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26 | 14th - 20th February 2014 | utILIty WeeK Operations & Assets Market view I n January 2014, Scottish Water achieved certification to ISO 55001 – the new inter- national standard for asset management systems. The standard builds on the require- ments of PAS 55, the specification for the optimised management of physical assets. Scottish Water has worked with BSI, the business standards company, over the past 12 months to achieve certification to the new standard. The company has a long-standing relationship with BSI, which has developed over a number of years as we have worked to implement and certify to previous manage- ment systems. Our existing asset management functions have been built on the foundations of ISO 9001 as a precursor to achieving PAS 55 and subsequently ISO 55001. This consisted of a number of assessments and gap analyses covering the scope of our proposed system. It was no overnight under- taking. Due to the organisation-wide require- ments of ISO 55001 we have involved staff from across the business to ensure we had the required system and processes to demon- strate our asset management capabilities. The knowledge gain for us has been considerable. During assessment we were required to demonstrate we fully under- stood our operating environment, how we capture the requirements of our customers and stakeholders such as our regulators. We were also required to develop our objectives, strategies policies and plans, and then manage our assets across their lifecycle to deliver these require- ments. This spotlight on the flow of customer and regulatory require- ments through the organisation really helps you to focus on value- adding activity and ensure all activ- ities are aligned to deliver these requirements. In terms of the future, we are aiming for accredited certification when it becomes available, but we believe certification is just the starting point for our asset management system. Using continual improvement tools and techniques through our system will ensure we remain at the forefront of asset management best practice and can react to an ever-changing external environment. ISO 55001 will also prompt more proactive maintenance of assets such as water treatment plants and water mains, and this should ultimately lead to further improve- ments in the service we provide. ISO 55001 will help to give custom- ers confidence we are managing assets efficiently, reassuring them on issues such as certainty of sup- ply and drinking water quality. From a regulatory perspective, ISO 55001 can be seen as a mark of assurance, by helping Scottish Water to achieve best value from its assets. Maintaining our assets is crucial for satisfying customer and regulatory requirements. ISO 55001 will play a pivotal role in the successful management of Scottish Water assets in the future. Colin Duguid, deputy quality manager, Scottish Water ISO 55001 for Scottish Water International standards ISO 55000/1/2 offer a global consensus on what asset management is and how utilities can use it to more proactively maintain assets and improve the service they provide. The new ISO 55000 asset management standards Sound asset management practices were implemented by the utilities in the years following privatisation and these have had a positive effect on efficiency, reliability, safety, compliance with regulations, sustainability and stakeholder confidence. The new ISO 55000 standards for asset management provide a framework which integrates an organisation's policies, strategies, business processes, information management, asset planning and investment prioritisation, asset operation and maintenance, and related people competencies – thereby ensuring that all activities undertaken by the business are consistently carried out. This adds value while minimising risks. Effective asset management by utilities ensures that limited funds available for investment are targeted where they will deliver the greatest stakeholder benefit, ensuring that ageing infrastructure is replaced or managed as a priority, and that service levels are maintained. Risk assessment techniques can be used to identify and prioritise investigations, review maintenance schedules and identify where changes to design standards and specifications are needed. Trend analysis can be used to identify predictive performance indicators that can be used to give early warnings. This is essential in addressing the challenges of unknown asset condition, meeting regulatory targets, and managing an ageing asset base with increasing risk of failures. For example, the UK water industry has been gradually moving away from reactive maintenance, and has undertaken proactive preventa- tive maintenance. Capital cost models and standard maintenance schedules have been developed and used to create whole life cost models. Creation of operations and maintenance (O&M) tasks and frequencies has allowed these organisations to optimise asset life by balancing O&M costs with capital investment, improve asset serviceability, and reduce risk. These costs have been used in performance benchmarking between organisations to identify opportunities to improve efficiency and deliver better standards of service to customers. One of the most significant challenges facing the UK water industry is the quality, completeness and availability of historic data. Informa- tion needs include data collection, performance analysis, trend and predictive analysis, and development and prioritisation of interventions. Source data used to build these analysis techniques may include performance data, maintenance costs, water quality, customer complaints and failure data. Good data de-risks decision making, and ensures that decisions on whether or not to spend are transparent and defensible. David McKeown, chief executive of the Institute of Asset Management and chairman of the BSI committee for the ISO 55000 series, and Sarah Vine, associate director, asset operational solutions, Atkins For more information on ISO 55000, see www.bsigroup.co.uk/en-GB/Asset-Management/ "It can help Scottish Water to achieve best value from its assets"