The client reached out to 1898 & Co. because of its proven engineering foundation and existing software solution. We met the challenge with AssetLens, a cloud-based Software as a Solution (SaaS) technology, and a multidiscipline technology, business and engineering implementation team. AssetLens aggregates existing data, enriching it with key health and priority metrics to inform capital expenditure decisions.

A set of algorithms was applied to calculate asset health and priority based on existing quantitative information. In this way, employees across the organization would assess assets in a data-driven, quantitative and consistent way.

In the beginning, the organization’s existing data needed to be integrated and configured. An organizational hierarchy and quantitative data requirements were established. These were tailored to fit the client’s data availability, business and organizational needs. A data interchange format was shared with the client to format existing asset data into a consistent and repeatable structure for seamless import. Any data added to AssetLens follows this consistent structure regardless of the legacy system data structure.

As a mobile-first system, AssetLens allows the client to take the solution to the factory floor — regardless of whether devices are connected to the internet. Employees can enter, edit or review data while standing at the assets. The solution also allows a user to attach photographic documentation of asset issues, providing additional support for the data-driven health assessment.

With AssetLens in place, the client has an enhanced ability to not only visualize existing asset data but also to have enriched insights in the form of asset health and priorities. This makes the data useful to a variety of employees throughout the company. Clearer, more informed decisions on effective capital budget allocation are now possible.

1898 & Co. set out to unlock the client’s existing data and enrich it with additional health and prioritization insights. That goal is now being realized as the company continues to engage with the software solution and implement it in sites around the world.

As the solution is adopted and implemented across the client’s entire organization, the company is finding benefits beyond enhancing its capital investment planning process, including:

• A standard data structure to share and collaborate best practices across the organization.
• Understanding of the benefits of different maintenance practices regarding the health and life of assets.
• Integration with other key site asset processes, such as the conversion of surplus assets into revenue.
• Integration of asset health information with other key data systems to analyze the health data in combination with energy consumption data, financial data and production data.
• Mitigation of asset failures by identifying at-risk assets before an event can occur that would cost the organization time and money.