The beginning of an Asset Management Journey
From a passenger’s perspective, airports are the crossroads between new destinations and home. It is a place of excitement and adventure. But also a place of stress. It is essential that every airport is supported by their assets, which help airliners and passengers to get to their destination as smoothly as possible. This is where an Enterprise Asset Management System (EAM) comes in. In this case the Ultimo EAM, which has been implemented at London Gatwick.
Asset Data Platform
The implementation of the Ultimo EAM solution was not the main objective. In fact, it was part of something greater; the Asset Data Platform, or ADP, project. The ADP project is about managing the basis of assets for the entire airport over the duration of their entire lifespan.
This project is a significant step forward for Gatwick. It enables the airport to initiate, plan, design, build, commission, handover, maintain and decommission assets. With the eventual purpose to replace these assets with new ones in the future. These asset life cycles repeat themselves over and over again. Gatwick wants to make sure that all these processes are aligned across the entire business.
But why was there a need for an Enterprise Asset Management solution?
Gatwick’s previous EAM solution had been in use for a very long time and had been effective. However, it had aged considerably, which resulted in the maintenance of legacy hardware. Also Gatwick received only limited support for that software version. And not only the EAM had to be replaced with a newer and more modern solution, the Document Management System (DMS) also needed to be replaced. An integration between the EAM and DMS was included to enable the construction and maintenance teams to work closer together.
Over the years, asset data was polluted by duplication and unreliable input in both systems. It was difficult to trust the outcome of asset data in terms of trend analysis and replacement. What’s more, it was nearly impossible to generate reports that could fulfil the information requirements that helped Gatwick to continuously improve its maintenance activities. So, the asset base
data had to be cleaned up as well.
The implementation of Ultimo EAM
The implementation of Ultimo, a DMS, cleaned-up asset base data and eventually the improvement of asset life cycles. This is what the ADP project was all about. It wasn’t just an IT program, it was a business transformation program. A program that will help Gatwick to manage and maintain 2.3 billion pound asset base. Assets that contribute directly to passenger experience every day.
Managing Sustainable Success
During the Ultimo Conference, IFS Ultimo administrator & EAM analyst Rachel Mason, explained how the business processes and business information needs are fulfilled with Ultimo at Gatwick Airport and how the use of Ultimo is kept at the right level for all the different user groups. All to support the values of Gatwick Airport: Deliver great service every day, be better than the rest and work together as one team. Watch the full presentation:
Recent cases
- A system that is more user-friendly and adaptable
- Embracing an upgraded cloud-based EAM platform
- A clear set of maintenance data to use to benchmark progress
- Easy and quick adoption of the solution by the teams
- Improved operational efficiency with better resource allocation
- Optimized field operations, with quick access to information and real-time data entry
- Increased team responsiveness and efficiency