Taxonomy of

Hierarchy from ISO

14224, International
Standard for the
Petroleum,
petrochemical and
natural gas industries.

Rich Ludlow
Oak Lodge Sanitary District

A Little About Oak Lodge SD

Approximately 8,600 sewer connections
100 miles of sewer pipe
2273 sewer manholes
5 wastewater pump stations
Surface Water Management:
2,500 catch basins
53 miles of storm lines
100 sedimentation manholes
50 private detention systems.
Water Reclamation Facility, 10 MGD, Cannibal Plant

A Little More about Me

5 year veteran, USN, Steam propulsion plant operator
5 year supply chain specialist, private sector
20 years in municipal wastewater collections/treatment

professional
12.5 years Bureau of Environmental Services, City of Portland,

OR
4.5 years Veolia Water, Gresham, OR
1 year HDR Inc., Portland, OR/Honolulu, HI
2 years Oak Lodge Sanitary District, Oak Grove, OR
Grade 4 certified Collections and Treatment Plant Operator
Practicing and Implementing Asset Management principals
for 8 years

Equipment versus Assets

What is a Hierarchy

Why Build Hierarchies?

Organization
Communication
Cost rollup (Financial)

Budgeting
Repair/replace decisions
Capital versus Operational expenses

Location based rollup (Geographic)

Inventory of equipment in specific locations
Process based rollup (Functional)
Systematic inter-relationships
Preemptive failure analysis

Resource WERF Simple

http://simple.werf.org/

WERF Simple Tool Hierarchy Example

www.werf.org

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 1

1) Identify Hierarchy Components
Organizational groupings

Start/stop criteria for various hierarchy types

2) Determine Hierarchical Rollup Needs (what

questions need answers?)

Financial
Geographical
Functional

Richs pointer: Allow room to grow

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 1

3) Define Lowest Data Recording Levels Across the

Hierarchy (Definition of an Asset)

How granular is too granular?
When does tracking data go beyond the point of diminishing
returns?
Is the item serviceable?
Repair/replace criteria
Business decisions considering:
Labor cost
Impact of downtime
Available redundancy
Available skillsets

Dont go too deep

Drilling in to find Assets may be cumbersome

The harder it is to find, the less likely people will look

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 1

4) Build the Hierarchy
Could have multiple elements depending on
organizational needs
5) Test the Hierarchy
Ensure the level divisions make sense
Ensure the hierarchy groupings meet needs
6) Make Adjustments as Needed
Testing reveals the need for adjustments

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 2

7) Develop Asset ID Numbering/Naming Convention
Universally Applied to all Assets
Consistent Convention throughout Organization
100% Coverage of Everything Defined as an Asset

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 2

8) Identify Data Attributes, Sources and Purposes
This one is bigger than a breadbox
Attributes depend on characteristics of Assets
Sources can include:

O&M manuals
As-built drawings
Equipment nameplate data
Design specifications
Maintenance tech napkin notes

Purposes related to data implies being sure its

meaningful

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 2

9) Document
Capturing the rationale for decisions can:

Remind decision makers what they were thinking

Articulate decisions to those not making them
Reference material for people who want to understand why?

Thorough documentation requires discipline

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 3

10) Develop Data Collection, Maintenance and Update

Procedures
Collection: Information must be gathered to get it all in one

place

Sources are:
Equipment Nameplates
O&M Manuals
P&IDs
As-Built drawings
Institutional knowledge

Maintenance and Update: a change management plan and

practice to keep information current with

equipment/process/organizational evolution

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 3

11) Collect, Load and Test Data Structure
Loading and testing should be done with samples to
ensure structure and grouping work well
Functional testing of the Hierarchy and data detail
structure
Successful Testing is Notice to Proceed
Populate the rest of the Hierarchy, youre off to the races!

WERF Simple Hierarchy Tool Step 3

12) Activate Registry
The Asset Registry is now complete
Begin the continuous improvement

Data change management

Information retrieval stages

OLSD Hierarchy in CMMS

Plant Type Assets (Collection Sys)

Plant Type Assets (Facilities)

Plant Type Assets (Facilities)

Fleet Assets

Field Assets (Sewer and Storm)

Diagram of OLSD Asset Hierarchy

OLSD
Fleet

Plant
Collections

Facilities

Process

Pump
Stations

Buildings/
Systems

Process
Systems

Pump
Station
Assets

Building/
System
Assets

Process
Equipment
Assets

Fleet
Assets

Field
Sewer

Storm

Sewer
Assets

Storm
Assets

How the Hierarchy presents may

affect how its built

Questions?