What is Asset Lifecycle Management? A Comprehensive Guide

Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) refers to the process of managing an asset throughout every stage of the lifecycle – from initial planning and procurement, through operation and maintenance, to eventual disposal or replacement. Asset Lifecycle Management includes activities such as design, engineering, installation, commissioning, maintenance, and retirement.

Understanding an asset’s expected lifecycle and maintenance needs can help an organization save budget and resources on unnecessary repairs or early replacement, extend the production and lifecycle of an asset without pushing risk, understand the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an asset to optimize budgets, and increase overall efficiency of a plant or site.

Asset Performance Management (APM) software provides real-time visibility into the performance and health of the assets, allowing organizations to optimize asset lifecycle processes and make data-driven decisions about maintenance, repair, and replacement. APM software provides tools to collect and analyze data from the assets, enabling predictive maintenance, risk assessment, and optimization of maintenance schedules.

Asset Performance Management software supports ALM in several ways, including:

• Design and Engineering: Asset Performance Management software can provide data and insights that inform the design and engineering of new assets, enabling organizations to optimize asset performance and reliability from the outset.

• Procurement and Installation: Asset Performance Management software can support the procurement and installation of assets by providing visibility into asset performance, maintenance requirements, and expected lifespan, enabling organizations to make informed decisions about asset selection and installation.

• Operation and Maintenance: Asset Performance Management software can monitor asset performance in real-time, enabling organizations to optimize maintenance schedules, predict and prevent failures, and extend asset lifespan.

• Retirement and Replacement: Asset Performance Management software can provide data and insights that inform decisions about asset retirement and replacement, enabling organizations to optimize asset lifecycle costs and minimize downtime.

The Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCC) module in APM Strategy provides the ability to balance costs, plan budgets, collect performance data and build contingency plans for your organization. By contributing to decisions regarding when to repair versus when to replace, asset strategies and equipment performance can be optimized over the long term, thereby helping to reduce costs for entire sites or fleets over defined accounting periods. 

1. Evaluate the total cost of ownership of an asset, according to various financial criteria.
2. Understand the cost of ownership of Assets, or fleets of Assets over defined accounting periods or planned asset life.
3. Comparing scenarios to inform choices to optimize costs.

By supporting Asset Lifecycle Management, APM software provides organizations with a comprehensive view of their assets throughout their lifecycle, enabling them to make informed decisions about asset performance, maintenance, and replacement. According to a Total Economic Impact Report conducted by Forrester, GE’s asset performance management offerings can extend the lifecycle of an asset by 26 weeks. APM helps organizations to reduce costs, improve reliability, and optimize asset performance, ultimately increasing their competitiveness and profitability.

To see how your organization can balance risk and cost with APM Strategy, take our interactive demo experience.