A well orchestrated program for asset management should be foundational to asset intensive businesses, but too often, the legacy approach focused on core assets in manufacturing, and perhaps transportation – persists. The result is that critical responsibilities are de-centralized, capabilities under-leveraged, and impacts under-appreciated.
Recent disruptions in technology, including increased adoption of automation and robotics across the supply chain, advanced instrumentation, connectivity between operations technology and information technology, automated inspection capabilities, and AI-driven insights providing predictive and prescriptive maintenance insights have both introduced valuable new capabilities while simultaneously exacerbating legacy organizational models that prevent true enterprise focus on asset availability and performance across facilities, manufacturing, distribution operations, and information technology. The reliance on vendor solutions and away from developing core capabilities is preventing tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars in savings from a typical large enterprise.
At SCT Advisory, we believe that the future of maintenance operations requires centralized accountability for asset performance, and strategic organizational development to deliver a robust set of capabilities and processes to monitor, anticipate, and execute predictive modern asset management practices, resulting in minimal disruption to the business and optimal returns on investment for the assets in question.
Given the complexities and lack of centralized perspective across operations, IT, and maintenance departments, our approach begins with a workshop that explores the current state capabilities and organizational structure that support ensuring asset reliability, upkeep, and troubleshooting.
With targeted focus considering manufacturing, warehousing, and transportation functions, we’ll compare and contrast the monitoring and maintenance processes of key assets, explore common causes of issues preventing optimal performance as well as the tools and processes available (internally or in the market) for performance monitoring, condition based and predictive maintenance, and evaluate the cost structure of current state approaches for parts management and maintenance staff/services.
The output of the workshop helps to identify inefficiencies in asset management strategies, near term opportunities to be undertaken to improve coverage, and the exploration of potential transformational opportunities that can be further explored.
Suppliers have substantially benefitted from high margin maintenance contracts, but are increasingly expected to bring new innovations to the market in support of condition based maintenance, automated inspections, and predictive analytics on maintenance needs in order to differentiate themselves during sales cycles. Engaging in conversations for a refresh of opportunities offers them to engage more strategically with their customers, and our clients to evaluate the value proposition of new investment as well as validate the value proposition of current or potential services. Prior to developing a holistic strategy, these supplier discussions can serve to educate critical client staff on the latest innovations, strategic supplier relationship opportunities, and as a reset of their current state performance vs SLA and maintenance spend profiles.
Once the existing organizational structure and supplier relationships are understood, an operating strategy is developed to determine how each facility and asset category should be managed in the future. This includes decisions around whether each area of operations and operations technology (facilities, fleet, manufacturing and distribution automation (by equipment category), and IT infrastructure) should be managed internally or partially/completely outsourced to the OEM supplier or a third party. The level of complexity and opportunity for staff development will factor heavily into this planning exercise. Systems technology requirements are assessed in parallel to ensure integration monitoring and maintenance management systems, and data platforms for advanced insights (if appropriate) factor into the overall strategy to deliver optimal asset performance.
With the organizational structure defined, detailed architecture designs will ensure that IT is aware of expectations and budgetary requirements (estimates) and can contribute to infrastructure budgeting, implementation planning, and staffing. Technology partners will likely be evaluated and key candidates short listed during this process.
The next step translates the future-state aspirations and operating strategy into an actionable roadmap.
- An organizational impact assessment will identify critical roles to initiate and oversee the transformation, assembling over time additional responsibilities to consolidate cross-functional and cross-departmental teams to bring best practices associated with reliability centered asset management to fruition.
- Evaluating contractual obligations will deliver a roadmap for transition of outsourced functions internally, which in turn will enable the development of an IT roadmap to ensure systems capabilities can support the implementations and data migrations required.
- Additional technologies and process improvement initiatives will be overlaid (often front-loaded ) to generate the greatest speed to value.
- Staffing requirements prioritizing steady state roles supplemented by transitional support needs will be overlaid to ensure that each initiative is set up for success.
Formal sourcing of key providers for applications, infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance services (if the prospect for transitioning from OEMs to third parties is a consideration) will ensure procurement controls are in place.
The final phase focuses on building the performance framework required to manage the network long-term. Network-wide KPIs, operational scorecards, and analytic tools are established to monitor service, cost, labor productivity, automation effectiveness, and continuous improvement opportunities across all facilities and partners. This ensures the transformed network operates with transparency and accountability while enabling ongoing optimization.
Throughout a strategic transformation of distribution capabilities, SCT’s advisors integrate with your project teams to help extend conversations related to warehousing project design and its successful delivery. Embedding ourselves into regular conversations with program stakeholders provides a third-party view of progress and a supportive yet challenging voice seeking to provide optimal impacts and value realized from of your warehousing solutions, while minimizing the disruptions that might result in the process. Participating in or leading steering committee meetings provides a third party view free from internal politics on the readiness for system cutovers as well as the ability of the solution to achieve value.
