April 2021

Proactive Obsolescence Management Workshop – The key to developing a solid understanding of a project

Dan Earnshaw, Associate Director – Vercity Consultancy.

The first stage of Vercity Consultancy’s Proactive Obsolescence Management process is to understand the project and its contractual nuances. Colleagues within the PPP industry will understand each project is different, therefore reviewing potential scenarios as a project team and understanding what can go wrong is the most effective way to ensure we are concentrating our efforts in the right areas.

Specifically in obsolescence management, we need to understand which assets, if we do not ensure their availability, would cause disruption to the stakeholders. Whether the outcome be the unavailability of a ward or classroom, and associated financial loss, reputational loss or strain to the lifecycle or maintenance fund, targeting the right asset groups is key to effective obsolescence management and at the core of the work Vercity Consultancy undertakes in this field.

Our collaborative workshop

There are four main questions to answer when we chair a workshop as part of the project discovery session:

1. What is going to cause the most disruption to clients and end users?
2. What the projects key/critical assets are?
3. Are there any known current risks to the project?
4. What is the outcome of the risks if we do nothing?

Engaging in a collaborative working approach at this stage and throughout managing the risk of obsolescence across our client’s assets is key to its success. Not only is it productive to involve all project stakeholders, but involving industry professionals, manufacturers and maintainers from the outset, allows for a robust obsolescence management plan to be formulated and our clients reap the benefits of us helping them managing their assets intelligently.

Consultancy can also draw upon other expertise within its wider Vercity team and provide broad and flexible support to clients as required.

If you would like to discuss our Proactive Obsolescence Management workshops, or any other aspect of strategic asset management further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.