What is the Value of a PMS?
The Oxford dictionary defines values as “the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something”. This is a broad definition and although it defines value, it also means that value is largely subjective. Importance, worth, usefulness of something are all things that are relative to each of us and therefore our frame of reference helps define value.
The perceived value of a pavement management system will differ between individuals. For example, the value of a pavement management system to an asset manager will be measured in economic terms. The CEO of a trucking company that relies on good roads for shipping might think of value based on efficiency of the shipped goods. The public might think of value as the smoothness of roads or lack of congestion.
How do we define the value of a pavement management system? There are many approaches ranging from quantitative to qualitative. There was a recently completed NCHRP studied that introduced a 7-step process on determining value and quantifying the return on investment (ROI). That is the value or benefit one gets from an investment or cost incurred. Now moving slightly away from the esoteric to a more straightforward discussion pertaining to dTIMS, we know dTIMS Business Analytics (BA) is a scalable Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) tool that provides you with the insight to prioritize asset management projects and defend your investment decisions.
To that end, Deighton has identified these five metrics to help define value and what follows is a brief discussion on how dTIMS addresses those metrics.
1. What Assets do I Own?
In this metric, value is being measured by knowledge of what you own as an agency. The dTIMS database structure allows any asset manager to keep a rigorous inventory of all assets in his purview. The value that dTIMS offers is the ability to store any data on any asset in whichever way is most feasible for that asset. That is, you can store a very detailed inventory of your pavement assets if you know more about these than say your sign assets which you may only know things such as location and type of sign. Imagine the value of knowing the location of every asset you own and specific attribute data about that asset. That’s called “information value”.
2. What is the current condition of those assets?
Once a solid inventory of the assets is established in dTIMS, the next step is to establish a baseline of their current condition. In most cases, condition is a quantitative measure as in a PCI of 70 out of 100, but condition can also be qualitative, as in “Good” or “Poor”. Certainly, one of the reasons for wanting to know condition is to be able to answer the question what it is going to cost to maintain my assets, if you don’t know what condition they are in, this is an even more difficult question to answer.
dTIMS allows our users to be able to define not only the current condition of your assets in any way you wish but also the future condition using deterioration models. The value that dTIMS offers is flexibility in being able to define condition in a way that most makes sense for your agency and the asset. And then be able to predict that condition into the future.
3. What do I need to do to maintain or improve the assets in the most cost-effective manner?
An asset is maintained or improved by applying a remedy to it as it deteriorates. The asset management system must provide for the deterioration of any asset using any means, i.e. deterministic or probabilistic methods. The system must also allow for the introduction of treatments. These are the remedies that are applied to an asset that has reached a state of disrepair. dTIMS allows the asset manager to define any number and type of deterioration methods and treatments as required. This applies across the asset portfolio and is not limited to just pavements.
dTIMS provides this flexibility and thereby allows the asset manager to replicate current practices or consider and test best practices as alternatives. The value that dTIMS provides is the ability to evaluate a myriad of alternatives that assures the asset manager that the most cost-effective solution will be tested and found within the agency constraints.
4. Is my agency's investment level on track to achieve our performance goals?
The true value of an asset management system is to allow for agency specific goals to be set and then inform the asset manager of the required investment level to achieve these goals. Alternatively, an asset management system allows for an asset manager to understand if the current investment level is enough to meet the agency goals. However you look at it, the value that dTIMS provides is to be able to quantify the investment level needed to achieve the performance goals of the agency and provide the means to adjust if the goals will not be met.
Flexibility is again a large aspect of this since few agencies have only one type of goal. Many agencies might have a condition goal, a safety goal, a mobility goal or a whole host of other types of goals. dTIMS allows for each of these goals to be set and will determine investment levels required to achieve them.
5. What does my agency's risk profile look like at our current investment level and is this something that we are comfortable with?
The more astute asset manager realizes a performance goal is one thing, but risk mitigation is a vital part of any agency. To that end, dTIMS allows risk to be calculated based on probability and consequence measures that are unique to the agency. From this, a risk profile for the current (or any) investment level can be generated and depending on the asset and the risk appetite of the agency, a determination can be made if the investment level is enough to mitigate risk to a level that is acceptable to the agency, i.e. no more than X% of the network in high risk.
The value that dTIMS provides is the flexibility of allowing the asset manager to have different calculations of risk and unique risk targets for different assets, i.e. the risk appetite an agency has for bridges might be lower than for pavements.
Conclusion
dTIMS as an asset management system provides value in many ways for the asset manager. Value in terms of knowing what assets you own and the condition they are in. Value in terms of knowing a cost-effective alternative is being considered and from that an agency investment level to hit the performance goals or risk profile specified by the agency. Value in terms of being better than a traditional worst-first approach which says only pay attention to the worst of the assets in my portfolio. Value in terms of flexibility of being able to do asset management according to the uniqueness of your agency but also being able to change tactics as the needs and demands change and not being limited to a preconceived strategy. So dTIMS for Pavement (Asset) Management – Is it Worth It? Absolutely! Does your asset management system deliver this kind of value? Do you know? Contact Deighton to find out how the value of dTIMS can be realized by your agency today.