Gladstone Area Water Board (GAWB) has become Australia’s first water service provider to gain ISO 55001 certification.
GAWB is a state government-owned, bulk water service provider, supplying bulk raw and potable water to industry, domestic and commercial customers in Queensland’s Gladstone region.
With ISO 55001 accreditation a lofty goal for 2017, GAWB sought a reliable enterprise software solution to manage its assets and end-to-end business processes in one system.
ISO 55001 is an international standard for managing physical assets that promotes an integrated approach to asset management. The approach focuses on integrating financial, logistical, operational and human resource business functions to optimise performance and minimise the cost of ownership throughout the lifecycle of an asset.
Yearning for a single source of truth
It became apparent that GAWB’s disparate systems and multiple software programs were presenting a series of challenges. To gain a big picture view of asset performance, staff had to piece together information from different departments using many different systems. The process was time consuming and inefficient.
GAWB Chief Operating Officer, John Tumbers, said, “We identified issues with our existing software programs and quickly saw a need to replace legacy technology with a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, including an asset management system, to avoid running several programs and manual systems together.
“We knew we needed a ‘single source of truth’ to better manage our assets and drive operational efficiency. For example, we needed computerised maintenance management software that could record equipment condition and allow us to input our lifecycle maintenance plans, but we also needed it to link to a financial output.”
GAWB selected TechnologyOne’s enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, implementing financials, supply chain management, payroll and asset management. This holistic approach meant GAWB could manage all aspects of the asset lifecycle in a secure and scalable environment via a single integrated enterprise solution.
Crystal clear visibility
TechnologyOne Asset Management has enabled GAWB to gain better visibility into asset usage, improve asset governance and manage asset lifecycles.
“By introducing an asset lifecycle management solution we have improved the timeliness and accuracy of our asset data while streamlining our asset management, compliance and reporting processes,” Mr Tumbers said.
All of GAWB’s maintenance strategies, tactics and lifecycle plans are now connected and the team is able to produce forecasts within the software.
“TechnologyOne’s Asset Lifecycle Management solution has transformed the way in which we manage our assets. We now have a comprehensive view of the costs and resources involved in keeping our assets running, so we can measure how they are performing, predict when they should be replaced and understand how much they’ll cost to maintain.
“Adopting this integrated approach has enabled us to align with best practice standards and gain our ISO 55001 certification, meaning we are operating more efficiently and making well-informed, strategic decisions about our assets which is key to our long-term planning and financial sustainability,” Mr Tumbers said.
A-grade accreditation
Since implementing TechnologyOne’s enterprise software, GAWB has become the first water authority in Australia to gain ISO 55001 certification – an international standard of managing physical assets.
“We have achieved ISO 55001 certification for our asset management system, which essentially means we are making prudent and efficient decisions about our assets that best serve our end customers, which is vital to us as a price regulated business,” Mr Tumbers said.
GAWB is maximising its assets through planned scheduling, rather than reactive maintenance, to make better business decisions with true cost visibility.
“With TechnologyOne Asset Management, all of our inputs – such as equipment inspections – can produce a condition report which records the impact it may have on equipment life. It helps us to demonstrate that the decisions we make about our assets and the money we spend on them is prudent and efficient. We use the software for everything from maintenance planning, scoping and scheduling, through to supply chain management and reporting,” he said.
Mr Tumbers added that since implementation, GAWB is not only improving the quality of its asset information, but better assisting its already mobile workforce.
“The software has made life easier for our field technicians who can now utilise mobile devices to record equipment condition and do their work on the spot, rather than having to go back to the office and enter information manually.
“We know that this single source of truth and our ISO certification will make our next price investigation with the regulator a much more streamlined process,” he said.
This partner solutions is brought to you by TechnologyOne. To read more about the benefits of an integrated approach to asset management, download this eBook from TechnologyOne, https://info.technologyonecorp.com/whyintegrate.
