7 Benefits to help make the case for an asset criticality assessment

A major asset failure affects more than just production. Depending on the severity, it could put your entire business at risk. From costly downtime to safety and environmental breaches, the rippling effects can be disastrous.

An asset criticality assessment is designed to rank and prioritize your organization’s assets and unmask operational risks. If your company has never done such an assessment or is counting heavily on aging equipment for manufacturing and production, now may be the time for it.

The results of this analysis will help maintenance and reliability teams focus efforts where they are most needed. Moreover, when you know your asset criticality to overall production, you can justify capital, project, and MRO expenses. The time and effort are worth it.

First, do your homework

• Clearly articulate why you need an assessment and how you plan to implement it
• Invite key department members and stakeholders to participate actively. They must be fully involved
• Gain consensus agreement on the goals for the asset criticality assessment
• Rank assets using quantitative analysis to drive decisions
• Don’t underestimate perceptions and field experience, but back it up with data
• Select a proven ranking system that fits your organization

Now, make your case

The benefits of performing an asset criticality analysis are numerous. It can provide data and insights to help your organization:

1. Improve reliability, availability, and use of equipment
2. Allocate limited resources more efficiently, including labor and materials
3. Optimize business decisions involving inventory, procurement, and maintenance budgeting
4. Advance predictive maintenance and preventive maintenance plans to match the needs of critical assets and reduce costs
5. Justify selective investments in predictive and condition-based maintenance technologies
6. Drive digitalization to enable data capture for all critical assets
7. Maintain longer-term stability and predictability of equipment, systems, and operations

As the results of an asset criticality assessment begin impacting operations positively, some rankings will change. Assess assets continuously to ensure rankings stay accurate. An asset criticality assessment is a dynamic tool capable of improving reliability and saving your organization time and money.