Getting the most out of your physical assets

“Asset Integrity Management is the strategic, operational and technical approach to the management of physical assets in a manner which ensures that assets are fit for purpose, performs optimally and reliably, with due consideration for cost, health, safety and the environment.” (C-AIM, UP, 2014)

There is a rapidly growing global need to optimally manage physical assets, such as machinery and infrastructure, from the design phase, through to decommissioning. Naturally, companies would need to safeguard their assets to ensure that they continue to function optimally, to support businesses continuity productivity. Asset Integrity Management is the means by which companies assess the ability of its physical assets to perform in the short, medium and long-term.

Business Enterprises at University of Pretoria (Pty) Ltd (BE at UP) recently hosted a business breakfast, presented by Professor Stephan Heyns, Director of the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Asset Integrity Management (C-AIM). The focus of the presentation was on ways in which companies can protect their assets through various asset integrity management strategies.

Drawing on more than 35 years of experience, Prof Heyns delivered an outline of what the C-AIM unit offers to industry: a unique service which incorporates its analysis and testing capability with comprehensive scientific research, to inform asset management decisions.

Prof Heyns suggested a simple method for effective asset management:

• Focus on the critical assets.
• Take a life cycle perspective.
• Understand the physical environment.
• Understand the business environment.

C-AIM provides its services through BE at UP, a company wholly owned by the University of Pretoria, that draws on the expertise of 140 disciplines from nine faculties of the University of Pretoria in offering research and consulting services. With this unique blend of practical and academic expertise, we offer a multidisciplinary range of scientifically informed and evidence-led solutions.

BE at UP has the ability to provide business-to-business solutions and capacity building and is ideally positioned to assist industry with access to the resources and expertise of C-AIM, such as to work closely with our industry partners in solving specific industry problems in a highly scientific manner.