The challenge and opportunity
In 2019 the City of Victor Harbor (CoVH) recognized the benefit of transitioning from a somewhat disconnected, paper-based customer request process to an enterprise asset management system capable of meeting its long-term requirements across the full scope of modern asset management and reporting.
The challenges for the small team were:
- To create and maintain asset management strategies that help ensure assets don’t fail those who rely on them most
- To perform necessary work proactively, efficiently and accurately the first time, creating savings by avoiding unnecessary labor and resources
In order to achieve this, CoVH decided to transition to a service-driven, latest-tech asset management approach.
The solution
A Brightly client since 2009, CoVH began the migration to a fully cloud-enabled solution in November 2018. (Brightly Software was later acquired by Siemens and is now a part of Siemens Asset Management.) Their trajectory was impressive:
- Jan 2019: First training with Assetic
- June 2019: First capitalization completed
- July 2019: Commenced active use of Assetic Maintenance (with a staggered approach to enable issues to be addressed efficiently)
- July 2019: Construction
- Sept 2020: Open space
- Mid 2021: Buildings
Key to this success was the collaborative relationship. The project spanned several critical areas such as migration planning, IT systems integration, data cleansing, migration timing in light of capitalization and audit, and effective train-the-trainer techniques.
Another key was GIS integration, enabling asset condition to be spatially displayed. This improved stakeholder communication across the board, powerfully explaining asset management needs irrespective of subject matter knowledge.
Featured results
In terms of operational efficiency, customer requests were processed 82% faster, improving from:
- 13 steps to 5 steps
- 146 minutes to 25 minutes
If this system had been in place in 2019 for the approximately 12,000 requests processed by the Council, up to 24,300 work hours would have been saved across this already resource- and budget-constrained organization. In excess of 20,000 requests per year are now projected, given construction and open space have been incorporated into the system.
Work health safety compliance also improved, with the ability to attach documents to the relevant job plan or work order from the field:
- Safe Work Statements and Job Safety Analysis documentation process time reduced from 95 minutes to 20 minutes
- Safe Operating Procedures documentation process time reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes
- “Take 5” mandated on-site safety inspection process time reduced from 70 minutes to 35 minutes
In addition, the Council completed long-term planning comparing three community scenarios, including establishing service levels. They found the $352.3 million asset base is being consumed at almost $8 million every year. Through predictive modeling and spend optimization, the Council has helped ensure that over the next 20 years this balance is maintained.
Finally, prudent financial planning using optimization in Predictor has established CoVH’s financial ratio at circa 98%, meaning:
- Infrastructure backlog is not at risk of a future blow out
- Funding is allocated to the right assets at the right time
- Data and predictive models allow trade off and enable data-driven decision making
More results
The Council transitioned to a cloud-based system, improving processes, engaging key stakeholders both internal and external, enabling field crews, identifying and managing risks, flipping to a service-driven approach, and ultimately modernizing asset management overall. As a result, CoVH spends its
money strategically across its 33 asset classes, rather than in a reactive or ad hoc manner when issues arise.
This puts the city in control:
- Renewal ratio for strategic asset management 98%: long-term financial plan is sustainable and asset backlog risk is mitigated
- Maintenance reporting to identify critical failures
- Mapping and identification of rogue assets
- Statutory reporting: all liable assets (e.g. drowning risk areas)
- Fully compliant AASB outputs
- Prospective and retrospective financial reporting
- Automated Depreciation Journals
Powerful system integration enables:
Accurate mapping of assets with API connection of ESRI GIS and Assetic Maintenance, improving engagement with all stakeholders — customers, field staff, executive and elected members
Tailored dashboards for powerful, transparent communication with all stakeholders to justify budgets, resources and activity in real time
Boosted efficiency and engagement of depot teams, with connection of CRM and Assetic Maintenance — crews see customer requests in the field instantly and can address and prioritize in real time
Instant WHS reporting from field to office, with documents updated through Council intranet and attached to specific job plans, reducing carbon footprint and eliminating paper in depot vehicles
Greater confidence in data integrity and efficient identification of any discrepancies thanks to a CoVH-created automated cross-check between the asset register and live GIS layers