Overview

Water Services Association of Australia engaged AECOM to help deliver its Asset Management Customer Value (AMCV) 2016 program. AMCV is an international project focused on improving asset management practices through peer benchmarking and identifying best practices. It is aimed at enabling business and customer value through:

  • Assessing asset and infrastructure maintenance and performance;
  • Improving net return from physical assets through management improvements;
  • Working towards sustainable, durable and resilient assets and businesses that have a customer focus; and
  • Preparing for ISO 55001 implementation and certification.

Approach

AECOM secured participation, with support from another consultant in North America, from 44 water and electricity utilities in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom.  These companies were required to complete an in-depth asset management survey that identified their business drivers and benchmarked asset management maturity against local and international peers. The review process also included asset creation and disposal, including the overall management and supporting systems in place. The alignment to ISO 55001 (considered international best practice in asset management) helps companies look at how asset performance, risk and lifecycle costs are balanced to provide services to customers in the most efficient manner.

Outcomes and Value

AECOM collated the survey information into an Individual Report for each participant as well as an Industry Report that contains aggregated information about each of the utilities gained via the AMCV survey. The performance benchmarks and improvement recommendations from both reports can then be used by the utilities in their decision-making regarding business improvement in asset management and risk management.

Best practices were presented at two conferences in the USA and Australia to share lessons learnt with participants.