Defining Asset Health Indicators (AHI) to Support Complex Assets Maintenance and Replacement Strategies. A Generic Procedure to Assess Assets Deterioration

Abstract

An Asset Health Index (AHI) is a tool that processes data about asset’s condition. That index is intended to explore if alterations can be generated in the health of the asset along its life cycle. These data can be obtained during the asset’s operation, but they can also come from other information sources such as geographical information systems, supplier’s reliability records, relevant external agent’s records, etc. The tool (AHI) provides an objective point of view in order to justify, for instance, the extension of an asset useful life, or in order to identify which assets from a fleet are candidates for an early replacement as a consequence of a premature aging. The purpose of this Chapter is to develop a generic procedure to easy obtaining an AHI that can reasonably measure the current degradation of the assets, offering the possibility to compare their status to the one expected for the at their age and functional location. As a result of the procedure, an organization will have an objective tool to prioritize interventions, attention and the renewal of significant equipment. In this Chapter we first review the concept and the most relevant models in the literature, then we introduce the methodology and different examples related to the different steps. Finally conclusions of the chapter are presented. Keywords Asset management · Capital investment · Operation and maintenance decision-making · Life cycle analysis · Assets health