By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
May 11, 2009

Facing tighter budgets and aging infrastructure, municipalities have an opportunity to build better, more sustainable cities by establishing strong, sound Asset Management (AM) programs.

The municipalities that really understand their assets will be the best equipped to develop a sustainable AM program – one that will help make the most of your existing assets, meet your long-term challenges, and also address your immediate needs.

The benefits of a strong AM program are significant. Your program can provide you with data that supports informed capital planning and more strategic decision-making. A strong AM program can also increase efficiency in your maintenance processes (routine monitoring, maintaining, and repair), improve asset life cycle forecasting as well as integrate best practices, process improvement, and performance measurement and reporting – all of which help reduce capital and operating costs, extend asset life, and identify opportunities for your municipality to continuously improve.

And it all begins with data you already have.

A truly effective AM program begins with quality data, explain the professionals at technology and management consulting and services firm and USCM Platinum Partner EMA Inc. Even so, it is a common misconception amongst municipalities that a successful AM program cannot exist without having all the necessary data and technology up front. That’s simply not true.

“This often hampers the development of a municipality’s program,” explains Frank Godin of EMA’s Municipal Government Services team. “You can’t put the cart before the horse. We’ve encountered some municipalities that have put in expensive technology enhancements before fully developing the scope of their program. Without a program in place, there is a lack of direction and clarity in defining the technology’s functional requirements.”

With the cost of construction on the rise and its infrastructure aging, one EMA public works client identified the need to start an AM program to better forecast their financial needs down the road.

Partnering with EMA, they began internally by implementing a “top down” assessment of their assets to help develop an initial asset valuation and investment projection and also build the foundation for the long-term AM program.

The project team followed an organized, phased approach that developed an effective initial asset valuation and life cycle forecast by creatively mining existing data in its GIS, maintenance and work management systems and financial information systems to:

1. Identify all existing assets to better understand what they owned

2. Classify and define the value of each asset to determine its expected life

3. Collect condition data to better predict remaining asset life

4. Obtain performance capability of assets and systems to ensure demands are met

5. Track the reliability of each asset to ensure service levels are upheld

6. Assign risk values to the different types of assets for trending analysis

Finding the value in its own data allowed the organization to begin the first phase of its AM program before making a significant investment in technology. It also helped establish good practices, develop a culture that supports AM, set up an initial valuation of existing assets, and just as important, identify any technology gaps. Following this approach also positioned the organization to maximize its return on subsequent investments in technology.

The key is to start by leveraging the data that you already have to develop an AM program that will effectively serve your municipality and its constituents for years to come.

For more information on how EMA can help your city, contact Judith Cascio at 651-639-5600 or jcascio@ema-inc.com. You can also contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at the United States Conference of Mayors at 301-460-5251 or kweyland@usmayors.org