Enterprise Asset Management

Companies that rely on physical infrastructure for their operations understand the importance of preserving and protecting their assets. Maintaining, managing, and improving assets is key to better business, but keeping everything organized can be challenging, especially for larger enterprises. With so many moving parts and pieces, it’s far too easy for things to slip through the cracks. Low productivity, sunk costs, and customer dissatisfaction are all valid and real threats to businesses that fall short in enterprise asset management. Consequently, it is imperative that enterprises have a structured organizational system for asset management in place.

Enterprise asset management involves using various software and systems to manage and optimize equipment and operational assets in order to improve productivity. By streamlining the usage of operational assets, enterprise asset management helps businesses increase their productivity, decrease operational costs, and extend equipment lifecycle.

Advantages of enterprise asset management

Physical assets are a cornerstone for plants, factories, and other manufacturers. Depending on the scale of the business, a company may have hundreds or thousands of physical assets. In order to effectively manage all of these resources, there needs to be some sort of organizational system in place. That’s where enterprise asset management can help.

Some primary benefits of enterprise asset management include:

• Centralized asset information - Using CMMS software as an asset management solution helps to keep critical information on assets and equipment in one central location for easy access and streamlined productivity.
  
  
• Asset performance optimization - Enterprise asset management makes it easy to assess asset performance, cost efficiency, and productivity so that businesses can optimize accordingly. By optimizing the use of assets, enterprises can reduce operational costs, increase equipment lifecycle, and make the most of their high-performing equipment.
  
  
• Better maintenance management - Utilizing maintenance management software helps companies take a proactive approach to maintenance. By keeping equipment and assets in working order, companies can help to reduce downtime and lengthen the equipment lifecycle.

Enterprises that heavily rely on physical assets demand structure and organization. With enterprise asset management, businesses can take better control over their assets in order to improve efficiency, production, and profits.

Components of enterprise asset management

Some key features of enterprise asset management include:

• Process analytics - Artificial intelligence and other advanced technology come together to give detailed insights into operations and asset performance so that companies can optimize their processes accordingly.
  
  
• Maintenance management - CMMS software and other predictive maintenance tools help companies take a proactive approach to maintenance so that production continues uninterrupted. CMMS software also tracks and manages work orders to further streamline the maintenance process.
  
  
• Workflow management - EAM software centralizes and manages all aspects of tasks and jobs from start to finish so that companies can accurately track progress, goals, and KPIs.
  
  
• Supply chain management - A principal aspect of any manufacturing business, supply chain management oversees the evolution of raw material goods into the finished product and the steps in between. A company’s supply chain is a critical asset, and enterprise asset management can assist companies with maintaining better oversight over their inventories.
  
  
• Environmental and safety monitoring - Factories, plants, and similar enterprises must comply with a multitude of safety and environmental regulations. EAM software helps ensure that companies stay in compliance with these regulations and, as a result, keeps employees safe on the job.

Implementing enterprise asset management

Now that you have a better understanding of enterprise asset management, you may be wondering how to go about implementing it. Enterprise asset management may vary from business to business — for example, a solar power plant’s EAM may look slightly different than a chemical plant’s EAM. However, no matter the industry, one thing stays consistent: enterprise asset management aims to manage and optimize a company’s physical assets to boost performance.

Thanks to today’s technology, enterprise asset management has never been more accessible. Combining software, artificial intelligence, and IoT (Internet of Thing) technology, enterprises can manage, optimize, and automate innumerable aspects of the asset management process to glean powerful insights and skyrocket productivity. In short, enterprise asset management helps companies work more intelligently and efficiently to improve their bottom line.

FAQs

What is enterprise asset management?
Enterprise asset management is a broad term used to describe services and systems that organize and manage operational assets of a business. Often abbreviated as “EAM,” enterprise asset management may consist of various types of software and technology used to oversee and optimize a business’s physical inventory. Enterprise asset management ultimately helps plants, manufacturers, and similar enterprises maintain better control and oversight of the things that are most important to their businesses: their assets and equipment.

What are asset management systems?
Asset management systems are any processes that help companies track, manage, and oversee their physical equipment. These processes can include manual asset management solutions such as spreadsheets, as well as digital services such as software, automation, and other technology. Incorporating more modern-day smart solutions such as EAM software helps make the asset management process more organized and reliable in the long run.

What is the difference between CMMS and EAM?
“CMMS” stands for “computerized maintenance management system,” which is oftentimes a component of enterprise asset management. Enterprise asset management, on the other hand, is an umbrella term used to describe the overarching process of managing physical assets. CMMS software is frequently used in enterprise asset management as a means of overseeing the asset maintenance process, which is crucial for maintaining and enhancing productivity. By utilizing CMMS for maintenance management, companies can stay on top of routine maintenance to prevent unnecessary downtime and maintain productivity.