HOFOR is the ‘Greater Copenhagen Utility’, a 1200-strong organization with responsibility for supplying power, water, wastewater, town gas, district cooling and district heating utilities, to the city of Copenhagen. They own the Amagerværket combined heat and power station situated in Copenhagen and are also building wind turbines both within and outside the city.
HOFOR is Denmark’s largest utility company and it is facing a number of major changes. The population is growing and there is an increasing demand for services. At the same time, the climate is changing, and regional rainfall is increasing, so there is a growing need for sustainable ways to handle extremes of rainwater and wastewater, and benefit generations to come. HOFOR is also behind the Copenhagen municipality’s ambitious plan to be a carbon-neutral country by 2025, including turning the City of Copenhagen into the world’s first carbon-neutral supplier of energy.
HOFOR is organized into seven very diverse business units, with assets ranging from thermal and wind power generation to water treatment, district heating, gas and water pipeline networks and metering. They have various regulatory environments for the different business units – some are commercially competitive (thermal and wind power generation, district cooling), others are non-profit monopoly service providers (district heating, city gas, water and wastewater).
The motivation to adopt asset management usually requires a pressing business need, a regulatory or other external obligation, or a passionate senior executive ‘sponsor’. HOFOR had none of these: it achieves good service levels, has generally benign regulators, adequate financing and a collegiate leadership group. Nevertheless, and largely owing to the insight, influencing skills and tenacity of the Programme Manager, Lise Tarp-Johansen, the company has adopted a major transformation program to introduce asset management concepts and business processes, including new competencies, culture and tools, simply ‘because it is the right thing to do.’
Overall, a strategic theme for the initiative was adopted to introduce asset management as the method of ‘delivering and demonstrating value-for-money in the management of the asset portfolio’. This became HOFOR’s acknowledged need for change, with three clear business drivers
Development and rollout of a Risk Management Model together with the HOFOR Project Manager
Established a top management steering committee
Set strategic goals for governance and cross-disciplinary workstreams
Review of critically-targetted Supply Chain and Critical Spares Workstreams ranging across the different business units, on both over-and understocked items. Based on the SALVO process for optimal asset management decision-making, it created high-level processes for;
Establishing spares requirements
Strategic review of spares holding
Tactical review of spares holding.
The Woodhouse Partnership provided expert subject guidance and support, and was able to challenge robustness at each stage. For example, this included developing a robust audit trail for the ‘aging assets’ workstream, from initial targeting of candidate cases and scoping criteria, through to problem definition, root cause analysis, solution options development, costs, and risks estimation, business case appraisal (using asset life cycle costing and optimization of asset renewal timing) and the consolidation of a 50- year total investment program with final validation.
In 10 of the 19 cases, some investment was proven to be justified in new/additional spares, yielding net service/risk benefits valued at DKK 300 million ($48.9m) NPV for a total upfront investment of DKK 1 million ($16.2m).
The nine other cases concluded that reduced (or eliminated) stock was appropriate, represented a further net cost/risk-benefit of DKK 900,000 per year.
On completion of the pilot phase, there is now an acceptance of the new methods introduced, in some cases confirming a gut feeling, in others revealing unexpected opportunities to improve costs or service levels; but in all cases establishing a new mindset with respect to the risk implications of a good decision.
HOFOR has embraced better asset management practices because they are indeed the ‘right things to do’ if you are responsible for complex critical infrastructure. The critical success factors, however, have included the style of people-centric introduction, Lise’s project management and team energy, the home-owned workstream, and collaboration.
With the lack of a burning platform or other external imperative, there has been a lot of focus on ‘making asset management make sense’ in HOFOR; and establishing the necessary sponsorship at leadership levels. This has yielded the necessary sense of importance and determination – the HOFOR imperative for Asset Management.
A large part of HOFOR’s employees recognize that the ‘asset management journey’ has only just begun, and there is widespread optimism, determination, and energy to be involved and make the transformation into a sustainable success. So, raising asset management maturity can be a consensus-based process, provided that the right teams are established, supported, and empowered to drive it.
Lise was recognized internationally as she triumphed as the outright winner of the IAM Individual Award for ‘Transforming asset management despite the absence of any burning platform, business urgency or regulatory obligation’.
“We selected the Woodhouse Partnership as our partners in our asset management journey and have been delighted to achieve such success and progress with their help. In particular, their approach to adapting core concepts of asset management to the context, culture, and priorities of our organization has been instrumental in the transformation we have achieved and continue to develop.”
Explore the concept of Asset Management maturity and its impact on organisational success in this insightful case study post.
Grupo Energia Bogota (GEB) is a public utility corporation with more than 125 years of history.
Mutual Energy has been recognised for effective asset management of critical infrastructure by achieving ISO 55001 certification.
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Joe MacEnri is a chartered engineer and ACCA qualified accountant who has worked in the electricity industry and asset management fields for over 35 years. He has many years of experience in the areas of techno-economic and investment analysis in areas such as capital plans and as well as reliability-based investment analysis using Monte Carlo simulations. He has worked with the multinational plastic manufacturer Sabic in their annual capital planning, training staff in the SALVO process and tools, facilitating workshops on individual investment studies, and working with sites to develop their annual constraints optimized capital plans using the AI powered DST Strategic AM Planning module as well as aggregated optimized multi-site regional plans.
With over 32 years of Asset Management, Reliability and, Mechanical Engineering experience in leadership, technical, and operational roles in Oil & Gas, and the Petrochemical industry. Pedro brings a proven track record of success in developing and implementing asset management processes and tools, to facilitate communication between engineers and managers, while establishing a direct connection between business objectives and frontline engineering and operational actions, with strong considerations of Fit for Purpose and Life Cycle cost factors.
Pedro is a strong advocate and Change Agent for cross-functional collaboration between departments orientated to achieve alignment of objectives for the development of efficient and effective asset management solutions. Pedro heads up our Australiasia business unit.
Victoria is a Principal Consultant & our Product Manager for the SALVO Decision-Making Framework.
She has over 20 years’ asset management experience, across transport, energy and defence sectors and is a specialist in asset management decision-making and risk management.
With plenty of hands-on experience developing optimized, risk-based asset maintenance and renewal strategies, and deploying these to develop multi-year investment plans, her industry positions include the Head of Asset Management (Electrical Utility), Manager Network Risk & Performance (Electrical Utility), Associated Director, Safety and Engineering Systems (Government Transport Agency), Team Leader, Asset & Risk Management Systems (Electrical Utility), Team Leader, Structural Safety, Risk & Reliability (Government Highways Agency)
Patrick is a specialist in data-enabled business transformation design and executive-level delivery governance to enable asset- and workforce-intensive organizations to deliver better customer and operational outcomes. He has 30 years of experience in the industry, working at the executive and board levels with critical national infrastructure organizations to shape and lead major value-realization programs with data and digital enablers at their core.
His core skills include Data strategy, Transformation design, Strategic roadmap development, Transformation governance and assurance, Transformation leadership, Business data services operating model design, Data skills and leadership development, and Leadership coaching, and mentoring.
Patrick is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
Susan Steyn is a seasoned expert with over 30 years of experience in Management, Operations, Business Development, and Supply Chain across diverse industries. Her core focus lies in spare parts management and inventory optimization. Throughout her career, Susan has held key leadership roles in multinational companies such as GE, Dow, Roche, Bayer, Lloyds Register, and Woodhouse Partnership.
With a strong background in strategic leadership, P&L management, and lean manufacturing, Susan has consistently driven business turnarounds and growth. She excels in international global business management and has a proven track record of expanding market presence and building strong client relationships.
As a Six Sigma Black Belt and PMP certified professional, Susan is adept at implementing process improvements and managing complex projects. Her expertise in data analysis, project management, and ERP systems ensures effective spare part management and optimal inventory levels.
Susan’s contributions to various companies include revenue growth, cost reduction, successful software launches, and the establishment of strategic alliances. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion, coupled with her leadership in team building and mentorship, have created a culture of excellence in every organization she has worked with.
Overall, Susan Steyn is a results-oriented leader with a passion for leveraging data-driven decision-making and innovative strategies to optimize spare parts management, reduce downtime risks, and enhance profitability in any business environment.
José Luis cuenta con una experiencia exitosa en multi-industrias públicas y privadas, donde desempeñó cargos gerenciales, líder de aplicación técnica especializada, puestos operativos y en mantenimiento, así como en áreas de consultoría sustentando nivel operativo, táctico y estratégico.
Ha formado parte de proyectos de mejoramiento de gestión de activos, confiabilidad operacional, integridad y mantenimiento en Latinoamérica en diferentes empresas creando valor al negocio con resultados técnicos y económicos importantes.
Facilitador e instructor acreditado en temas relacionados con la gestión de activos, mejores prácticas, metodologías de administración gerencial y técnicas especializadas.
Mechanical Engineer with 31 years of experience. Specialist in implementation processes of activities
associated with Asset Management under the ISO 55001 approach, Implementation of diagnostic
programs and audits of management systems, Specialist in applying reliability methodologies such as
Reliability-Centered Maintenance, risk-based inspection, Cause Analysis Root, Life Cycle Cost Analysis,
Condition Based Maintenance, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, Mechanical Integrity among others.
He has been an Equipment Mechanical Integrity Engineer, an experienced user of traditional NonDestructive Testing such as Ultrasound, Infrared Thermography, Superficial Techniques, Industrial
Radiography.
He has led and participated in countless applications in the field of reliability and condition monitoring,
with special emphasis on the generation and execution of policies and maintenance plans aimed at
achieving the “minimum total business impact” guaranteeing Safety, Hygiene and Environment
standards.
Over his 28 plus year span in the industrial sectors with working technical backgrounds in Project & Construction Management, Asset Operations and Maintenance Reliability Management, and being certified in various courses of study; Damien has gained the knowledge and experience and has had proven successes throughout his tenure in the Oil, Gas, Petro-Chemical and Construction sectors. Establishing his-self in the various sectors, Damien’s first experience and success started in the Construction Sector in estimating engineering. This was the stepping stone for Damien and has paved the way for his passion and continued success in supporting People, Process, and Systems in an organization.
Damien has held positions in local, international and multi-national corporations and comes from a working background in the fields of environmental, operations, project and construction management, operations maintenance and reliability management, planning, supervisory management, and has proven his abilities to succeed in each field.
Rich was an Engineer and Project Manager professional at the New York Power Authority for over 30-years. In addition to being the first Project Manager for the Niagara Project Upgrade, Rich rose to be the Vice President of Engineering having started in Operations Engineering decades earlier. Rich went on to be Vice President, Transmission and Substation at AECOM responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in design and construction. Rich joined Woodhouse Partnership, North America and participates in aligning organization towards ISO 55000 and many reliability studies supporting DST.
Executive in Operational Excellence, Asset Management and Best Practices in Projects, Operations and Maintenance in the Energy and Industrial Sector.
Consultant, Instructor and International Lecturer on issues related to project management (risk management), operational reliability, strategic management of operations, maintenance, Asset Management in the energy sector (ISO 55001) and Applied Data Analytics.
PMP, CMRP, IAM and CAMA certifications, being recognized by the SMRP in 2019 as CMRP of the Year https://smrp.org/2019-CMRP-Winners.
George has over twenty-five years of experience as a consulting engineer providing design, planning, program and project management, and strategic asset management services for asset-intensive organizations in the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. His primary focus has been in the public infrastructure sector; as a result, he has intimate knowledge of the assets, processes, and resources necessary to deliver and sustain safe, reliable services to the customers of public asset-owning organizations.
George has assisted organizations with the development of PAS 55, ISO 55000, and GFMAM AM Landscape aligned asset management systems (AMS), has performed gap analyses of their AMS against industry standards and best practices, and has guided them through the creation of strategic asset management plans (SAMPs), asset management plans (AMPs), AM policy and supporting documents. He has undertaken asset risk modelling to ascertain organizations’ capability to sustain their desired levels of service. George has performed asset health-informed lifecycle cost modelling and forecasting capital and operational expenditures over near and long-term planning horizons.
With 30 years’ experience in utilities, oil & gas, transport and other sectors, John is one of the most widely known experts in integrated asset management projects for some of the largest companies in the world.
John is a Founder and Life Fellow of the IAM; he has written 4 books, chaired the development of BSI PAS55 and represents the UK on the ISO55000 committee.
He also led the international MACRO and SALVO collaboration projects in optimised asset management decision-making.
