Enterprise Asset Management in the Civil Infrastructure sector

The importance of Civil Infrastructure to the global economy cannot be overstated. Roads, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure are vital to the flow of goods and components around the world, and recent events have shown how vulnerable supply chains can be to even small changes. So keeping infrastructure operating correctly is a top priority for many asset managers, which entails rigorous and constant inspection and maintenance of assets. This also has the benefit of extending the life of the assets.

IBM Maximo^® for Civil Infrastructure, an extension of IBM Maximo^® Application Suite (MAS), provides organisations in the sector with new ways to extensively improve their enterprise asset management.

MAS uses sensor-based inputs and machine-learning technology to provide more consistent and efficient monitoring of infrastructure. This enables organisations to undertake more accurately targeted, and pre-emptive, maintenance, reducing the chance of asset failure.

MAS’s Visual Inspection app also enables you to create visual models, which then enable the system to recognise and log visual defects such as:

• Rust
• Cracks
• Algae
• Spalling

MAS uses Artificial Intelligence capabilities on all the collected data to extract the key findings, according to the parameters that you set. MAS can also combine the data inputs with your historical data, to highlight any emerging anomalies. This enables you to initiate targeted action sooner.

Better outcomes from better data

MAS gives your Civil Infrastructure organisation a complete ‘live’ picture of the health of your assets (both fixed assets such as roads, and mobile assets such as plant), second-by-second. Data from sensors is added automatically, and manual data inputs from field teams can be added on-site using MAS’s mobile capabilities. This ensures that any member of your team, whether in head office or in the field, can access live condition data and reports on any asset.

The improved monitoring and awareness of asset condition helps your organisation to:

• Extend the lifespan of assets
• Optimise maintenance
• Get early warnings of deterioration and damage
• Have a complete digital record of all work carried out

The data provided by MAS enables your infrastructure managers to work more efficiently, make better decisions, reduce cost and minimise potential risks.

Vegetation Management in Maximo^®

Civil Infrastructure organisations can also use Maximo^® to help control Vegetation Management in their projects. IBM Maximo^® Asset Performance Management Vegetation Management is a separate app that includes technology from the Weather Company, to provide an end-to-end solution that injects intelligence into vegetation management workflows.

This ensures that you can now obtain greater visibility into the state of vegetation, and change the way decisions are made, to balance the competing needs of budgeting, risk management (for example: flooding), and biodiversity requirements.

The solution enables transparency in contracting, auditing, and regulatory processes with remote monitoring and evidence-based reporting capabilities. Scoring models can recommend actions by combining various data sets, allowing you to spend less time on obvious actions and focus on more complex decisions.