The Maintenance Mindset: EAMinded® Strategies for Transit Asset Optimization

By: Bill Carrick

Public transit systems are the lifeblood of many urban areas, connecting communities and driving economies. Transit agencies face the constant challenge of maintaining complex and expensive assets while often dealing with chronic underfunding. While the theories of strategic asset management, such as Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) and condition-based maintenance, are well-understood, the daily reality of keeping revenue vehicles rolling and facilities operational often seems disconnected from these high-level strategies. In this demanding environment, this article explores how transit agencies can bridge this gap by adopting a proactive “maintenance mindset” powered by Enterprise Asset Management (EAM). It outlines the benefits of an EAMinded approach, key strategies for implementation, and the importance of aligning daily operations with strategic goals, especially in light of emerging technologies and evolving regulations.

What is an "EAMinded®" Approach?

At its core, an EAMinded approach in transit means embracing a comprehensive and strategic way to oversee and manage all physical assets throughout their entire lifecycle. It's more than just fixing things when they break; it's about strategically managing assets from the moment of acquisition to their eventual retirement, ensuring optimal performance and maximizing their value. This involves a shift from viewing asset management as a cost center to recognizing it as a value driver.

How an EAMinded® Strategy Benefits Transit Agencies

The benefits of an EAMinded strategy for transit agencies are numerous and far-reaching, extending beyond basic maintenance to contribute to the overall success and sustainability of the organization. Here are more detailed and actionable reasons to cultivate this mindset:

Enhanced Reliability and Reduced Downtime

By implementing EAM software, transit agencies can streamline and control maintenance processes, ensuring activities are planned, scheduled, and executed precisely. Leveraging predictive maintenance techniques, such as analyzing data from Operational Technologies (OT), allows agencies to anticipate potential issues and minimize disruptions. Techniques like vibration and fluid analysis can improve asset reliability and reduce downtime. Integrating EAM with OT systems enables real-time data for better decision-making.

Maximized Asset Utilization and Extended Lifespan

EAM focuses on strategically managing assets throughout their lifecycle, aiming to maximize their utilization and extend their lifespan by making data-driven investment decisions. This proactive approach, guided by Asset Management Lifecycle Plans (AMLPs) that outline maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement actions, helps transit agencies get the most out of every asset investment.

Reduced Operational Costs:

Efficient asset management reduces operational costs. This can be achieved through several actionable steps, including optimizing spare parts inventory based on predictive maintenance insights and historical data, improving the connection between the materials procurement process and needed materials, and preventing costly emergency repairs through proactive maintenance practices. For example, First Transit reportedly cut parts expenses by 3-4% per year over 10 years using a company-wide EAM solution.

Improved Decision-Making through Advanced Analytics:

EAM software integrates advanced analytics that provide valuable insights into asset lifecycle management and performance. This data-driven approach facilitates better decision-making regarding asset failure prediction, optimized resource allocation, spare parts inventory management, and efficient maintenance scheduling. Consolidating data from different departments provides a holistic view of the organization’s health, promoting informed decisions. Transit agencies should strive to improve the coordinated use of asset management-related software applications to enhance data analysis.

State of Good Repair (SGR) Compliance

For US transit agencies receiving federal funding, EAM is crucial for meeting State of Good Repair (SGR) compliance. As mandated by the FTA, agencies must develop and regularly update a Transit Asset Management (TAM) Plan, which defines SGR, establishes performance measures and targets, and outlines implementation strategies, directly linking to achieving and sustaining SGR.

Breaking Down Data Silos and Fostering Collaboration

Implementing (or re-implementing) EAM can help break down data silos across different transit agency departments like maintenance, purchasing, and operations, fostering a more unified approach to asset management and promoting informed decision-making. Agencies should promote data sharing and collaboration across departments and develop consistent business processes for all asset management practices. Cloud-based EAM solutions further revolutionize accessibility and real-time collaboration among different teams.

Strategic Alignment with Business Objectives

An EAMinded approach involves developing a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) that aligns EAM goals with the overall business objectives of the transit agency. This ensures that asset management activities contribute directly to the organization’s mission of providing safe, equitable, reliable, and cost-effective public transit service. The SAMP serves as a high-level, long-term action plan for assets and the asset management system, translating organizational objectives into asset management objectives. Hard-wiring the SAMP to business planning and delivery processes is crucial to ensure its implementation.

The Promise and the Peril of Emerging Technologies

Beyond these core benefits, emerging technologies offer further opportunities to revolutionize transit asset management.

The transit industry is on the cusp of a technological revolution, with emerging technologies like predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) promising to transform asset management practices.

Predictive Analytics: By leveraging historical data, real-time sensor readings, and advanced statistical models, predictive analytics can forecast potential asset failures with increasing accuracy. This allows transit agencies to move beyond preventive maintenance and embrace a proactive approach, addressing issues before they lead to service disruptions and costly repairs.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI technologies, including machine learning, are being used to automate and optimize various aspects of asset management. AI-powered systems can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and make intelligent decisions related to maintenance scheduling, resource allocation, and asset lifecycle management.

Potential Benefits and Challenges

The integration of predictive analytics and AI into EAM systems holds immense potential for transit agencies:

Enhanced Asset Performance: By predicting and preventing failures, these technologies can improve asset reliability, reduce downtime, and extend asset lifespan.
Optimized Maintenance Operations: AI can automate maintenance scheduling, optimize work order management, and improve resource allocation, leading to increased efficiency and reduced costs.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Predictive analytics and AI provide valuable insights into asset performance, enabling agencies to make more informed decisions regarding maintenance strategies, capital investments, and asset replacement.

However, the adoption of these technologies also presents several challenges:

Data Quality and Availability: Effective predictive analytics and AI require large volumes of high-quality data. Transit agencies may face challenges in collecting, storing, and managing the data necessary to support these technologies.
Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating new AI-powered solutions with legacy EAM systems can be complex and costly.
Lack of Expertise: Implementing and managing these technologies requires specialized skills and expertise, which may be lacking in some transit agencies.
Explainability and Trust: AI-driven decisions can sometimes be difficult to explain, leading to a lack of trust among maintenance personnel and management.

Key EAM Strategies in Action

Transit agencies can implement several key EAM strategies to optimize their assets, focusing on actionable steps within their processes and EAM systems:

Implementing a defined asset management lifecycle involves more than just setting a time horizon. Agencies should develop and maintain Asset Management Lifecycle Plans (AMLPs) in coordination with asset owners, documenting the strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, and improving physical assets. These plans should identify the structured sequence of maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, and replacement actions, and should be reflected in the EAM system.

Transitioning to proactive maintenance requires expanding the use of reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) to ensure assets continue to deliver their intended function. This involves conducting RCM analysis and implementing recommendations. EAM systems should be configured to schedule preventive maintenance tasks automatically based on predefined schedules or condition monitoring data. Agencies also need to develop and implement consistent reliability reporting across all maintenance groups.

Establishing robust data governance is critical. Actionable steps include reviewing and updating existing EAM data governance policies and identifying gaps where new policies must be developed and implemented across departments. Agencies should also focus on improving the process for assessing asset conditions and implementing consistent and automated condition assessment tools within the EAM system. Furthermore, reviewing and updating EAM asset hierarchies in coordination with asset owners ensures data is organized logically.

EAM systems should be utilized to standardize work order processes, from creation to completion and data capture. Agencies should develop and implement EAM process improvements that lead to consistent EAM use across departments, ensuring data requirements can be met. Optimizing scheduling involves balancing prioritized work with available resources within the EAM system, aiming to reduce downtime and increase efficiency.

Maintaining an accurate inventory requires a systematic approach embedded in the EAM system. Agencies need to ensure assets acquired during capital improvement projects are onboarded with all required data collection and input upon induction. Regular condition assessments should be documented within the EAM system, providing a basis for identifying shortcomings and areas for improvement in TAM practices.

Implementing RCM involves analyzing the functions and potential failures of assets in their specific operating contexts. The outcomes of RCM analyses, including recommended maintenance tasks and frequencies, should be integrated directly into the EAM system to drive the maintenance schedule. Agencies should also investigate procurement methods to mitigate risk by implementing a reliability-based supply chain.

Connecting Strategy to Daily Chaos

The EAM system serves as a crucial link between daily activities and the overarching strategic goals outlined in the TAM Plan and SAMP. Here’s how this linkage works:

TAM Plan as the Guiding Document

The TAM Plan defines the agency’s asset management policy, objectives, and performance targets related to SGR. It also includes an implementation plan with specific actions.

For example:

Performance Targets in TAM Inform EAM Activities:
If the TAM Plan sets a target for reducing vehicle breakdowns, this informs how the agency uses the EAM system to manage maintenance. The EAM system can track metrics such as Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), number of breakdowns, and associated costs.
EAM Supports Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment for TAM Reporting:
The EAM system serves as the central repository for the asset inventory and condition data required for annual reporting to the National Transit Database (NTD) as part of TAM compliance. EAM systems include modules for asset registry, condition assessment, and TAM reporting.
Budgeting and Resource Allocation:
The EAM system provides data on maintenance costs, asset lifecycles, and future replacement needs, which directly informs the budgeting and resource allocation processes outlined in the TAM Plan.

SAMP for Strategic Alignment

The SAMP translates the organizational strategic plan and asset management policy into a high-level, long-term action plan for assets and the asset management system. It defines asset management objectives and the strategies to achieve them.

For example:

SAMP Strategies Guide Maintenance Planning in EAM:
If the SAMP outlines a strategy to extend the life of critical assets through proactive maintenance, the EAM system is used to plan, schedule, and track the specific tasks. The system can track preventive vs. reactive maintenance and the impact on asset life.
Budgeting and Resource Allocation:
(Also applies here, as budgeting is influenced by both TAM and SAMP.) EAM systems provide tools to estimate future maintenance costs and align capital planning with strategic priorities defined in the SAMP.

EAM for Operational Execution

The EAM system is where the strategies and objectives from the TAM Plan and SAMP are operationalized. Many EAM systems provide functionality to record asset management policies, which can then be linked to specific EAM processes. This enables agencies to align portions of the TAM plan with various processes implemented in the EAM system, and to establish metrics and reporting against the TAM Plan.

For example:

Work Order Data Feeds Back into TAM and SAMP:
Data from completed work orders (failure codes, repair times, costs) supports performance monitoring and strategy evaluation.
Performance Tracking:
Metrics like MTBF, planned vs. reactive maintenance, and asset downtime are tracked in the EAM system to assess alignment with TAM and SAMP objectives.
System Configuration and Reporting:
Many EAM systems allow for mapping asset management policies directly to operational processes, creating direct alignment with strategic goals.

By consistently using the EAM system to execute maintenance activities in alignment with the strategies and objectives defined in the TAM Plan and SAMP, transit agencies can ensure that day-to-day work directly contributes to achieving their overarching goals for asset optimization, reliability, and SGR. Regularly reviewing data from the EAM system to monitor performance against TAM targets and inform updates to the SAMP is crucial for this continuous improvement cycle.

Overcoming Roadblocks to an EAMinded® Culture

Transforming EAM requires more than just technology; it demands a shift in organizational culture and processes. Common roadblocks include:

Lack of Strategic Focus: Viewing EAM as a cost center rather than a value driver.
Data Silos: Lack of data sharing and collaboration across departments.
Culture of Firefighting: A reactive approach instead of proactive planning.
Resistance to Change: Difficulty in adopting new technologies and processes.

Overcoming these challenges requires strong leadership support, investing in training and development to upskill the workforce, and promoting a culture of proactivity and collaboration by breaking down departmental barriers. Developing a change management plan is essential for embedding new ways of working.

The Journey to Transit Asset Optimization

Embracing an EAMinded approach is a journey, not a destination. Transit agencies can pave their own “Yellow Brick Road” to success by:

Developing a Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) aligned with business objectives.
Investing in EAM software and related technologies, ensuring they align with organizational needs.
Implementing robust data governance and management practices, including data quality and consistency.
Fostering a culture of collaboration and proactive maintenance through clear communication and shared goals.
Continuously monitoring and analyzing asset performance data from the EAM system to drive improvement and inform updates to the TAM Plan and SAMP.
Investing in training and upskilling the workforce to effectively use the EAM system and adopt new processes.
Establishing control of processes through documentation within the EAM system.

The Future is EAMinded®

In an era of increasing demands, evolving technologies, and the critical need for efficient resource management, an EAMinded strategy is essential for the future of public transit. By adopting a proactive maintenance mindset and leveraging the power of Enterprise Asset Management, transit agencies can optimize their valuable assets, enhance reliability, reduce costs, and ultimately provide safer, more efficient, and dependable services for the communities they serve.

Several factors make this a crucial time for transit agencies to embrace an EAMinded approach. These include the need to regularly update TAM plans, ongoing National Transit Database (NTD) reporting requirements, and perhaps most importantly, the continued emphasis on asset management in legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The BIL reinforces the importance of TAM and its connection to funding opportunities, making a robust EAM system essential for agencies seeking to maximize their investments and meet evolving federal requirements.

The journey towards EAM excellence may not be easy, but the rewards of a resilient and optimized transit system are undoubtedly worth the effort.

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