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If you haven’t already implemented an enterprise asset management (EAM) system at your company, then you might want to consider doing so. Every single organization has assets, be they physical ones (such as equipment, inventory, or property) or intangible ones (such as software, databases, or brand names). The more you rely on your company’s assets, the more vital the need for EAM.

An effective EAM system will create a centralized location through which you can manage your assets from multiple company locations and departments. By concurrently streamlining workloads and promoting better operational performance, it will provide your enterprise with an edge in competitive markets.

However, those that do not maximize the capabilities of their EAM systems may not achieve all of these key EAM benefits. Therefore, it is crucial that you implement best practices throughout the implementation and use of your company’s EAM system. Here are nine of the most crucial EAM practices that your enterprise should follow.

 

  1. Name An EAM Leader

When implementing an EAM system, you must designate someone from your staff as the leader of the entire process. Not only will this person play a crucial role in moving the process forward, but he or she will also take on risk-based responsibilities so that the rest of your staff can focus on the implementation itself.

The enterprise asset manager whom you select must possess a number of key traits: a history of leadership, experience with asset management, and effective communication skills, among others. Through these tools, this individual will be able to realize your vision for your EAM system. However, you must allow the enterprise asset manager to come to his or her own decisions about your EAM system throughout the implementation process and beyond. You must trust that this individual will be able to execute an EAM solution that will drive change within your enterprise.

 

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  1. Lay Out Your Organizational Needs

Your decision to implement EAM tools at your company should stem from your organization’s needs. In order to create a clear vision for your new EAM system, you should start by asking a few fundamental questions about what you would like to achieve through the implementation of an EAM system. Are you looking for a short return on investment (ROI)? Would you like to take advantage of certain EAM benefits? Do you already have other basic organizational goals in mind?

After answering these questions, it’s crucial that you create a baseline based on your existing performance analytics and the goals you would like to achieve through EAM implementation. To this end, you should determine how you track your assets and gauge how an EAM system will improve the data that you obtain about them.

 

  1. Choose the Right Tools

Selecting the EAM tools and software that best allow you to meet your company’s goals is a must. Every one of these solutions will look different, depending on factors such as the size and IT framework of your organization. However, there are so many other aspects that you can (and should) address with your EAM software.

Asset lifecycle: An effective EAM solution will provide the visibility that you need to track the lifecycle of your assets throughout your organization. Your system should facilitate real-time monitoring of assets among those who are responsible for supervising them.

Compatibility: The EAM system that you select must be compatible with the technology and software that you use at your enterprise. Between the software format and language, you’ll need to take several factors into consideration when determining how well EAM will integrate with your existing system.

Predictive Maintenance (PdM): Your EAM software should monitor your assets on something called a “degradation curve,” which will alert you when you need to perform maintenance. You should ensure that your software is capable of running these analytics so that you can prevent asset failure down the line.

Cost: If your enterprise has a specific budget for EAM, then you will need to choose a system that accommodates these monetary needs. When comparing solutions, it’s important to beware of hidden fees that could affect your monetary goals for EAM.

 

  1. Customize Workflows

One of the best practices to employ after EAM implementation is asset workflow customization. You can apply your enterprise’s workflows to numerous controls, which gives you the ability to fully automate entire processes operated within. In addition, EAM systems allow for the implementation of manual asset management tools that improve the overall functionality of workflows. For example, if a workload was assigned to one user, then you would be able to move that task to other users within the system. With this level of asset workflow customization, you could create an EAM system in which your processes keep moving consistently and adhere to any time requirements that you set.

 

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  1. Review Business Processes Regularly

While you may plan to conduct a business process review upon EAM implementation, it’s crucial that you do this on a regular basis to ensure that your system is up to par. During your reviews, you may find that you overlooked certain areas that are now lacking. Or, you may find other inefficiencies in your EAM system that you didn’t originally see.

Whatever the issues there may be, consistent monitoring is the only step that you can take to continually improve your EAM system. To this end, you should employ several types of reporting. The most common business process reports will provide crucial asset data on a daily basis. This includes information about performance, which you can use for future improvement. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are another tool that you can employ in your business process reviews. KPIs will help you to determine how well your EAM system aligns with your original goals by monitoring performance targets and determining if your assets are performing to this standard.