Utilities Tech Outlook Weekly Brief
Be first to read the latest tech news, Industry Leader's Insights, and CIO interviews of medium and large enterprises exclusively from Utilities Tech Outlook
A digital approach to enterprise asset management can offer utility firms with increased confidence over their assets’ health.
FREMONT, CA: Enterprise asset management (EAM) is a challenging aspect for any organization. It includes efforts from labor resources as well as inventory to keep the assets up and running. The utility sector is one such industry that can benefit immensely from an EAM system. Traditionally, paper works, spreadsheets, and other manual means were used for the purpose. However, with the advancement in technology and an increase in the number of assets for utility firms, conventional EAM seemed ineffective in meeting the current asset management demands. A digital asset management strategy can not only offset equipment downtime but also reduce inventory needs for the utility companies
.
Mobile devices will have an important role in the digitalization of conventional EAM processes in Utilities. For instance, mobile devices can be used to digitally capture and access information about the assets’ performance in real-time as they can be deployed at the point of performance. However, the leaders have been reluctant to make a move to improve their asset management, as it is not a consumer-facing aspect. On the other hand, considering the massive potential of a digital asset management strategy to improve labor utilization, reduce inventory, and lower equipment downtime can be of significant business value to the utility sector. With an immense possibility of improvements in the utility sector, technology-driven transformations can enable firms to streamline their asset management solutions.
The selection of a device for the purpose of asset management is an important decision. For instance, equipping the desktop environment with asset management tools is not enough. Firms need to focus on using mobile devices for digitally assessing the performance of enterprise assets. Further, being able to configure various devices simultaneously will help the firms to mobilize asset management with minimal resources.
Lacing mobile devices with the internet of things (IoT) will enable the firms to optimize their asset management practices. The comprehensive flow of data concerning asset health will allow the asset management teams to decide which of the assets are more vulnerable. Further, the IoT driven data will offer an insight to the firms allowing them to formulate sound asset management strategies.
Currently, enterprise asset management is often considered less important as improving asset management will require the firms to transform their legacy systems, which is a daunting task. However, active efforts to transform the asset management systems will not only provide an immediate edge to the utility companies but also reap long-term benefits for them.
