asset performance management (APM)
What is asset performance management (APM)?
Asset performance management (APM) is both a strategy and a set of software tools for tracking and managing the health of an organization's physical assets. With asset performance management, asset-intensive industries such as mining, manufacturing, oil and gas, transportation and utilities have more control over the operational life of their critical assets.
Adopting an asset performance management strategy, and implementing accompanying applications, also enables these industries to move from a break-fix approach to maintenance to a more proactive approach, leading to less unplanned downtime, decreased maintenance costs and increased asset availability.
Benefits of APM
Using advanced technology such as pattern recognition, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, asset performance management systems analyze key metrics such as uptime, mean time to repair and asset longevity to aid decision-making that can lead to improved asset reliability and less likelihood that critical equipment will fail. Equipment failure is a serious risk for companies; if a piece of equipment fails, a product or service won't be delivered.
The adoption of an asset performance management strategy has been spurred by the advent of the industrial internet of things, big data and low-cost equipment sensors, which allows collection of asset performance data in real time.
Key components of APM
Asset performance management systems may include a variety of applications, such as analytical tools that monitor asset health and integrity, but a key component is reliability centered maintenance, which is designed to prioritize maintenance activities based on predictive analytics and how critical a piece of equipment is.
Asset performance management, which focuses on the real-time aspects of asset performance, also can be integrated with enterprise asset management (EAM) systems, which help manage the life cycle of an asset.
To be effective, an asset performance management implementation also must go beyond just collecting data and putting analytical tools to use. Groups within an organization -- for example, asset analysts, maintenance teams and production crews -- need to be connected and on board with the program.
To establish this connection, some companies have created asset reliability groups comprised of members from the affected departments.
Software vendors
Asset performance management, once only a single application, has evolved into integrated software systems that handle all aspects of tracking and managing asset performance, from data collection to diagnostics.
Several vendors, including AspenTech, Aveva, Bentley Systems, Detechtion Technologies, GE Digital, IBM, Operational Sustainability, Rockwell Software, SAP, SAS and Schneider Electric offer asset performance management systems.
