Digital Asset Management

Asset Management is defined by ISO 55000 as the “coordinated activity of an organisation to realise value from asset”.

Asset management translates business objectives into asset-related decisions, plans and actions within a strategic framework using a set of processes, techniques and tools. It seeks to optimise the cost, risk and performance of assets over their life cycle at an individual asset, asset system and asset portfolio level.

‍The four key stages of the asset lifecycle are:

• Planning
• Aquisition
• Operation and Maintenance
• Disposal

Improved asset management practices are particularly business critical in asset intensive organisations where there are significant challenges to address in terms of increasing service demand, increasing stakeholder expectations, a deteriorating asset base and constrained funding.

Digitalisation of Asset Management is transforming the way assets owners plan, create, operate, and maintain their infrastructure and built assets.

Rapid development of key technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow us to create Digital Assets and achieve better environmental sustainability by better resource planning.

Digital Asset is a “Digital Version” of the physical item or in other terms digital information required to plan and deliver an infrastructure project and/or operate and maintain the associated built assets. Digital assets developed throughout the course of delivering a project using BIM and GIS are extremely valuable and should be captured and used to better manage and operate assets at the conclusion of a project or for the purposes of continuous improvement on other projects.

The availability of appropriate and reliable information about assets is vital for effective asset management as it supports decision making, planning and execution of activities on assets. By providing a structured framework for the creation, consolidation and exchange of information about assets, BIM supports effective asset management and helps to avoid information loss when progressing between different life cycle stages and transitioning management responsibilities.

According to The Center for Digital Built Britain’s (CDBB) (University of Cambridge, UK) analysis conducted in 2021, information management (BIM) enables sizeable productivity gains and delivers significant return on investments through:

• Labor productivity gains up to 5x
• Direct cost savings up to 690 per cent from reductions in delivery and labor time and material use
• Asset operations costs savings, ranging from 1.6 to 18 per cent at various stages of the asset lifecycle

Asset Owners
Asset Owners and their customers will gain from a comprehensive asset information model that sits within a strategic framework for the management of their assets, providing a ‘full service history’ for future buyers, potentially improving asset value and also protecting asset owners by giving confidence in the asset data.

‍Designers
Designers’ customers may be definitive in their requirements for BIM or they may require consultants to advise them in this regard. In this case, consultants that succeed will be those that are able to offer advice on BIM to align with the client’s Digital Asset Management framework thus adding value to the life cycle management of assets and winning more business.

‍Contractors
Contractors will be engaged to deliver new build and renewal projects with BIM systems governed by client’s Digital Asset Management requirements and standards. Contractors that succeed in this project environment will be those that can work with clients to add value to their whole Digital Asset Management process whilst also using BIM to assure competitiveness amongst peers. Competitiveness will arise from streamlined construction activities and reduced errors and waste. Added value will be delivered by the improved quality of information that enables clients to make better whole asset life cycle decisions.

‍Operations/Maintenance Services Providers, Asset Managers and Facilities Managers.

Service providers that are able to leverage new Digital Asset Management framework will be able to add greater value to the client and hence improve their competitive advantage.

At the same time asset managers and facilities managers who have integrated BIM into their asset management processes and maintain accurate and up-to-date asset information, will be able to:

• ‍Reduce operating costs – through improved maintenance planning and scheduling
• Manage risks to downtime or safety by enabling predictive maintenance
• Improve labour efficiency and drive further maintenance cost savings through use of modern technologies like Drones, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, Mobile Apps reporting etc.
• Increase transparency of facilities management through greater asset intelligence and insights
• Drive customer satisfaction by giving asset owners peace of mind and confirming that their asset is effectively maintained, operates effectively, is safe and meets all legal compliance (e.g. building regulations).

Project Meetings

Infrastructure Australia released 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan with the focus on “Digital by Default” approach and continuous adoption of BIM and Digital Engineering (DE) across Australia.

Victoria Government also made a significant step towards modern Information Management (IM) and released Victorian Digital Asset Policy (VDAP) on 10 September 2021 mandating Digital Asset Management for all Victoria Government projects above $10M.

The Digital Asset Policy provides clear requirements for digital asset information management to support the planning, design, construction, and operation of projects and assets. It sets consistent information requirements to improve productivity and deliver better outcomes for communities.

The Digital Asset Policy is founded on the Victorian Digital Asset Strategy (VDAS) released earlier under Digital Build Program and improves project delivery efficiency, uplifts design, and delivery capability, and provides greater data insight and analysis to continuously improve projects performance.

A number of Government and Commercial entities have successfully adopted VDAS already.

Digital Asset Management delivers coordinated activities to release the full value of assets in delivering service delivery objectives. It is carried out over the whole asset lifecycle in the full accordance with Asset Management Accountability Framework (AMAF).

‍Many countries like UK have already mandated BIM and Digital Asset Management on many levels driving environmental sustainability.

Victorian Government is also aiming to launch Digital Twin Victoria (DTV) program to the public early-mid 2022.

‍DTV will organise and visualise arrays of data in one virtual place to create a 3D, digital version of the world and bring together up-to-date 3D data/models, artificial intelligence (AI), sensors data (IoT) and GIS data from across Victoria to:

• Enable better and faster delivery of construction and infrastructure projects with 3D building and utilities data
• Enable intelligent planning and development solutions
• Unlock greater savings and efficiencies across entire asset life cycles
• Provide advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) that support faster, more robust regulatory assessments and compliance monitoring
• Enrich communication and engagement with the communities
• Provide location-based intelligence to drive enduring economic growth

End-User Support

Interscale are BIM and Digital Assets experts with wealth of experience in the industry and leading solutions/vendors including Autodesk.

Autodesk BIM Collaborate delivers a cloud-based platform with a real-time asset information access to the relevant Team/Department in full accordance with ISO 19650.

‍BIM Collaborate brings together teams, workflows and insights allowing teams to collaborate in real-time on a single platform, leveraging best in class Asset Information Model (AIM) and documenting in a common data environment (CDE) functionality on top of combining GIS data for the best outcomes during asset’s lifecycle.

Common Data Environment provides a structured single source of information based on federated data sets used by all the supply chain for all disciplines to collect, manage, co-ordinate and disseminate asset information across the life cycle.

Interscale experts can assist you in a few different ways:

• Enable better and faster delivery of construction and infrastructure projects with 3D building and utilities data
• ‍Digital Asset Management Readiness Assessment is a great start to review your processes and assets, and map out achievable implementation plan to drive cost savings and environmental sustainability improvements.
• Digitalisation of existing built assets with creation of Asset Information Models to speed up the transition of existing assets into one modern Digital Asset Management platform
• BIM Maturity Assessment will help you with the first steps in BIM adoption and building a strong platform for future Digital Asset Management transformation

Contact us today for a conversation with one of our Digital Asset Management specialists and start driving cost savings, environmental sustainability and transparency!