The effectiveness of the asset management system implementation at eThekwini Electricity.
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Abstract
The government strives to meet economic growth figures and drive the country’s gross
domestic products index higher, lower unemployment and reduce poverty. There is one
common element that links these ideals together and enables this higher standard of living,
electricity. As the manufacturing sector increases, so too does electricity usage. New factories
and expansion of existing organisations requires more workers, all driving the demand for
electricity up and creating a critical need for a stable, secure source of power. Intermediate
transit house camps, low cost housing and community improvement programmes all require
more, secure sources of power.
As pressure mounts on the ageing electrical infrastructure, significantly increasing numbers of
faults registered by the eThekwini call centres, indicate that maintenance practices have not
kept up with the rapid infrastructure development of the mid-nineties. In order for technical
decisions to have any merit, it is necessary for the decision makers to have access to accurate
asset information as well as accurate geospatial information to make infrastructure and
network related improvements or completely new installations.
This has resulted in the implementation of an asset and information management system at
eThekwini Electricity to operate more efficiently while complying with all relevant
legislation. The current asset management system was implemented in 2012. Numerous user
complaints prompted the need for this study, the aim of which was to establish the
effectiveness of the asset management system implementation and operation. The salient
results of this study reveal several areas of improvement, such as the need for more effective
training and increased communication between all stakeholders. To ensure successful usage
of the system, it is recommended that training schedules be prioritised, skills transfer between
consultants and internal staff be facilitated and that the asset care centre’s functions be
expanded. This, among other relevant changes will increase user satisfaction and improve the
performance of the asset and information systems.
Description
M.B.A. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.
Keywords
Assets (Accounting)--Management., Asset-liability management., Electricity--Management., Theses--Business administration., Asset and information management system.