The tangible benefits of information and asset management for naval bases

Naval base and shipyard operators need to feel assured that their key assets are safe and available when needed. But poor asset management can undermine efficient base operations and reduce naval platform availability. 

The competing pressures of keeping assets ready for ships and submarines, preventing maintenance-related degradation and adapting to the impact of climate change can feel overwhelming.

Fortunately, good governance and effective asset management will result in safer and more effective operations.

International standards are a crucial way to ensure you are maintaining compliance while managing your assets and information securely. Two key standards to focus on are ISO 55000 and ISO 19650:

• ISO 55000: an international standard that provides the foundation for creating a strategic and systematic approach to asset management across any organisation.
• ISO 19650: an international standard for end-to-end information management throughout the entire lifecycle of a built asset using Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Aligning with ISO 55000 and ISO 19650 can help you make informed, sustainable decisions around how you manage and protect your assets – but the benefits are often intangible or misunderstood. 

So, in this blog we’ll clarify what those benefits look like in practice, and how they will help you make fast, informed decisions to meet every demand you’re facing.

Clear information requirements pave the way to tangible benefits

Unlocking benefits from information management doesn’t require a complete system overhaul. Instead, focus on creating a clear set of information requirements that match your facility life-cycle stages and decision gates.

Define the life-cycle stages you use, making sure they’re aligned to recognised frameworks and your organisational governance. This could look like:
Assess need → Concept Design → Tender Design → Construction → Handover → Operation (perhaps with distinctions for use, refurbishment, and managed decline) → Disposal

Focusing on the end-state at each stage will help you understand what decisions need to be made and, therefore, what the minimum information needed is to make decisions confidently.

You can then set Levels of Information Need for each stage. For example, you might agree on acceptable cost estimate accuracy for concept designs, tender designs, and construction; standardised asset IDs and maintenance information for handover; and evidence to track ROI of interventions during asset operation.

You also need to make sure information is available to everyone who needs it and that you have someone to take accountability and maintain quality, efficiency, and oversight. Adopting a Common Data Environment (CDE) with suitable controls ensures accurate and up-to-date information is always available to those who need it. 

Establishing a CDE and proper controls has its own set of requirements. But for most organisations, documenting and implementing controls is not new. The immediate challenge is rationalising them to improve protocols and break down silos.  

How these benefits look in the real world: Creating complete asset visibility with Peel Ports Group

For over 20 years, we have helped Peel Ports Group (PPG) – the UK's second largest port operator – get more from its assets. Recently, that included aligning the group to industry standards for best practice.

We proposed phased improvements – starting with standardising asset identification and mapping gaps and priorities for later phases – in line with PPG's ambition for asset management best practice (ISO 55000), ensuring stakeholders see value in each phase.

We developed a Group-wide Asset Information Standard through site surveys and workshops across departments, and implemented tools for hierarchal asset identification, classification, and codification. The Standard reflects PPG's roles as harbour authority, port landlord, and terminal operator and supports system and data integration aligned with openBIM (ISO 19650, buildingSMART). 

The result is better visibility of activities, costs, risks, and opportunities. This visibility is enabling the group to become more safe, sustainable, and effective, and to optimise maintenance and improvement in line with its Net Zero 2040 commitment.

Turn requirements into results today

By incorporating accurate, appropriate, and up-to-date information into your asset management, you reduce downtime, de-risk operations, strengthen climate resilience, and make governance visibly stronger. And together, this means you’ll always be able to support essential naval operations.

For a successful alignment of asset and information management, make sure you have:

• A clear model that mirrors how you actually approve money and risk at each lifecycle stage.
• Right-sized Level of Information Need that delivers decision-ready information.
• Consistent classification and identification across Geographic Information Systems and Computerised Maintenance Management Systems, in line with Building Information Management (BIM).
• Defined roles and CDE governance that means the latest, approved information is always findable.
• Feedback loops across operations and projects.

And to measure the benefit and prove it to key stakeholders, focus on the following KPIs: planned vs reactive maintenance, average job duration for repeat tasks, unplanned outage hours for critical assets, first-time fix rate, data quality, and audit findings related to information or approvals.