals

Asset Management is the systematic and sustainable management of physical assets throughout their life cycle to maximise their value. This includes planning, acquiring, operating, maintaining, monitoring and eventually removing or replacing assets. A well-executed asset management system optimises performance, reduces costs and minimises risks.

The R ladder, also known as the 10R strategy, provides a hierarchy of measures to manage materials and products more sustainably. The steps range from rejecting unnecessary materials to recovering energy from materials at the end of their useful life. The main steps are Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle and Recover.

1. Sustainability: Both the R-ladder and Asset Management focus on maximising sustainability. The R-ladder provides specific strategies to use materials more efficiently and thus for longer, while asset management focuses on optimising the life cycle of assets.
2. Life extension: Repairing, refurbishing, and repurposing products (R-ladder) are part of Asset Management's maintenance and management activities.
3. Cost optimisation: Reducing material use and reusing parts (R-ladder) can contribute to cost savings within Asset Management.
4. Risk management: Strategies such as refurbishment and remanufacture, which increase asset reliability and availability through material availability, can improve monitoring and evaluation within asset management.

The asset management process fits 1-to-1 with the R-ladder approach, as the visualisation shows. Combining the methodologies creates a robust system that is both sustainable and efficient.

• Cooperation between Management and Design

Ensure close cooperation between the Operations and Maintenance, Acquisition, and Design phases. The practical experience of managers can provide valuable insights for the design of new assets. For example, try to improve your current process and assets first to set better requirements for your new design.
 

• Over-dimensioning or Modular Design

Design long-life assets to easily accommodate changing requirements. For example, consider bridges that must be able to support heavier cars due to the increased weight of battery packs. Given the trend in electrification, extra space can also be kept in electrical cabinets to add modules later.
 

• Use standard technologies

Choosing standard technologies prevents specific components from becoming obsolete and ensures good alternatives when needed. This requires a clear technology strategy and good contact with the market.
 

• Material passports as part of configuration management

By linking configuration management to material passports, you immediately know what is released and how it should be reused when removing or replacing assets.
 

• Managing different generations of technologies

You can cannibalise parts of old assets to extend the life of other assets. This requires clear strategies for knowledge management, inventory management and contract management with OEM partners.
 

• Reliability engineering

Good reliability engineering ensures you better understand your assets and can optimise maintenance strategies according to usage. As a result, you extend the lifetime of your assets.

Good asset management goes hand in hand with sustainability. By integrating the R ladder into the different phases of asset management, organisations can improve their operational efficiency and cost control and reduce their environmental footprint. By focusing on sustainability within asset management, companies can contribute to a more sustainable future while strengthening their competitive position.

At Boer & Croon, we help organisations implement this combined approach. Together, we ensure that your business is successful today and in the future. Are you ready to take the next step towards sustainable asset management? Contact us today to find out how we can help you achieve your sustainability goals.