AMS Behavior: Support (3/7) - Awareness

Asset Management System Behavior Miniseries

This “support” bump out of the AMS Behavior miniseries delves into an overlooked part of Asset Management System (AMS) development.  Getting AMS support activities into place are things you must do be before getting work done.  This third part of seven covers the support activity called awareness.

Awareness, as a support activity, introduces another interesting facet to AMS operations.  The first article in this bump out covered the provision of Resources as an important support activity.  There is an obvious nexus between provision of resources and fulfillment of AMS operations.  The second article covered Competence and emphasized that development, management, and application of competency is a leading factor for AMS performance.  Awareness is too, but it supports an AMS in a different way.  It focuses on making sure people know what to do and know why they do it.

Like competence, awareness is viewed through the lens of an individual.  ISO 55001 requires that persons performing work in the context of AMS operations be aware of:

• The organization’s asset management policy,

• Their contribution and responsibility to ensure:

  • The effectiveness of the AMS, and

  • The benefits derived from asset management performance and improvement,

• The risks and opportunities related to their work activities, and

• The implications of not conforming with AMS requirements.

The draft version of the ISO 55001 update scheduled for release later this year will expand on these requirements to include evaluation of the effectiveness of these awareness activities.

Awareness requirements are pervasive.  This article will detail that awareness is not something that happens after the fact.  Instead, awareness is a proactive capability.  Awareness means to:

• Know where the organization is going and why,

• Know if this direction is a good thing and why, and to

• Know how to change or adjust course when, where, and why. 

The balance of this article will detail how awareness, viewed through this lens, is implemented through the Asset Management (AM) Framework shown below to proactively manage performance, risk, and change across the organization.

Asset Management Framework