Executive Summary

A major asset management improvement initiative was undertaken at a large-scale food processing facility to develop and implement a structured Asset Criticality Tool aimed at improving maintenance effectiveness and risk visibility.

The site was operating under a predominantly reactive and time-based maintenance approach, where preventive maintenance tasks were applied uniformly across assets without clear prioritisation. This led to:

• Inefficient use of maintenance resources
• Limited visibility of high-risk assets
• Misalignment between asset criticality and maintenance strategy
• Over-servicing of low-risk equipment and under-servicing of critical assets

‍

To address these challenges, a risk-based asset management framework was developed and implemented. This involved creating a comprehensive asset register, defining functional and performance standards, and establishing a multi-criteria criticality model incorporating health & safety, environmental, financial, quality, and compliance risks.

The implementation enabled a transition from a reactive maintenance environment to a proactive, risk-based maintenance strategy, ensuring that high-criticality assets such as bulk material handling systems and packaging equipment were prioritised appropriately. This resulted in improved maintenance efficiency, enhanced reliability, and a scalable framework for continuous asset management improvement.

‍

‍

‍

Project Approach and Implementation

1. On-site and desktop review of asset base
2. Identification of key gaps
3. Development of Asset Criticality Model
4. Develop risk-based scoring method & implement scoring framework
5. Asset Criticality Assessment Execution
6. Maintenance strategy alignment
7. Strategy review and optimisation
8. Integration with Work Managment Systems (CMMS)

‍

‍

‍

‍

Project Deliverables

Marlanda delivered a comprehensive Asset Criticality Tool, a structured Equipment Index covering all major production assets, and a standardised risk framework across multiple consequence categories. Maintenance strategies were reviewed and aligned with asset criticality, while defined failure modes and maintenance criteria were introduced, improving visibility and risk management of high-risk assets across the entire site.

‍

‍

‍

‍

Qualitative Outcomes

The project outcomes improved maintenance prioritisation efficiency, risk visibility across varied operations, decision-making consistency across departments, and focus on critical asset reliability, while reducing unnecessary preventive maintenance (PM) tasks.

‍

‍

‍

‍

Moving Forward

To sustain the benefits of the asset criticality implementation, ongoing initiatives focus on embedding the framework into daily operations and continuous improvement processes.

Future steps include:

• Integration of real-time condition monitoring data
• Continuous refinement of criticality scores using work order history
• Expansion of predictive maintenance techniques for high-critical assets
• Periodic review of asset performance against defined standards

By embedding a structured asset criticality approach, the organization is positioned to achieve long-term reliability, improved operational efficiency, and data-driven maintenance decision-making.

‍

‍

‍

‍