Equipment Registry aka Master Equipment List aka Asset Register

The term used for the registry or list varies from organisation to organisation, but it basically refer to the list of all money making assets which were constructed in the process plant or facility.

To set the scene, I'm quoting from Reliable Plant article, authored by Bob Schindler,

"The equipment registry is one of the most important tools in your kit when it comes to maintenance and reliability. It can be the foundation of your planned maintenance, lubrication, training and repair programs, as well as help with regulatory compliance and safety programs.

Your spare parts management program depends upon a complete and accurate registry with the requisite analysis for regular service parts along with the insurance spares identified through failure modes and effects analysis. Don’t forget that your financials are also tied in through depreciation, amortization and cost center assignments.

Equipment history gets tied to the registry along with manuals, drawings, procedures, labor costs and reports. That is why it is the foundation upon which so much is built, and that is why it is so vital that you get it right and work to maintain its accuracy.

While it has an initial cost and a maintenance cost, the payback can be significant and continuous, so make the investment even if you have to bump something else down the list. The man-hours that you save long term will repay your investment many times over. You can consider the downtime and spares savings as icing on the cake."

I personally could not emphasize enough how important that is. It may sound very obvious that it is the most fundamental things to do is to have an Asset Register, but unfortunately, common sense is not as common as we all thought. I have been to many plants, and I have never seen an Asset Register that is 100% yet. The best would be somewhere around 98%, the worst I have personally seen would probably in the 70% mark along with poor labelling and documentation. I would not be surprised to walk into a plant without an Asset Register. Why? I have come across plant managers who doesn't know their plant's statutory requirement, and licenses required to be a plant manager.

To people initiating projects out there, please ensure your contractor provide you with a complete register. To the managements, please don't slash the cost for such thing. It will cost the organisation big money for a loooooong time.