A big congrats to our incredible Asset Management team for winning an Uptime Award for Best Reliability Engineering for Maintenance Program from Reliabilityweb! An international and highly competitive award, this recognition reflects the team’s application of robust asset criticality analysis and risk framework to ensure long-term reliability. Past Uptime Award winners include Mercedes Benz, Stanford Health Care and Bristol-Myers Squibb, to name a few.
You may be wondering what the field of “asset management” entails. Well, its operating principle is based upon providing the highest level of service to customers, while reducing risk and long-term costs. This necessitates looking beyond the current infrastructure — creating predictive models to see where we will be in 50-100 years. Team members in the Capital Planning & Asset Management group use advanced analytical techniques that take data surrounding what has happened, to predict what will happen. We’re scientifically answering such questions as: What is the probability of failure for each pipe and valve? How much would a tank failure impact our customers?
Our assets and systems are engineered to optimize operations and maintenance, which results in the reduction of long-term costs and enhances long-term reliability. We are striving for innovation in how we manage our assets to ensure our customers benefit from the most reliable infrastructure today, and a century from now.
In a nutshell, the science of asset management includes the following:
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Robust risk analysis using machine learning (artificial intelligence) and statistical models to project future risks to infrastructure and impacts to customers
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Cost effective planning with a long-term view of our assets (100 years out)
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Strategic operations and maintenance to enhance reliability and minimize ongoing costs
The team compiles metrics in five key categories, which capture San Jose Water’s service commitment to customers: Safety, Reliability, Responsiveness, Sustainability, and Cost-effectiveness.
As Andy Yang, Manager of Asset Management, sums it up, “San Jose Water is on the forefront of the water industry with respect to asset risk planning and the application of cutting-edge technologies for long-term reliability and efficiency. Ultimately, this science and its strategic application lead to the most effective use of your rate dollars.”
Bottom line? You can rest assured that your water will be delivered safely and effectively today and throughout your lifetime.
Background Reading
Yang, Andy; Himmelberger, Heather. Maximize Asset Management’s Triple-Bottom-Line Benefits. Journal AWWA, January 3, 2020, 71-75.
https://awwa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/awwa.1434
