THE ASEAN ENGINEERS: CUSTODIAN OF NATIONAL ASSETS

Presented at: 16th Conference of ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations, 21-23 November 1998, Clarke Field, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines.

Authored by:

Ir. Bob Chee

ABSTRACT: In the construction boom of the Eighties and the early Nineties, emphasis had rarely been placed on the maintenance of the assets engineers built. Value maximisation and waste minimisation were not popular activities. Instead, ASEAN engineers took the opportunity to develop design skills in major engineering works. We can rightly pride ourselves in the ability to design and build modern highways, bridges, stadiums, power plants, refineries and airports, among other engineering structures. The test of our engineering design capability now lies in the management of the assets we have built. ASEAN engineers, as the facilities managers, operators and maintenance engineers, or 'caretakers', are forced to utilise these assets to achieve: Production at the optimal or maximised levels; Maintenability; and Reliability. It is now popular to talk of the useful life of an asset, or of how its economic life can be extended. Instead of just constructing, engineers are refurbishing and upgrading plants and buildings. This paper looks at the challenges posed to engineers in asset management and explores the skills and paradigm shifts to meet these challenges. Some of these skills and new paradigms are: n Adoption of multi-disciplined approaches to engineering problems are the ability to develop and nurture multi-faceted organisations; the ability to quickly acquire new core competencies; having superior service cultures, which place importance on value-adding; and the willingness to give more.

Note: If you want a copy of the complete Paper, please e-mail author at hk970701@hotmail.com

This Paper received the Tan Sri Hj. Yusoff Prize for Outstanding Technical Paper.

Back to |                                                                                            .