Introduction

EN 17485 introduces methods and procedures about maintenance within physical asset management for all the levels and functions of the organizations’ management, including corporate planning management, plant management, technical management, production management, financial management, asset management, maintenance management, and quality management.

EN 16646 ‘Maintenance - Maintenance within physical asset management’ was published in December 2014. Since it gives a general framework to allow and determine the role and tasks of maintenance within the larger frame of physical asset management, but does not introduce detail methods and procedures to implement or establish it. The aim of EN 17485 is to close this gap.

This document addresses the principles of physical asset management, which are relevant from the maintenance point of view. This document offers a framework for a systematic management approach. The aims of this document are to:

— create and systematize the link between business, physical asset management and maintenance activities of organizations;
— indicate external and internal influencing factors and their effect on physical asset and maintenance management;
— promote cross-functional cooperation;
— address transparency in organizational decision making;
— address simulation and visualization as effective tools to support decision making;
— address uncertainty management to improve the quality of decision making;
— improve information management as an activity to achieve the above-mentioned objectives;
— address the sustainability of operations.

These targets improve the chances of success in meeting the physical asset management challenges mentioned in EN 16646. It mentions several reasons why physical asset management is nowadays more important than ever before. The same reasons are valid when we evaluate the importance of methods and procedures.

This document introduces methods and approaches to build a bridge between maintenance and the other functions.

Many benefits can be achieved when applying the methodology presented in this document:

— economically more efficient, effective and profitable use of capital: ‘turnover of and return on assets’;
— more accurate long-term life cycle decisions;
— integrated investment and maintenance planning;
— integrated approach for the production function (assets, operation and maintenance);
— direction given to maintenance strategies and activities;
— improved position for maintenance among the other company functions;
— improved assessment of performance and control;
— enhanced capability to operate within extended enterprise ecosystems (including customers/suppliers);
— enhanced reputation;
— more sustainable use of capital.

Further and maybe even greater benefits are now being found through improved credibility in the eyes of customers, regulators and other stakeholders. Physical asset management also results in much greater engagement and motivation of the workforce, and in more sustainable, continual improvement business processes. Physical asset management builds up the required link between maintenance management and the organizational strategic plan and gives direction to maintenance activities.

The standards EN 16646 and EN 17485 build the bridge between ISO 5500x (Asset management system standards) and the EN maintenance standards. ISO 55001 states that organizations should determine e.g. the organizational context, requirements for the assets, decision criteria, strategic asset management plan and asset management plan (including maintenance). However, it does not describe how to do it. Respectively, maintenance standards often introduce e.g. the concept of the required function or the concept of maintenance strategy, but do not explain how they have been determined. EN 17485 introduces a methodological framework which advises organizations to implement the requirements presented in ISO 55001. By doing this it creates the bridge between the several maintenance standards and ISO 5500x in order to give an applicable starting point to the more detailed documents for the specific sub-functions of maintenance (See Figure 1).

Figure 1 — Links between EN 17485 and other standards

Figure 2 — The structure of the core clauses

In Figure 2, life cycle management covers 3 main life cycles stages (see in detail 5.2):

1. Acquisition stages (6 sub-stages) where the impact of maintenance on asset solutions have been indicated and the first contributions on maintenance strategies and programmes have been created;
2. Utilization stages (3 sub-stages) which are:
- — Utilization of physical assets;
- — Maintenance of physical assets;
- — Replacements including reconditioning, improvements, modifications, modernizations;
3. Disposal stage.

BS EN 17485:2021

Maintenance. Maintenance within physical asset management. Framework for improving the value of the physical assets through their whole life cycle

Current

Published:

30 Jun 2021