Category Archives: Industry Research

Mainstream Community Snapshot 2021

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This snapshot presents a finger-on-the-pulse view for the Australian asset management community. Insights in this report are based on extensive research with maintenance and asset management professionals across industry in Australia. The impact of COVID-19 has affected different sectors in many ways. Those tasked with maintaining essential services during 2020 have had to work out how to keep delivering, while operating safely and efficiently during a time of high stress, while other businesses have been impacted by a decline in demand for their services or product. Regardless of which camp you find yourself in, areas that have been dialed up due the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic include: Workforce health and wellbeing Leadership and alignment Supply Chain disruptions Managing a remote workforce Download the Mainstream Research Report 2021 for a comprehensive view of innovation in asset management. … Continue reading →

What’s Next for Asset Management? Key Innovation Themes for 2019

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In preparation for Mainstream Conference in August 2019, we’ve just returned from running our annual roundtable discussion groups across Australia. Each session was a full and frank discussion, focusing on the current challenges facing asset management leaders and the enablers leading towards change. We had a fantastic turnout to these roundtables, with over 100 asset management professionals weighing in on the discussions in order to uncover pain points, challenges and ideas for improvement. Three main themes emerged from the research. You can download the full report here for more detail. 1. Digitising Your Asset Management Collecting data for the sake of data is of little value. Understanding the decisions that the data and subsequent analysis will inform is critical to a value-driven data strategy. The magic happens when the data you collect allows you to make decisions that have a tangible impact on your business objectives, often through improved reliability, availability or cost efficiency. If two ground rules are to be followed they seem to be: Understand why (you are collecting); and what (you will do with it). Start with the end in mind and have governance in place before you start the journey.  2. Adopting an Asset Management Mindset Asset Management involves managing the lifespan of a physical assets – from idea to design, build, procure, commission, operate, maintain, improve and retire – in order to meet the businesses’ strategic objectives. Needless to say, this separates Asset Management as a discipline or mindset from Maintenance: It is strategic, centered on … Continue reading →

Mainstream Research Report 2019

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Standing still is going backwards. The digital era is presenting new challenges to Australian organisations across the board, through increased market competition and heightened customer expectations. Responding to these challenges requires more than just cosmetic changes on the outside – it can also mean fundamentally reshaping the internal functions upon which the organisation relies. Asset Management is no exception. The mounting pressure for organisations to be more responsive to market conditions is forcing a rethink of systems and processes within asset management, and driving the adoption of new tools and technologies that accelerate outcomes and enable new contributions. Senior asset management professionals from across Australia have had their say about the state of asset management innovation in 2019. More than 100 industry leaders in asset strategy, asset reliability and maintenance management across Australia came together for a recent series of roundtable discussions. They shared what they believed to be the barriers and opportunities to achieving asset management excellence being experienced in both their organisations and the wider asset management community.  Three primary themes emerged from our roundtable discussions: Digitising Your Asset Management Adopting an Asset Management Mindset Putting People, Leadership and Culture at the Heart of Everything Download the Mainstream Research Report 2019 for a comprehensive view of innovation in asset management. Fill in the form below to download your free copy: … Continue reading →

The Hottest Topics In Australian Asset Management Right Now

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For 22 years, The Eventful Group has been conducting intense research with the Australian Asset Management community to hear about the challenges faced and opportunities perceived by this group. The outcomes of over 100 interviews with industry leaders in asset strategy, asset reliability and maintenance management all over the country and across industries are aggregated into one comprehensive report. This report then forms the basis upon which the agenda for the Asset Management Innovation Fest is built. The conference is being delivered by practitioners, for practitioners, in August in Melbourne. As a result of our research and long-term exposure to industry, four primary themes have emerged as the hottest topics in Asset Management: Preparing for a Digital Future Adopting an Asset Management Mindset Putting Your People at the Centre of it all Making Work Management Simple   Fill out the form below to access the full report and gain deeper insight into the extensive interviews held with this community.    … Continue reading →

Identifying Pain Points for Asset Management Professionals

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As a Program Director, I often get asked how I decide on what goes into the Mainstream Conference program each year. While finding the people and organisations with the best stories is an important part of putting the event together, what many people don’t realise is that the research process starts long before the event planning even begins – usually 6 months out from the conference – when we get the community together in a series of roundtable discussion groups (or RTDs). It’s in these RTDs that we uncover and unpack the most pressing issues that are facing the Asset Management community. The challenges that keep them up at night and often prevent them from moving their teams and businesses forward. Each roundtable discussion group involves around 20 people who sit around a… well… a round table! These people are real practitioners in the industry – Asset Managers, Maintenance Managers, Reliability Professionals – we want to speak to the people in the thick of it who are managing teams, driving strategic thinking, leading transformation projects and living the complexities that come with that every day. Getting to the Core of the Problem Our discussion groups are facilitated by a subject matter expert – this year we were lucky enough to have John Searls who is a fantastic facilitator and brings his unique experience and perspective to these groups. It is John’s job to draw out and interpret the pain points people are experiencing by asking probing questions and capturing the ideas that … Continue reading →

Asset Management 2017: Industry Snapshot

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As senior asset management leaders we strive for operational excellence. We know how important asset management is in a company’s ability to increase productivity, and to demonstrate continuous improvement. The fact is we rely on our assets to make money. We need to disrupt the mindset that asset management simply equals maintenance – it doesn’t. The current climate is right for engaging senior management in long-term asset management strategy and ensuring our organisations are set up to for continuous improvement. How do we make asset management the value proposition that we know it needs to be? How can we maximise asset performance through stakeholder engagement, operational excellence and reliability?  As we set plans for 2017 and beyond, asset management practitioners are asking themselves these and other questions. In a recent series of roundtable discussion groups, senior professionals revealed what is happening within their organisations and the wider community with regard to the barriers and opportunities to achieving asset management excellence. This report presents the results and explores some of the challenges facing asset intensive industries and the enablers which will lead the path towards change. Methodology & Respondent Profile Research conducted in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane in September 2016 Method: Small face-to-face discussion groups facilitated by an industry thought-leader to uncover pain points, challenges and ideas for improvement Industries represented included mining and resources, transport, utilities, infrastructure and manufacturing Over 90 asset management professionals participated including: Asset Managers Maintenance Managers Reliability Professionals Plant Managers Performance Engineers General Managers Fill in … Continue reading →