Commissioned by the VeenIX construction consortium, INNOCY has been responsible for asset management for the widening of the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht since the tender. Now that the project is in full swing, INNOCY takes on various roles, the most important of which is the entire asset management during the realization and operation phases. And the inventive consultancy and engineering firm does this in its own unique way: for a fixed price.
“From day one we have been asked by VeenIX to co-write the tender plan that ultimately led to the winning offer”, begins Jasper Staadegaard, business development manager at INNOCY. “After the award, we immediately started setting up the asset management policy, the RAMS, maintenance engineering, fault coordination, etc. In other words, we are the first point of contact for the construction consortium and coordinator towards Rijkswaterstaat to monitor the agreements made.”
Unique example
The A9 is a unique example of a fully integrated asset management approach, says Staadegaard. “Especially since we said early in the tender that we want to approach asset management with more responsibility than hours. So for a fixed amount per month. We are aware that it entails risks if we run out of scope and out of time. We optimize current and future maintenance costs through an integrated overview. We reduce the indirect costs for daily maintenance. With this substantive knowledge of the systems to be built, we reduce the total maintenance costs for the entire project, up to 2040. Our integrated approach is necessary for the responsibility we take on to shift the focus from low-cost design to low-cost lifecycle costs. A method that has worked well so far.”
Integrated asset management
INNOCY is strategically, tactically and operationally connected to the project and takes care of the Strategic Asset Management (SAM), the Maintenance Management (MM) and all RAMS activities. “We have set up a system ourselves that potentially meets the ISO 55000 certification, even though the A9 project is not certified in this way,” says Arjan Haak, who is involved in the project as an asset manager from INNOCY. “From the SAM, we keep the acreage running, as determined in the Strategic Asset Management Plan. Maintenance is planned in such a way that road traffic is inconvenienced as little as possible and that all objects in the route continue to function properly. This fits in with the integral asset management approach for this project. As soon as a malfunction occurs, it will be forwarded to our emergency service. Subsequently, the malfunction must be resolved within the set period in order to avoid penalty points. The emergency service works hard to resolve all malfunctions as quickly as possible.”
Open communication
Maintenance Management currently takes up by far the most time for INNOCY. “About 85% of our work goes into this discipline,” says Haak. “It will remain that way for the time being. A challenge in which all our knowledge comes in handy given the decreasing number of hours we have to spend in combination with the age of the acreage. Furthermore, we will continue to look at how we can monitor future maintenance from RAMS. We believe it is important to communicate openly and transparently about the problems we encounter. And always check whether the solution fits well with the long-term Maintenance Management, the objectives for the project and what is best for the construction consortium.”
Triangle of asset management
Haak calls the triangle between SAM, RAMS and MM the 'INNOCY way of asset management'. “The method lends itself perfectly to larger projects of this kind to ensure that the road is kept safe and available without fail. We make an almost standardized system project-specific. That is our strength here at VeenIX and also in the future.” Staadegaard concludes: “A success formula that we like to copy in follow-up projects, making use of previous experiences. We work integrally as one team on the project objectives, optimal lifecycle costs and what is good for the construction consortium.”
