How Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) Can Help in Building Smart Cities
Every city is a complex system composed of different components such as buildings, energy, transportation, water and city services (public health, police, education, fire, etc.) A smart city is one which adds intelligent technologies to the city infrastructure, thus transforming it into intelligent infrastructure which is capable of supporting the goals of sustainability and economic development.
Enterprise Asset Management is an integral part of running smart cities efficiently. As intelligence is being added to existing city infrastructure and new types of intelligent infrastructure are being introduced, such as electric vehicle charging stations, the role and importance of EAM systems will expand.
Reasons to Shift to EAM from Traditional Tools
Initially, the municipal and state government invested a lot in the traditional financial systems to ensure that the revenue is accounted for and captured properly. However, various governmental operations like fleet management and water utilities have faced issues to find better asset management tools that work well with such financial systems.
This problem has allowed businesses to make positive changes by recognizing that controlling operating costs does not just include slashing headcount or other budget reductions. Some of the selected municipality operating issues include:
- Spreadsheets, which are inefficient and obsolete, are being used for recording or transferring asset information.
- Document storage is an issue.
- Multiple vendors being used for a single project.
- Reactive maintenance management hindering city operations due to the pending work orders.
- Software products just lie around due to the staff’s lack of knowledge of using them or because they create extra work for the financial systems.
Shifting to EAM will address these issues efficiently.
The CMMS Factor
Implementing CMMS can address a lot of the maintenance issues, such as automating manual processes, scheduling asset maintenance work orders or helping in moving maintenance management into a proactive mode which can potentially save governments a great deal of money.
When a CMMS solution is implemented properly, it can bring in a ton of benefits which include:
- Automating numerous work order processes which help in streamlining maintenance tasks.
- Tracks work requests, work orders and completed work in different departments.
- It can also be used to track or schedule predictive maintenance technologies.
- City residents would be much happier with the way the city functions as more work can be done with the same amount of resources.
- Lowers unplanned or emergency repair work saving precious labor costs.
- Lowers long-term infrastructure costs by lengthening the useful life cycle of assets.
How Does EAM System Aids Municipalities to Operate Smoothly?
An Enterprise Asset Management system extends the capabilities of CMMS but is not limited to:
- Vendor Management:
EAM will help you identify redundancy, consolidate contracts as well as track vendor performance.
- Better Capital Planning:
It records work order history and the municipal managers can use capital analysis reports for identifying the assets that need to be replaced.
- Document Storage:
Good EAM software solutions include document management as part of the solution including contracts, blueprints, vendor documentation, etc.
- Knowledge Transfer and Training:
The EAM database would be accessible to all the approved employees who can use it to address asset and maintenance issues. The municipality maintenance management managers would be aware of where the assets are at all times in addition to knowing what condition they are in and what work has been performed.
A good EAM software system has the capability to be customized for integration into numerous applications, thus enabling it to be integrated with the current financial systems. If you are worried whether your staff would be able to adapt and use the system, you can put your fears behind you as the EAM systems are extremely user-friendly. Both these factors make EAM implementation integral to the development of smart cities.
Author Bio:
Lindsey Walker is the marketing manager for NEXGEN, a Sacramento-based industry leader in designing advanced computerized maintenance management systems and asset management software tools for utilities, facilities, public works, manufacturing, and fleet industries. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys travelling and reading, which allows her to gain new perspectives and inspiration for her work. She is committed to creating content that connects well with her readers, enhancing their digital experiences.