How Digital Asset Management Transforms Asset Registers in WA

Discover how the Shire of Dardanup revolutionised its asset management practices by trialling a transition from outdated spreadsheets to the innovative Asset Engine platform.

From Spreadsheets to Smart Assets: The Shire of Dardanup's Journey with Asset Engine

For local governments across Western Australia, the challenge is a familiar one: how to effectively manage an ageing portfolio of vital infrastructure, optimise increasingly constrained budgets, and ensure unwavering compliance with evolving regulatory requirements. Traditional asset management tools, often rooted in outdated spreadsheets, disparate systems, and manual processes, struggle to keep pace with the demands of modern infrastructure management. This leaves LGAs vulnerable to a range of challenges, from costly reactive maintenance and unexpected emergency repairs to potential compliance failures and the risk of funding shortfalls. The Shire of Dardanup, a proactive and forward-thinking local government, recognised these challenges head-on and decided to trial Asset Engine (AE), a powerful platform designed to empower LGAs and transform how they manage their essential infrastructure.

The Shire of Dardanup, known for its strong commitment to its community and its proactive approach to infrastructure management, has a long-standing positive relationship with Main Roads WA. This commitment to best practices, particularly in the realm of asset management, made them an ideal partner for trailing the implementation of Asset Engine. Recognising the critical link between effective asset management and the environmental and economic sustainability of their community, the Shire of Dardanup became an early contributor to the development of AE, providing invaluable feedback and deploying the system to manage their full bridge inspection and maintenance program for FY25. Their willingness to embrace innovation and collaborate on solutions has made them a key player in shaping the future of asset management for LGAs.

The Challenge: Bridging the Gap Between Old and New

Like many LGAs across the state, the Shire of Dardanup faced the common hurdles of managing a growing and diverse portfolio of assets, including primary ownership of 18 bridges (plus around another 40 bridges under other ownership), with limited resources and often cumbersome, paper-based processes. Manual inspections were incredibly time-consuming, requiring extensive travel, detailed note-taking, photography and subsequent data entry. The sheer volume of paperwork generated by these manual inspections was overwhelming, making it difficult to gain a clear, real-time view of asset conditions and prioritise maintenance needs effectively. This lack of centralised visibility hampered proactive maintenance planning, increasing the risk of unexpected failures, costly emergency repairs, and potential disruptions to the community. Furthermore, ensuring consistent and compliant reporting to Main Roads WA, a critical factor in securing funding, was a constant source of concern and administrative burden.

The Solution: A Seamless Transition to Digital Asset Management with Asset Engine

Asset Engine offers the Shire of Dardanup a comprehensive and user-friendly solution to these multifaceted challenges. The platform provided a centralised hub for all asset-related information, streamlined workflows, and empowered real-time monitoring and reporting. The implementation of AE was remarkably smooth, a testament to the platform's intuitive design and the collaborative partnership between the AE team and the Shire. Several key features and technical solutions contributed to this successful trial:

• Effortless Asset Register Creation: Migrating existing asset data into a new system can often be a major undertaking. However, by leveraging publicly available data and pre-existing information, the Shire was able to upload key attribute data for their bridge assets in mere seconds. This rapid data import capability not only saved significant time and resources but also ensured data accuracy and consistency from the outset. This allowed the asset management team to quickly get up and running with the new system and focus their efforts on more strategic initiatives.
• Streamlined Work Package Allocation: Managing contractors and assigning work packages can often be a complex and time-consuming process. AE simplified this process significantly, providing a straightforward way to add contractors to the system, create work packages for bridge inspections and maintenance, and assign these packages with just a few clicks. Selecting applicable assets, defining the scope of work, and issuing work packages to contractors took only minutes, ensuring swift action and clear accountability. This streamlined workflows through limiting arduous email and phone correspondence to ensure alignment.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Insights: One of the most significant benefits of AE for the Shire of Dardanup has been the ease of monitoring asset status and associated work packages in real-time. The platform's intuitive map view, with colour-coded asset pins indicating job status, provides a quick and visually compelling overview of their entire asset portfolio. The comprehensive dashboard offers an even deeper level of detail, showing the progress of specific jobs, broken down by type, and highlighting recently uploaded reports from contractors and staff. This real-time visibility has transformed their ability to track progress, ensure quality control, and proactively address any potential issues before they escalate.
• Simplified Financial Tracking: Managing the financial aspects of asset management is essential for any LGA. AE's integrated financial features allow the Shire to easily add purchase order numbers and track the final costs of individual work items, creating a simple and accessible history of asset-related spending. This valuable information, readily downloadable in CSV format, provides crucial data for budget analysis, reporting, and offers integration opportunities with the Shire's existing finance system.

The Results: Tangible Improvements and Future-Focused Benefits

The Shire of Dardanup's experience with Asset Engine has been overwhelmingly positive, with several key benefits emerging:

• Intuitive Interface and Ease of Use: The platform's user-friendly design has been a key factor in its successful adoption within the Shire. Staff members have found AE easy to learn and use, even without extensive specialised training. This is particularly valuable given the dynamic nature of local government workforces and the diverse portfolios of responsibilities often held by individual staff members.
• Enhanced Asset Visibility and Strategic Planning: The map-based view of all assets provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the Shire's infrastructure, facilitating not only day-to-day management. This enhanced visibility allows for better journey mapping, more efficient asset interrogation, and a holistic approach to works management.
• Improved Work Allocation, Accountability, and Collaboration: The ability to easily allocate work internally or externally has streamlined workflows and ensured clear accountability for tasks and deadlines. This improved communication and collaboration has fostered a more efficient and effective approach to asset management across the Shire.
• Real-Time Progress Monitoring and Quality Assurance: The real-time data synchronisation of jobs in progress allows the Shire's asset team to monitor maintenance work remotely, ensuring that work is being carried out to the agreed-upon scope and quality standards. The inclusion of high-resolution images and detailed comments further enriches this process, providing valuable insights and assurance.
• Seamless Reporting and Compliance: The ability to instantly migrate inspection reports into the Main Roads WA L1 template has resulted in significant time savings and ensured consistent, compliant reporting. This has not only reduced the administrative burden on staff but also strengthened the Shire's relationship with Main Roads WA.

The Future: Building a Sustainable Asset Management Strategy for Generations to Come

The Shire of Dardanup's consideration of the Asset Engine represents a significant leap forward in their ongoing commitment to a more sustainable and efficient approach to asset management. By embracing digital technology and fostering a culture of innovation, they will not only improve current processes but also lay a strong foundation for long-term asset health, compliance, and financial stability. Their proactive approach, their willingness to collaborate, and their dedication to continuous improvement serve as a model for other LGAs across Western Australia looking to modernise their asset management practices and build a stronger, more resilient future for their communities.

As the Shire of Dardanup continues to test the power of AE they are considering moving beyond bridges by bringing more structures into the platform including play parks, jetties, walkways and gantries - all currently part of the AE standard “structural” base asset category subscription.

To find out more about how affordable and easy to implement Asset Engine can be for your organization reach out to book a quick 30 minute overview:

Email our CEO: craig@assetengine.com.au

Call us for a chat: (08) 7092 3832