Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) historically collected asset information / data at contract completion. This information / data varied in both quality and quantity, therefore its use has not been optimised resulting in the limiting of decision making and inefficiencies during design construction and operation. The aim is to standardise the process and have a single system to manage and utilise it through the whole lifecycle of the asset.
NWG have been on a journey to implement the BIM process to improve asset data collection during the project lifecycle. It has challenged, and potentially changed, the industry concept of collecting data. Whilst most organisations are putting data into their 3D graphical representations NWG realised the limitations of this approach, especially for those industries with legacy assets to deal with.
Hence they’ve worked with their supply chain partners to collaboratively develop a simple but highly effective information / data capture method. They have also worked with IBM to change the way in which data is handled and viewed within their asset management software (Maximo). This has been industry leading and could offer a blueprint for other water companies.
They required an asset management system which can successfully import both graphical and non-graphical information and automatically link the two by locating the globally unique identifiers (GUID) code embedded in the model and the Asset Data Sheets (ADS). Ensuring everyone during operational phase of the asset has access to the most up to date and relevant information to speed up the decision making process.
