management software, CUPSS. What comes to your mind when you think - PDF document

Hello everyone! For all of you out there that don’t know me my name is April Storm and I work as a consultant for Tetra Tech Inc. Tetra Tech has been working with the BPH now for around 5 years to help develop their Asset Management program. How many of you know about of have used the BPH’s AM guidance? ….. Today I am going to talk about what AM is, the BPH’s approach to plan development and the EPA’s asset management software, CUPSS. What comes to your mind when you think about asset management? 0

Well, EPA defines it as “A process for maintaining a desired level of customer service at the best appropriate cost.” So what does this mean? Basically, asset management will help you figure out how and where to spend your money so that you can run your system as desired all the while spending the least amount of money that you can. 1

When fully implemented, asset management will help systems to plan for the system’s future needs. Additionally, it helps systems be proactive rather than reactive with maintenance and therefore protect their existing assets. By tracking maintenance for the system components, it allows a system to identify trouble spots and save money by targeting maintenance to fix the trouble spots before they become nightmares. A fully implemented asset management plan can help a system secure funding to make system improvements by documenting the need for needed upgrades and rate increases . By maintaining it’s assets, the system will have less trouble remaining in operational compliance and be able to provide customers with a quality product at the best possible price. So in other words an asset management plan will help your utility Back up budget talks with solid facts Boost utility efficiency Save staff time The bottom line is utilities can make better decisions because they’re more informed. 2

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Once you have an approved Asset management plan, it should be a new way of operating your system every day. You will use it as a new way of doing business by letting it guide your decision making, planning for repairs/maintenance, and in financial management. Your asset management plan will be “living” meaning that it is always growing and changing. You will need to plan for a routine of upkeep of your plan and periodic reviews. 4

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So how are we going to accomplish this, you ask? Developing an asset management plan can be complex because it looks at all aspects of the current system in addition to looking to the future. We strongly suggest that you utilize a computer based system to support the development of your AM plan. In our asset management documents, you will find some directions and templates to use in the development of a plan that is approvable by BPH. 7

We have learned that the construction process requires too much staff time and attention to be able to focus on asset management at the same time, so we target completion and approval of an asset management plan prior to construction beginning. 8

If you are a DWTRF recipient and you are hiring an Asset Management Administrator or technical service provider to help develop your Asset Management Plan you will want to keep in mind: The AM Team as a whole should be involved in each step of the planning process and The Utility’s AM Lead should have a full understanding of each step so he or she will be able to take responsibility for maintenance of the AM Plan in upcoming years. If you have hired an engineer or a consultant to help develop your AM Plan please make sure you (the AM Team) reviews and approves each and every submittal and item developed. 9

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A. Operators, and Service Workers B. Clerks, Accountants, and Engineers Mission Statement-Consider the impacts to public health, your ability to comply with regulations, and financial stability if you do not manage your resources. 12

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So why do we need to develop a Level of Service Statement? • To see the big picture • What do you do? • Why you do it? • How you do it? Many times you have different people dealing with different items at your Utility and can lose sight of the big picture. Being able to sit down and come up with specific Level of Service (LOS) Goals can really help you with this. • To figure out how to invest to be prepared for costs in the future. – If you have deficiencies in your (LOS) then you will be able to see where you need to focus your money. • To communicate expectations and expenses to stakeholders- This could be anyone that is part of or effected by the utility. For example, board members, funding agencies or customers. But remember, the higher your LOS the higher your costs will be! • To concentrate the Utilities efforts on the agreed LOS. The LOS should be reviewed and agreed upon by your whole asset management team so it should keep you focused on the major system goals. 14

Step 1- Developing your LOS Your LOS will: 1. Define major goals. 2. Identifies objectives. 3. Sets performance targets: short and long term. 4. Measures goals: Provides a way to measure your progress which may require that you standardize the O&M reporting and tracking to measure LOS goal progress. 5. Identify deficiencies: are you meeting all your LOS Goals? If not you need to know that. Goals should be SMART. 1. Specific: Well defined. 2. Measurable: How you will know if it has been achieved? Be able to show progress. 3. Attainable: Is the goal capable of being reached? 4. Realistic: Can you reach it within your available resources, knowledge, time? 15

5. Time-based: Provides time frame to achieve goal- enough time to achieve the goal, but not too much to where it affects your utility performance. 15

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How does your utility currently report conditions and problems of the system assets? What is the current condition of the assets? You know your system best and you know what condition the assets are in based on your routine work with them (and how often you are having to make repairs). 18

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So you may ask, What are lifecycle costs anyway? Lifecycle Costs are the process of identifying and documenting all the costs involved over the life of an asset. It is important to understand the total cost of ownership of an asset since it is often far greater than the initial capital cost and can vary significantly between different alternative solutions to a given operational need. 23

Roughly speaking, planned maintenance costs one-third less than unplanned maintenance for the same task 24

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Short Term Funding Plan (1-3 years) Long term funding plans (minimum of 10 years) 28

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After Your Utilities AM Plan IS Approved, What Next? You MUST maintain a current Asset Management Plan for the life of your loan. For many of you this will be 30 years. What is involved in maintaining your plan? You will periodically reevaluate your LOS goals, CIP, Long Term Funding Strategies, and update your Asset Management Plan. For CUPSS users this means keeping the O&M, Financial, and Inventory sections up to date and defining a schedule for AM Plan reevaluation. Plans should generally re- evaluated at least on an annual basis. 30

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