Australian Water Management Review Vol 2 2013 | Page 48

Figure 2 - Overall Benchmarking Group Aquamark Results at a Function Level

The report describes significant improvements since 2008 generally occurred in processes related to demand growth and capital programs, along with improved renewals planning – reflecting some of the key business driver priorities of 2008. Furthermore, the improvements in the lowest scoring repeat participants were broadly in the strategic planning and decision making aspects of asset management and the inputs to those processes - such as Risk Management, Financial Management and Life Cycle Best Value Decision Making. A significant conclusion from the analysis is that formative and developing utilities (those with the lowest scores in 2008) have benefited most from continued participation in the asset management benchmarking program, especially in the strategic planning and decision making aspects of asset management and the inputs to those processes. (See figure 2) Recommendations were made for industry-wide asset management improvement opportunities which will be taken up by WSAA and other industry bodies and each participant received a confidential, detailed report on their own performance in comparison to the other participants.
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Leading Practice Conference Themes A leading practice conference was the final event where utilities identified as using best practice shared their expertise and experience with the other participants. The subject areas covered in the conference included; Drawing from the priority business drivers for the overall participant group and its regions, the following leading practice themes were developed: 1. Foundations for Sustainable Asset Management - sustaining business services and financial viability in the long term, through appropriate asset management frameworks, governance, alignment with corporate objectives and performance management 2. Tools, Decision Making and Documentation – focusing on life cycle decision making processes and documenting decisions, strategies and plans 3. Prudent Asset Investment – project justification and its application to growth, renewals and service improvement planning 4. Efficient Service Delivery – service delivery strategies and the benefits of application of asset management principles in the asset acquisition phase

5. Doing More With Less Operationally – managing service level s and risk at lowest cost, developing operating and maintenance strategies, use of smart systems and productivity improvement, and the value of configuration management 6. Organisational Asset Management Capability – staff skills and competencies, supported by proactive review and improvement planning for asset management business processes, information systems and data. This project provides a substantial body of knowledge for building improvements in asset management. Irrespective of the history and context of each utility in terms of region, function, size, ownership, or form of regulation, participants were keen to improve their asset management processes and, by inference, their performance for customers, shareholders, staff and other stakeholders. Over the coming year WSAA will be examining how we can best facilitate the knowledge sharing and collaboration of members to address the industry issues raised in this project. Further information is available from www.wsaa.asn.au