An ISO 55001 asset management system provides a framework for establishing an asset management policy, objectives, processes and management, and helps an organization achieve its strategic objectives. ISO 55001 applies a an effective and efficient process that drives continued improvement and sustained value-creation through the management of asset-related costs, performance, opportunities and risks.
Compliance with the ISO 55001 requirements is considered globally as a helping hand to organizations seeking a proactive culture that can lead to the creation of increased value from their assets. It also sends a message to the organization's internal and external stakeholders (e.g. authorities, customers, insurers) that the organization is managing its performance and its risks and costs in a very effective manner.
Parts of the requirements in ISO 55001 – the generic management requirements – are identical to those in the other ISO system management standards, such as ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety management. It is therefore quite simple to incorporate the various management systems into one management system, and it is simple to incorporate asset management into an established management system or to extend an ISO 55001 system with e.g. ISO 9001.
The Danish standardisation committee for asset management has assisted Danish Standards in the translation of the new version of ISO 55002 which provides guidance on the application of ISO 55001. The new version of ISO 55002 provides improved guidance on the development and use of an ISO 55001 asset management system. Among other things, the "fundamentals" in ISO 55000 (value, alignment, leadership and assurance) are addressed under the relevant clauses, and annexes have been added for cross-sectional concepts in the main text of the document and provides overall guidance for specific themes in asset management that have been identified as having been addressed in multiple clauses of ISO 55002.
When translating the new ISO 55002 version, the Danish standardization committee chose to modify several of the Danish terms. For example, "asset management system" had previously been translated to "ledelsessystem til styring af aktiver" (the same as in DS/ISO 55000 and DS/ISO 55001). It has now been decided to translate this to "asset management-system" in the new version of DS/ISO 55002. This is more in line with how it is referred to in day-to-day use. When the new versions of ISO 55000 and ISO 55001 are published, the new Danish terminology will also be incorporated in the Danish translations.
While ISO 55001 establishes the requirements for asset management systems, ISO 55000 provides the principles and definitions of the terms used in the 55000 series. As stated above, some of the Danish terms in ISO 55000 will be modified in the coming versions to correspond with the most recent Danish translation of ISO 55002.
In order to succeed in successful implementation of asset management, it is important that the organization is familiar with and applies the principles described in ISO 55000 and that the organization understands the meaning of the terms. It is, however, not a requirement to use the exact terms defined by ISO 55000, but it is important that their meaning is understood correctly, and the use of common terminology makes it easier to interact across asset management – both within an organization and across organizations, countries and regions.
ISO 55000 is also under revision, and this work takes place concurrently with the revision of ISO 55001.
The guidance in this Technical Specification enables organizations to better understand why alignment of financial and non-financial functions is important in connection with realizing value from assets and how this can be done.
Asset management should be seen as a multidisciplinary function that does not just relate to one part of an organization. Therefore, the alignment of financial planning, accounting, decision-making, reporting and the competences involved are key components of the establishment of effective asset management. Conversely, asset management has a major impact on financial planning, decision-making and reporting. Close collaboration between asset management, financial and accounting functions is therefore necessary to achieve successful implementation of an asset management system.
The Technical Specification describes how to create an effective and efficient interaction between asset management and financial and accounting functions, which can lead to improved internal control, greater transparency and complete and timely reporting. It also helps to improve systemization in relation to assets, the introduction of more efficient key performance measurements and how to obtain a better factual basis for decision-making.
See a presentation of ISO/TS 55010 here: https://committee.iso.org/home/tc251
