Asset inventory and management is nothing new to Ayres Associates. In fact, we have been mapping assets for decades, and just completed a city-wide utility infrastructure project for a private client within the past year. In short, Ayres knows assets, but a recent partnership with Cartegraph has allowed us to expand our asset management solutions in exciting new ways.
For starters, it is important to know what asset management is and what it is not. The Institute for Asset Management defines Asset Management as a system of coordinated activity within an organization to realize value from assets. It involves the balancing of costs, opportunities and risks against the desired performance of assets, to achieve the organizational objectives. This is to say – assets such as roadways and fire hydrants are valuable and need to be proactively managed to ensure the best return on investment. This is where Ayres comes in.
Whether it is extracting asset locations from stereo imagery, mobile LiDAR and survey data, or performing structural inspections, Ayres has a unique capability to fuel asset management systems from the ground up. This ability to not only map assets, but inspect and manage them is something that few geospatial firms can offer and highlights the multidisciplinary nature of Ayres’ service offerings.
Traditionally, asset management has lived in a world of spreadsheets and paper work orders. While Ayres has been on the forefront of mapping assets and delivering digital data in the form of GIS compatible databases, Cartegraph’s solutions take things one step further. In Cartegraph, interaction with assets is done almost exclusively through web and mobile applications. While the backbone remains a robust GIS database, Cartegraph leverages esri’s ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS server for security, authorizations, data storage, and integration allowing for end users to interact solely through the application. It is a simple yet powerful interface that allows clients to be up and running with minimal training.
Cartegraph offers two tiers of asset management solutions for governmental entities: Asset Management System (AMS) and the more robust Operational Management Systems (OMS). AMS involves the basic collection of asset locations and the creation of standard tasks involved in the day-to-day management of said assets. OMS builds on this established foundation with enhancements for things like advanced configuration, preventative maintenance, and scenario building which help stakeholders and decision makers realize the true value or proactively managing their essential infrastructure.
As time passes and infrastructure ages it is important that we do everything in our power to manage it wisely. Tools such as Cartegraph OMS and the services provided by Ayres Associates are what is needed to keep roads safe, storm sewers reliable, and all our essential assets operating in a cost-effective manner.
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