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Asset management must be a priority aspect for businesses with which they can take care of their valuable assets and yield maximum returns on them. Assets of a business could be physical, monetary, and non-material assets.

The fact that businesses use a vast number of assets in their day-to-day operations make asset management a significant matter.  While managing the assets through their entire lifecycle can be challenging, the importance of ISO asset management system is most felt by businesses.

There’s a specific ISO standard, i.e., ISO 55001 which provides requirements for establishing and operating a proper Asset Management System (AMS). Thus, you will be able to have a competent AMS to effectively govern your assets, ranging from plant, equipment and infrastructure facilities to capital assets and IT assets.

Having an ISO management system for assets is going to benefit your business in many ways besides reducing the risks and optimising the ROI (Return on Investment) of your assets. Here, this blog aims to provide you with solid reasons of having an ISO-certified AMS in your organisation. Take a look.

5 Compelling Reasons Your Business Should Implement the ISO Asset Management System

Optimisation of asset performance

Your organisation has multiple assets, while some are used daily, and some are used occasionally. Also, there are many assets that were purchased for a specific purpose and used just for one time. Thus, if you take a look at the bigger picture, you can see many assets are not utilised to their full potential or are unused. The ISO management system will help them to utilise each of your assets and derive their maximum potential in your operations.

The management system will help you to keep track of all your assets so that you can identify which ones are unused or under-utilised. Thus, you will not make any further redundant purchases and seek ways to use those assets when there is a need.  You can optimise the use of assets and enable them to bring more results to your business while saving up costs.

Forecasts accurately and helps in informed decision-making

Like any strategy, the ISO-compliant AMS will also enable you to forecast situations and plan wisely for the future.  The AMS will not only help you to supervise and manage the current assets but also helps in estimating your future asset needs. For instance, it will help you to know what new assets will be needed as the operations will evolve. Similarly, keeping a close check on your present assets will make you aware of the new licenses or repairs/maintenance to be required for them.

The AMS will help the asset managers and owners in taking decisions regarding the future of assets by emphasising their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and measuring them over time.

Ensures legal compliance

Maintaining legal and regulatory compliance is a key concern for businesses in all crucial sectors like manufacturing, retail, healthcare, finance, and public works.  Ensuring compliance with the applicable regulations will show that your organisation provides products/services that meet the expected standards and expectations of the customers. Moreover, failing to comply with some mandatory requirements will cause fines, legal suits, or repercussions on your corporate reputation.

To maintain compliance, assets play an important role! Most of the compliance requirements relate to your assets. For instance, to comply with data security laws, you need to update and secure the information assets. To comply with OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) regulations, different work equipment, plant, machinery, and safety tools which are your physical assets must be maintained.

Thus, with the AMS, you can supervise your assets, ensure they meet compliance requirements, and reduce potential risks.

Increases the life of assets

Every asset of your business, especially the tangible assets must be consistently maintained and taken care of. The building or infrastructure facilities wear out and hence, need renovation and repairs. Likewise, computers, hardware and IT devices need to be frequently scanned and updated so that they can work efficiently.  Vehicles and furniture too depreciate and hence need to be maintained and refurbished.

The AMS will help you to focus on the longevity of the assets and maximise their value to your business.  It helps you to evaluate every asset’s state on a regular basis and take decisions if they need repair or maintenance. In short, it helps you increase the lifetime of every asset in your organisation so that you do not have buy new ones often. This way the AMS will save huge costs for your business.

Enhances your business reputation

Implementing an ISO-certified AMS will surely indicate your organisation’s strong commitment to protecting the assets and maximising their utility. This will leave a positive influence on your stakeholders and increase their confidence in your organisation. The AMS also ensures transparency in the management of assets to stakeholders. Thus, it will enhance the reputation of your business by cementing your efforts for asset management and reducing any loss of assets/risks for the stakeholders.

Key Takeaway

The importance of ISO asset management system is unquestionable for any organisation whether it has a small, large, or diversified portfolio of assets. Without proper supervision of the assets, it is not possible to identify the risks, mitigate them, and ensure that they function in the finest form for your business. In fact, physical assets can wear out quickly if they are not repaired or maintained. Thus, the lifetime of assets and returns on them will decrease. This means you need to purchase assets frequently and costs to your business increase.

All these downsides of not having proper asset management imply why your organisation should implement the AMS.  Establishing an AMS complying with the ISO 55001 is the best way because it helps you to put forth the best practices for asset management enabling the optimisation of asset performance and ensuring continual improvement.

Need help with the implementation of an Asset Management System to gain the ISO 55001 certification? Compliancehelp will love to help. We have a team of dedicated ISO consultants who can guide you to implement the AMS meeting the requirements of the standard. Feel free to get in touch!