New guidance has been published today aimed at addressing a key knowledge gap around strategic asset management among UK workplace and facilities managers (WFMs).
The Institute for Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) has partnered with infrastructure specialists Amey to produce a new series of Good Practice Guides, aimed at anyone in WFM who needs to build a greater, deeper understanding of strategic asset management (SAM) as it relates to their job.
WFMs are likely to have day-to-day responsibility for the physical assets themselves, but they have an increasing role in handling the information that's required throughout the asset lifecycle – from acquisition, daily use and maintenance through to obsolescence and disposal. Strategic asset management (SAM) involves optimising that lifecycle in order to gain maximum operational value from them.
IWFM’s five-part series of Strategic Asset Management Good Practice Guides are available free of charge to IWFM members, or they’re available for purchase to non-members from the IWFM website at iwfm.org.uk/samguidance.
IWFM’s Head of Policy and Insight Andrew Gladstone-Heighton said:
‘Workplace and facilities managers are the lynchpin to organisational performance and asset management is key to their role in nearly every sector. We’ve all seen high profile stories about maintenance backlogs and the negative impact it can have for customer experience and the business bottom line.
Our members identified a pressing need for a better understanding of strategic asset management in the workplace and facilities context. Partnering with Amey has enabled us to respond to this need with a comprehensive series of guides including tools and techniques to scope and deliver an SAM strategy that we are excited to launch today’.
Amey’s Engineering Director, David O’Shaughnessy, said ‘Strategic asset management is an essential aspect of how we work with our customers to ensure the longevity and efficiency of their infrastructure. By collaborating with IWFM to produce these comprehensive guides, we aim to equip workplace and facilities managers, and indeed the broader industry, with the necessary tools and knowledge to optimise asset lifecycles, ultimately driving value and enhancing operational performance.’