By Emily Gerson, Content Marketing Specialist
Unplanned expenses are a big budget killer in transportation agencies, and we just came up with a tool in our software, NueGOV, to minimize those unfortunate surprises: asset lifecycle forecasting. This unique tool, which was designed for transportation agencies with budget constraints (all of us), helps your team visualize which assets will need to be replaced and/or maintained each year.
Why you want it
While many agencies handle lifecycle management and budget forecasting by manually scrubbing spreadsheets, you can simply log in and view your dashboard in real-time. If you are able to see which assets will need maintenance or replacement each year, you can budget proactively instead of reactively.
You could know when an asset was nearing the end of its life and could budget for its replacement several years out. The easy-to-understand visualization allows you to see as far out as your longest asset lifecycle, meaning you will never be unprepared when it comes to standard asset replacement.
How it works
The planning tool takes into account the average lifecycles of various traffic assets (traffic signs, signal poles, ITS technology, etc.), average asset cost, and asset inventory data (e.g., asset age, condition) stored in our platform. Together it provides an asset replacement forecasting graphic that illustrates upcoming replacements and costs for years to come. The interactive functions also allow you to click on that graphic to see exactly which assets need to be replaced.
Using that same data, there is then also a cost comparison tool for when a replacement is needed. For example, if there are two options for asset replacement; perhaps option A is cheaper but has a shorter average lifecycle, and Option B is more expensive but generally has more longevity. The comparison tool would showcase the most long-term cost-effective option.
Why now?
Aside from the fact that this addresses an age-old budget problem faced by nearly all transportation agencies, technology is already changing asset management as we know it, and we want to help you with the transition. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology is growing in popularity and ITS assets need different, more intense, management than traditional traffic assets. Keeping track of two different types of lifecycle management without this cloud-based tool would be extremely challenging, maybe even impossible, to do well.
Rather than combing through spreadsheets to see when each asset might need to be replaced, or waiting until it breaks, you can monitor each asset whether its lifecycle is 2 years or 20.
Click here for more information on how our software can help you maximize time and money. One of our experts will reach out to talk you through exactly how this would apply in your agency and offer you a demo. This is a tool you don’t want to miss.