Total Asset Management is all about taking care of your organisation's physical assets in every respect, in order to:

ò Minimise total cost of ownership
ñ Maximise asset availability, and
ñ Maximise asset utilisation

To achieve this, you need accurate, up-to-date information about your assets, their movements, and costs, to provide you with an environment of certainty about your assets. Accomplishing this will then enable Total Asset Management including:

Planning	Control
Budgeting Replacement Planning Purchasing Project Evaluation Total Cost of Ownership	Asset establishment Asset Auditing Attractive items register Asset Security Asset movement & disposal
Asset Servicing	Financial Management
Help Desk and Knowledge Base Building and Safety Management Condition Monitoring Warranty Management Service Contract Management	Depreciation Insurance Management Revaluations Management Performance Measurement

This in turn will allow your organisation to make high quality management decisions that enable you to maintain the competitive supply of quality goods and services to your stakeholders - your clients, staff, suppliers and shareholders.

Key Factors for Successful Total Asset Management

There are four key factors in implementing a successful Total Asset Management Strategy:

Commitment	There must be a clear business commitment to asset management, including delegation of responsibility for identified assets in job descriptions.
Identification	To manage assets, you must be able to identify every asset the organisation holds.
Business Practices	Clear policies and business practices must be developed and documented. These must encompass asset definitions and data capture procedures.
Software	An appropriate software solution for recording, managing and reporting asset information is required

What are the benefits of Total Asset Management?

The benefits available through Total Asset Management are numerable and compelling.
Here is a brief summary of many benefits that may accrue:

Planning	Control
Effective asset replacement decisions can be made. Identification and redeployment of surplus assets. Better repair or replacement decisions are possible. Lease, rent or buy decisions can be made with a better knowledge foundation. More effective replacement planning becomes possible, which in turn enables more effective bulk purchasing. Purchase only cost-effective brands. Effectively measure supplier performance.	Improved ability to trace physical assets to register. Increased chances of movements and disposals being accurately recorded. Barcode technology cuts audit times and costs, and increases frequency of audits. Increased register accuracy. Demonstrates commitment to control, and minimises chances of loss through misappropriation. Barcode labels act as a visual deterrent. Improved delegation of responsibility for assets.
Asset Servicing	Financial Management
Avoid repair costs for assets under warranty Review asset condition prior to expiry of warranty Reduced service contract costs through accurate list of assets to be covered More accurate assessment of replacement versus service is possible. Total cost of ownership can be calculated accurately. Accurate service history provides solid foundation for Quality Assurance programmes. Reduced cost of equipment downtime. Minimised hazards in the workplace through maintaining assets in good repair.	Maximised uptake of tax depreciation. Avoid profit fluctuations by matching depreciation rates to useful life. Insure only the assets that exist. Improved insurance by location and reduces costs. Cost of insurance valuations is reduced. Complete insurance cover is possible. Accuracy of register reduces valuers costs of preparing valuations. Improved standard performance measures by overall reduction of capital employed. Time usually required to update and reconcile the register is minimised. Time to quantify the effect of revaluations on depreciation is minimised. Improved standard performance measures by overall reduction of capital employed.

Achieving an Environment of Certainty

Achieving an environment of certainty about your assets is the result of strong asset management practices. The key element of an ongoing asset management system is the change management and control system that captures the ongoing asset transactions and associated costs.