How ISO 55001 Asset Management Certification Can Help Your Business?

Every business deals with certain assets including financial, capital, physical, and intellectual property assets. There is a need for a structured system for them to manage all those assets across their entire lifecycle i.e. from purchase, to use and decommission. ISO 55001 is the international standard for asset management which provides a framework for efficient management of assets, minimisation of risks, and increase in ROI to the business.

Achieving the ISO 55001 asset management certification thus can provide your organisation and stakeholders with a clear indication of your asset management performance. It indicates that your organisation has the most efficient and validated system to control your asset ownership while fulfilling the expectations of your financial stakeholders and promoting value creation. Financial stakeholders of a business include the investors, bondholders or shareholders, credit agencies, and insurers.

The ISO 55001 standard hence equips an organisation with best practices under an asset management framework. Here are the key requirements that are specified by the asset management standard.

Requirements of the ISO 55001 Asset Management Standard

• Asset Management System: Your organisation is required to formulate, document, and implement an asset management system that tracks all of your assets throughout their life cycle. Assets include all valuable and productive assets including physical, financial, and intangible ones.

• Management Participation: Your organisation’s top management team should be involved from the start in implementing the asset management system. They should be involved in performing a gap analysis by taking a closer look at their current assets and the kind of management system currently have in place to manage them. This helps them to understand what is lacking in their current asset management compared to the ISO 55001 standard. They need to identify areas and find measures to close the gaps. They should then form a compliant asset management system with all required procedures or practices.

• Resources Management: The management of your organisation should also be mindful about all resources including staff, infrastructure, and other tools that are required to effectively implement and maintain the asset management system.

• Review and Analysis: Your management team should also review your asset management system periodically and evaluate whether it is working effectively for continual improvement of assets.

The ISO 55001 asset management standard is comprised of 10 clauses which are summed up into these four requirements. To get certified sooner with the standard and get all its benefits, make sure to meet these requirements. Now that you know all the requirements, here is how the standard can help your business.

Benefits of the ISO 55001 asset management standard

Enhance Financial Performance

With the implementation of an asset management system complying with the ISO 55001 standard, you can see an improvement in your ROI (Return on Investments). A structured system helps in managing expenditures on assets, reducing costs on their management, and optimising their values.

Reduction of Risks

Asset management risks include loss of asset values, misallocation of assets, unproductive investments due to lack of information, and so on. An asset management system helps in reduction of risks as it gives your organisation accurate and time-to-time information on assets. It greatly helps in improving the efficiency of assets while minimising risks.

Increase in Corporate Reputation

Accrediting with an international standard for asset management can ensure that your organisation complies with all legal obligations regarding asset control and protects them for value addition. It ensures that you are successful in satisfying your stakeholders and that helps to keep up your corporate reputation.

Drives Business Growth

A well-organised system for asset management helps ensure that everyone in your organisation is accountable for managing and utilising assets. They can clearly understand the goal of the standard and work towards driving the performance of assets by following the asset management practices defined. When your organisation’s assets are performing well and adding value to your operations, it paves the path for continual growth and improvement of your organisation.

Standardised Reporting

The implementation of a comprehensive asset management system can help you further improve your assets’ performance, especially in comparison to other businesses with best practices. You need to maintain a documented system and keep track of all assets. By regularly assessing the assets, you can find what ways some of your investments can be improved. You can share your asset improvement measures with your stakeholders with current reports and seek their opinions too. Eventually, you may see an improvement in your overall asset performance compared to other businesses in the industry.

While now you know more about the requirements and potential benefits of the ISO 55001 asset management standard, how to achieve the standard is the next big question. You need to get a team of expert ISO certification consultants who can help you with critical processes such as gap analysis, implementation of an asset management system, documentation, and reviewing the system. They can help you by performing internal audits before registering for certification. Internal auditing ensures that your implemented asset management system complies with the ISO 55001 standard and is ready for certification.