There is some bad news out there for asset management and reliability professionals: achieving sustainable success in asset management is a difficult thing to do.

Why is this?

Often we are doing the wrong things.

Or we might be doing the right things but in the wrong order.

Or we might be focused on the wrong assets.

Or we might be trying to do too many things.

Sometimes we have lost sight of why we are doing these things in the first place and the original aim of the program.

We might not have the leadership and executive sponsorship required for success.

And, of course, there is never enough time or money.

We have some good news for you though. There is a step you can take that will have a profound positive impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of all elements in your program: a criticality analysis.

In fact, at Uberlytics we say Criticality is 42.

What does that mean? Come to Solutions 2.0 in Houston, Texas this August to find out. You will join other top asset management and reliability professionals on the quest for sustainable success in asset management.

Still curious? You might have to give it some Deep Thought.

After you have thought deeply, tell us below what Criticality is 42 means to you. And then join us at Solutions 2.0. and come to Rap Talk 8.

Get Started Today

In the meantime, you don’t have to wait to get started on the path to sustainable success. Here are a couple of steps you can take now in preparation for a criticality analysis:

1. Make sure you really understand the overall aim and values of your organization.

A good criticality analysis is rooted in and will support the objectives of your organization. Sometimes this is already clearly communicated and sometimes it is not and you have to do some research. Look for corporate mission and vision statements, annual reports and press releases. For example, Your mission might be to reliably supply drinking water to the community you serve – uptime will then be a high priority. If a public statement has been made that safety is the highest priority for your company, then safety is a value that must be reflected in your criticality analysis.

When you have identified the aim and values of your organization, review it with management and colleagues to check if anything is missing.

(Click here for a great HBR article on understanding mission, vision, values and purpose.)

2. Get Your Team Together

Getting the right participants in the room is vital to the ultimate value of your criticality analysis.

Experts from operations, maintenance, engineering, and electrical are always important. Representation from additional areas will depend on the aim and values you have identified. If environmental, health and safety is to be included in a significant way, then an EH&S person should be included in the list. When commercial terms or contractual issues arise you will want to be able to consult the business center leadership.

You want your team to made up of leaders at the facility with substantial experience and oversight, to bring credibility and historical context to the analysis. An additional benefit to the criticality analysis is that it will serve as means of documenting and preserving the institutional knowledge and expertise currently held by these professionals. It will also help align all the groups to the real priorities that emerge from the analysis, and help sideline pet projects.

Whether you get us to help you (we are the experts – we wrote the book!) or you do it yourself or find someone else, we are on a mission to help every asset management professional understand and benefit from the value of criticality analysis for achieving sustainable success.