AMS Behavior: Support (1/7) - Resources

Asset Management System Behavior Miniseries

Support is not the glamours side of asset management.  It’s not Leadership, Planning, or Operations where many decisions are made.  Some think Support sits behind, under, or happens after these activities.  This AMP Newsletter article will dispel this myth.  Support is interstitial to all that makes an Asset Management System (AMS) work.  In this capacity, how the AMS is supported is a leading indicator for its success.

This article continues the AMS Behavior miniseries.  It will detail that AMS Support functions are the foundation for Leadership, Planning, and Operations and therefore require priority attention before these activities can be performed.  Simply, you should not start a long journey before making sure the vehicle is tuned up and can make the trip.  Attending to Support functions is how you tune an AMS.

This miniseries focuses on the management behavior expected of a mature AMS.  The perspective taken by the AMP Newsletter is that a mature AMS is proactive and standards based.  In this context, asset management is not about assets, it is about generating value from and through assets.  Organizations with mature AMS solutions implement asset management through an Asset Management (AM) Framework.  The AM Framework promoted by the AMP Newsletter is shown below:

Asset Management Framework - from Asset Management Partnership LLC

This AM Framework has been developed over decades and is a recognized best practice by the US National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine – see Strategies to Renew Federal Facilities.  Support functions are not explicitly called out in this graphic because it is interstitial – that is it happens within and between the identified features. 

This AM Framework conforms to ISO 55001 – Asset Management System Requirements.  ISO 55001: 7 – Support details specific AMS support requirements.  ISO 55001 is scheduled to be updated in 2024 using current ISO management system guidance.  The current draft ISO 55001 includes the following subclauses:

• 7.1. – Resources

• 7.2. – Competence

• 7.3. – Awareness

• 7.4. – Communication

• 7.5. – Documented Information

• 7.6. – Data and Information

• 7.7. – Knowledge

This article begins a subpart of the AMS Behavior miniseries that focuses on how Support and the AM Framework are interwoven starting with Resources.