Australian maintenance and asset management professionals must engage more with their global counterparts if they expect to be able to evolve their profession, according to the new National Chair of the Asset Management Council, John Hardwick.
He was speaking on the Council’s membership of the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM) after recently being elected to the AMC’s top job.
Co-founded by the Asset Management Council and with members in the Americas, Europe and the Arabian Gulf, GFMAM’s major objective is to share collaboratively collected advancements, knowledge and standards in maintenance and asset management.
“The maintenance and asset management disciplines are evolving very rapidly around the world and Australians must engage with their colleagues as professional bodies in various regions establish an international presence and work to determine what skill sets professionals should have,” said Hardwick.
“We need to share knowledge about our membership, training courses and about the organisations which sponsor our aims and objectives as professional bodies.”
As one of the first steps towards these objectives, he will soon oversee the launch of formal certification by the Asset Management Council of individuals in various areas of asset management.
“Two key issues I will prioritise during my term include the ongoing development of asset owners requirements of the Asset Management Council and the expansion of member teams who are actively engaged in contributing to the direction of the Asset Management Council through its key activities such as the Body of Knowledge and ICOMS conference,” he said.
“The Council was formed in 2005 to address the overarching discipline of asset management and with its formation have come significant changes. However, we must never lose sight of the fact that the information gathered from maintenance activities is essential to the effective technical and financial management of corporate assets.”
During his term as national chairman, Hardwick also intends to re-engage with maintenance engineers in Australia whose vision led to the establishment of the Maintenance Engineering Society of Australia (MESA), the forerunner of the Asset Management Council.
Hardwick is executive manager, maintenance and replacement planning with Energy Australia (NSW). He has been a member of the Asset Management Council and MESA for 10 years and is a winner of major awards for maintenance excellence and leadership. He has more than 20 years maintenance and construction experience in the NSW electrical industry and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.