Asset Management and Contingency Planning (page 3 of 3)

And when work is finally completed, extensive reporting is required.

We facilitate workforce agility by enhancing technician knowledge on the ground. A tremendous amount of experience is locked up in workers' heads.

Capturing that information and reporting it out as useful, context-sensitive business intelligence gives supervisors much more flexibility in choosing specific resources. When the most qualified technician is not available, another will do because he is supported by excellent information.

This is not the business intelligence of the off-line, data-warehouse variety but real-time information. Workforces benefit most from knowledge of events and patterns that may have occurred only days or hours ago. Knowledge delivered daily to the shop floor or field makes a service workforce agile.

Ways to foster agile maintenance and service practices
There are three initiatives that every maintenance and service organization can undertake which will improve their ability to handle operational threats and the unexpected:

• Consolidate and secure asset information in one place

• Develop an inside-out view of resources and commitments

• Enhance service supply chain resilience

Initiative 1: Consolidate and secure asset information in one place

Aside from making it much easier to disseminate and enforce maintenance best practices, consolidating asset documentation in online repositories makes it possible to secure and replicate important documentation so that it is available when critically needed.

Companies that rely too much on what is in people's heads are ill prepared to replace that knowledge quickly.

Replacing a single piece of equipment is one thing. Re-constituting an entire plant process is quite another. If either the people or the information has been lost, such a task can be lengthy, costly, and painful to the business.

Initiative 2: Develop an inside-out view of resources and commitments

Knowing your resources and the commitments against them, not only for in-house but also throughout your network of service providers, does not just improve service levels generally.

It also allows you to divert work quickly back and forth between network and in-house resources when disruptions occur in one or the other.

Even in the best of times, you cannot go it alone. In an emergency, there may be nowhere else to turn besides the service network. Make certain that they are engaged in and familiar with your operations.

Best of all, manage the service network with self-service and collaboration capabilities so that service providers can swing into action on their own, accurately and effectively, when your own operations have been disrupted.

Initiative 3: Enhance service supply chain resilience

Rather than being satisfied with the lowest nominal cost, seek the best value from suppliers including those times when supply lines are unexpectedly compromised. Sacrifice a little bargaining leverage to insure back-up sources, not only to deal with temporary shortages, but also to insure reliable supplies when needed.

Rather than potentially fragile sole-sourcing, rotate preferred providers regularly.

Cultivate multiple suppliers' familiarity with your operation and unique needs. Develop contingency labor and materials sourcing agreements with key vendors including terms and conditions for emergency as well as everyday response. That way, you will always be in a position to adjust quickly when either you or an individual supplier is affected by an unexpected event.

How agile are you?

How would you assess your current level of agility? Do you focus on cost and efficiency at the expense of improving your ability to adjust quickly in emergencies? Is your business vulnerable to security threats and unexpected events either in-house or in your service network and supply chain?

Is asset information consolidated, replicable, secure, and accessible quickly from any part of the organization? Do you have a complete view of both in-house and service provider resources and commitments? Is your service supply chain robust enough to withstand the loss of a key supplier or to support your operation in the event that critical stores were suddenly lost?

Agility is not free. But the cost of agility is a reasonable hedge against disruptions caused by unexpected events. Purchasing agility requires balancing its cost against the production margin, occupancy, and public access that it insures.

A nation is as secure as the ability of its enterprises and government agencies to absorb catastrophe with minimum disruption. Are you doing your part in that effort?