This blog series explores the challenges faced by energy utility companies as they transition to holistic grid asset management in response to the energy transition. The first post in this series discussed the challenges of holistic grid asset management in the context of the energy transition. The second post focused on the integrated asset management platform and data exchange that bring together various business disciplines across different domains.
Breaking down traditional silos
Many utility asset management organizations operate in silos. A holistic approach that integrates siloed processes and various planning management systems offers optimization opportunities at three levels:
- Asset portfolio (AIP) level: Optimal project execution schedule
- Asset (APMO) level: Optimal maintenance and replacement timing
- Spare part (MRO) level: Optimal spare parts holding level
The combined planning activities result in budgets for capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenses (OpEx), as well as minimum outage requirements for the upcoming planning period.
Asset investments are typically managed by a grid planning department, which considers factors such as expansions, load studies, new customers, and long-term grid requirements. Asset investment planning (AIP) tools help optimize various value drivers by combining new asset investments with existing asset replacements. These tools use different risk management approaches, with a top-down process for new assets and a bottom-up approach for existing assets based on continuous health monitoring data.
Maintenance and project planning are typically handled by operations departments. The asset performance management and optimization (APMO) process generates optimized work schedules for maintenance tasks and calculates the optimal replacement timing for existing assets at the end of their lifecycle. Maintenance management and project planning systems then execute these tasks through field service departments.
On the maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) side, spare part optimization is linked to asset criticality. Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) help define maintenance strategies and spare holding strategies based on factors such as stock value, asset criticality, and spare part ordering lead times.
Traditional planning processes often result in suboptimization due to disparate planning cycles for new and existing assets. An integrated planning process breaks down departmental silos and uses optimization engines at three levels to improve planning efficiency, reduce outages and system downtime, and maximize resource and budget utilization.
Learn more about IBM® Maximo® APM for Energy and Utilities
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