Pay me now or Pay me Later: Why Asset Maintenance Matters
For thousands of years, societies have relied on public works departments for services such as keeping water flowing and roads functional. Although the utilities and services provided by public works have evolved over the years, the basic function has remained unchanged. Public works and assets are fundamental to our everyday life.
And while asset management as part of public works isn’t exactly a new idea, big data and new software tools are creating exciting revolutions in how public works can track, manage, and maintain assets.
Why Does Asset Maintenance Matter?
Compare the assets within a public works department to your own car. Your car’s manufacturer says that you should get your oil changed every 3000-5000 miles. Do you absolutely have to do that? No, you don’t. But if you do, you are extending the life of your car’s engine by keeping it running at the right temperature.
A public works department, which may be responsible for hundreds of assets in various conditions, Can’t trust to a sticker from the maintenance department on the windshield to remind them to change the oil in all their trucks. It’s also far too complex to just remember which truck had a fuse problem last month, and the month before, indicating that there may be a bigger electrical system issue.
Software like WebDPW takes the remembering out of the equation by tracking this data for you.
How Does a Community Benefit from Great Asset Management?
A public works department has, at its heart, a mission of serving the community. Whether that mission is carried out by maintaining schools, delivering fresh, clean water, or getting rid of a community’s trash, service is what public works departments do.
Every action the department takes, therefore, is often viewed through the lens of “How does this benefit the community at large?”
Asset management supports the community by reducing ongoing costs from the public works department. By maintaining assets on a regularly scheduled basis, they are more likely to be usable for their entire expected lives, and perhaps beyond.
Maintenance officials are also more likely to realize that a particular asset is nearing the end of its lifespan, and be able to make a more convincing argument about how and why it needs to be replaced. WebDPW makes it easy to see how many dollars and person hours have been spent repairing an asset that is breaking down, and also demonstrate what the asset does, and how important it is.
Asset Management Is a Crucial Piece of Maintaining Overall Budget and Public Works Health
By closely tracking the health of assets, public works departments are able to keep their assets functioning properly for as long as possible. When replacement is needed, they can more easily visualize what complications might arise from a particular asset being offline, and plan ahead to make sure that disruption to the community is minimized. They can maximize budgets to replace the items in the most dire near of replacement, and make sure that systems overall don’t break down due to one malfunctioning piece.
Asset management helps public works departments achieve their mission of serving the community through efficiency and cost effectiveness. Choose WebDPW to help you maintain your assets with the minimum difficulty.
