On 8 July 2021, the Roadmap Asset Management during an online meeting of the Safety Delta Netherlands was presented to the industry. The first copy was received by State Secretary Ms Van Veldhoven. She calls this roadmap 'a unique instrument in the world of (petro)chemicals'.
Asset Management is about the professional management and maintenance of industrial installations, also called assets. The aim is to get the maximum value out of the assets by continuously searching for the economic optimum between technical performance, costs and risks during the entire life span of these assets.
Asset management processes enable us to monitor the condition of assets over time. We get a picture of the remaining life span and of the necessary actions to guarantee safety, availability and reliability.
Studies into the condition of assets, including the study by the UK Health and Safety Executive (2013), the European study by More4Core (2016), the BRZO inspection studies into 'ageing' (2017/2019) and the Zero measurement of the condition of assets within the Dutch (petro)chemical sector show the importance of good asset management in preventing (process) safety incidents.
In the SDN Knowledge Bank you can find more information about this ageing asset' studies.
Proper implementation of Asset Management can make a structural and sustainable contribution to improving the operating result and maintaining and improving the integrity of the asset base through continuous rejuvenation. This helps to control (process) safety risks resulting from ageing assets.
All disciplines within a company are responsible for the integrity of the facilities and for managing the consequences of obsolescence. This includes not only design and engineering, operations and maintenance, but also procurement and materials management and investment decisions by the finance departments.
The Roadmap Asset Management that has now been developed is a guide with a roadmap that gives companies direction and concrete steps for improvement, with a focus on practical applicability.
The guide describes examples of practical applications. Furthermore, there is a checklist with criteria for the processes that need to be set up. This makes it possible to determine the level of maturity of an asset management organisation and makes it clear where the improvement potential lies. The roadmap provides concrete actions that may be required to further professionalise the asset management organisation within a company, step by step.
Jurgen Hoekstra, President of the Safety First Foundation and Rosita ThéDirector DCMR and member of the collaborative body of inspection services BRZO+ underline the importance of professional asset management to control (process) safety risks resulting from ageing assets.
To support implementation in companies, the SDN Knowledge Centre will collect and disseminate better practices for professional asset management. Are you curious about the meeting, please check back at the bottom of this page. Click here for questions or suggestions, or here for answers to frequently asked questions.
8 July 2021
