Exploring the Insightful Phase of Asset Management for Government

Your Asset Management for Government journey begins with a solid foundation of accurate data, moves forward to give you insights into the most financially and operationally efficient way to manage your assets, and ends with smart asset investment planning where you can accurately model the lifecycle of your most important assets and predict the maintenance interventions needed years ahead of time.  

In this article we’ll discuss how to gain powerful insights using the data you are already collecting to help your community make better short and long-term decisions about some of your largest investments – your public assets. 

Taking an asset-centric point of view 

Where an asset is in its lifecycle is important to know because every asset needs different maintenance activities depending upon its age and condition. But not every asset has the same lifecycle or needs the same maintenance interventions at the same time.  

With so many pieces of equipment, machinery and other infrastructure assets to consider, it's nearly impossible to keep this all in your head. The solution – add preventive maintenance (PM) tasks to your CMMS.  

PM tasks can be automatically set up as a work order and placed on a technician’s schedule. Tying your preventative maintenance tasks to your CMMS is important because it enables your maintenance personnel to quickly see all the work done on an asset at any given time.  

Having this asset-centric point of view allows organizations to gain better insight into where their assets are in their lifecycle and make data-backed decisions on whether repairs or replacements are needed, and when.  

Improve budgeting, productivity, and more 

By looking at an asset – instead of just a work order – maintenance organizations can “see” the deterioration more thoroughly through the collective maintenance that has been performed. This can help inform capital and operational plans as assets need different levels of maintenance depending on their age and condition.  

With new assets, there are often fewer operational costs (mostly preventive). But as each asset ages, it needs more maintenance to continue to be reliable. Eventually there comes a point when it no longer makes financial or operational sense to maintain the asset. Having the insights to predict when this will occur can make capital planning easier and more accurate, while also reducing any unnecessary downtime or service impacts for your citizens. 

But the benefits don’t stop with just budgeting. For example, organizations can use their insights to compare maintenance requests being made to the personnel assigned to handle those requests. Too few resources reduce the level of service. By sharing that information, decision makers can understand the tradeoffs and impacts of staffing levels. Other benefits include: 

• Centralized asset information in one place, making it is easier to understand the total cost of ownership, which helps with strategic decision-making. 
• You can show the number of requests that go uncompleted, adding to your deferred maintenance backlog.  
• You can use the information to provide a business case for replacement over repair. 
• You can see maintenance trends on an asset, potentially identifying a larger problem that would otherwise have gone undetected. 

These insights can help maintenance teams move beyond just reacting to problems and start making smarter, more proactive decisions. With all your data in one place, it’s easier to optimize budgets, plan for the future, and use resources more effectively. Ultimately, this can help ensure your assets deliver long-term value while keeping things running smoothly for your community.

Conclusion 

Gaining insights into your public assets is a critical step toward smarter decision-making, improved budgeting, and better operational efficiency. By leveraging the data you’re already collecting and incorporating tools like preventive maintenance schedules and energy tracking, you can extend asset lifecycles, reduce costs, and prevent unexpected failures. 

But this is just one stage of the journey. To fully optimize your asset management strategy, it’s important to start with a strong foundation. If you haven’t already, check out the first blog in this series— Exploring the Foundational Stage of Asset Management for Government—to learn how accurate data and a solid CMMS setup can set you up for long-term success. 

Or to learn more about Brightly Software’s complete Asset Management for Government solution, click here.