In recent years risk based approaches for planning and developing asset management strategies have emerged as effective means to prioritize spending on maintenance and inspection activities, whilst controlling the costs. Based on extensive experience from Risk Based Inspection (RBI) and Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) methodologies, a new integrated Risk Based Asset Management (RBAM) process has been developed in close cooperation with the industry. This integrated process is focused on effective prioritizing, screening and successfully implementing a maintenance and inspection program in order to effectively optimizing business performance.

Asset Operations is a complex process in which reliability, maintenance, safety and environmental issues all need to be addressed and related to business objectives and regulatory compliance requirements. The RBAM process acknowledges the fact that to improve overall profitability; maintenance, inspection and reliability must play a key role together with operations to assure understanding of the factors that affect asset (equipment) performance and availability. This allows development of a business driven asset management strategy that reflects not only the life cycle of the equipment, but also the specific financial targets of the operator.

This paper describes the framework of the Risk Based Asset Management (RBAM) process, and focuses on the methodology developed specifically for implementing a successful maintenance and inspection plan for new offshore installations and developments. The methodology will be illustrated by recent projects and lessons learned from real study cases, with focus on the importance of a successful implementation and the development of a continuous improvement process.

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