With the world economy facing continuous regulatory change, supply chain challenges, the need for climate adaptation, and rapidly changing customer behaviors, we offer valuable insights and partnership, helping organizations navigate change. Our asset management specialists help develop strategies that lead to sound management, higher returns, and greater flexibility from the assets an organization depends on.

For our transportation clients (across rail, highways, and aviation) our work focuses on the intimate connection between asset performance, service excellence, and commercial returns. In property, we work with clients to improve their sustainability performance through retrofit and refurbishment of existing buildings and assets. In defense, we help the sector optimize how it works with its assets. In the nuclear industry, our asset management work prioritizes asset life extension and what gets done, when. In infrastructure, our work aims to build organization-wide understanding of assets’ strengths, vulnerabilities, maintenance requirements, and overall importance. We believe asset owners should gain a conscious understanding of the pivotal role their assets play—for investors, operators, users, and the wider community.

Our approach is based upon sound business evaluation and deep sector and industry knowledge, before bringing together people, technology, and systems to produce effective long-term asset strategies.

How we can help:

Vision and strategy

Defining a roadmap to long-term success  

Vision and strategy

Asset management and performance sits at the heart of many businesses’ success, playing a dynamic and evolving role in the services and products they offer or produce.

We work with clients to articulate their vision and develop their corporate and business resilience strategies. We then help them to set a policy and strategic asset management plan for applying asset management principles to achieve their objectives of delivering cost effective services and optimised performance.

Project
Weather resilience and drainage asset management transformation
Learn how we helped Network Rail in the UK to gain better oversight and understanding of its drainage and land-side assets, after a significant crash in 2020.
UK railway track

Assurance and diagnostics

Analysis of the assets you have, identifying opportunities for improvement  

Assurance and diagnostics

Identifying existing assets’ existing status is a vital initial step before improvements can be made.

We review a client organisation or process against a set of specific requirements or maturity assessments (such as the Institute of Asset Management endorsed gap analysis, or our organisational circular maturity assessment tool) to develop an improvement roadmap or indicate readiness for relevant certification.

Value-driven investment planning

A strategic asset management approach that delivers return on investment  

Value-driven investment planning

Every business approaches investment with caution and thoughtfulness – how to get the best return from assets’ performance and endurance is always a strategic question.

We help clients articulate asset performance and service requirements and produce forward plans that embrace whole life, systems thinking and circular economy techniques, optimise risk, cost and performance to deliver a safe and reliable customer service. Our solutions are enabled by cutting edge technology.

Planning for future rail upgrades along the Northeast Corridor

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is the busiest and most congested rail routes in the US with over 2000 trains per day serving passenger and freight customers on aging infrastructure, much of which was initially constructed over 100 years ago.

Arup is acting as an advisor to the Northeast Corridor Commission on the development of the CONNECT NEC program of capital investments to revitalise this vital rail network. Arup is helping the NEC Commission to analyse the project delivery requirements of over 300 major capital improvement projects in terms of workforce, track outage requirements, and funding needs.

Additionally, Arup is developing the program of capital renewal works that can be delivered in parallel with the AJ or projects along the entire corridor and developing an integrated 2040 operating plan that identifies the increases in service levels and connectivity made possible through the CONNECT NEC Program. Arup is also developing the public report about the CONNEC NEC plan that is both required by regulations and the client.

Asset operational excellence

Making real improvements that endure at every level of an organisation  

Asset operational excellence

When organisations commit to achieving operational excellence – real, enduring, culture-driven improvement at every level – it takes a multi-faceted approach to realise on the ground.

We help clients to develop and implement tailored risk management and governance frameworks to enable them in managing their day-to-day risks, adopt lean principles, reduce carbon and facilitate robust reliability-centred and risk-based decision-making.

Delivering efficient waste management in Singapore

We've delivered this strategic-level service to Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) to conduct a comprehensive operational review of its government-owned and operated waste management assets. These included an incineration plant, a waste transfer station, a landfill, and a closed dumping ground, all critical components of Singapore’s waste infrastructure.

Arup benchmarked these assets against global best practices and world-class facilities, providing a tangible evidence base for the identified opportunities for improvement and innovation. The goal was that when implemented, these recommendations will help NEA elevate its operational standards, enhance resilience, and align with international excellence in waste management.

Asset owner operating model

Aligning commercial strategy, ways of working and asset investments for higher returns  

Asset owner operating model

Operating models, and the business realities that underlie them, can iterate and diverge over time – so it’s important to revisit periodically and redefine in a way that drives asset management efficiency.

We work with clients to design and embed an operating model and blueprint that draws together various artefacts that make up the asset management system, aligned to good practice frameworks and link them to robust implementation plans.

Maximising value from waste-to-energy investments

London Energy Ltd (LEL), the operator and maintainer of a large energy-from-waste facility at Edmonton EcoPark that processes over 750,000 tonnes of household waste annually, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the North London Waste Authority (NLWA). The NLWA planned to invest £1.5 billion to replace the ageing plant with a new 78MW Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) capable of heating and powering over 120,000 homes. This transition necessitated a complete redefinition of the working relationship between NLWA and LEL to clarify roles, responsibilities, and risk-sharing, with a primary focus on how to align their asset management system and organisational model to ensure both entities would be ready to operate and maintain the new ERF effectively from day one.

It was clear to our team that this would require more than just alignment of technical and technology systems – it needed a fundamental shift in how the asset owner and O&M worked together. We worked with LEL and NLWA to co-design an asset management system and operating model that aligned their strategic intentions with day-to-day operational realities.

Our support was comprehensive. To ensure the new Energy Recovery Facility and associated infrastructure performed to its best, we drew on our expertise in asset management, change management, organisational design, and operational readiness.

For NLWA, we also developed a robust asset management and governance framework, supporting them in their role as asset owner. This included defining processes, performance indicators, and risk management approaches aligned with ISO 55001, ensuring NLWA could exercise effective stewardship of the site and its assets.

Digital asset management

Develop and adopt a data-driven approach to assets and their operations  

Digital asset management

Data has an ever-increasingly valuable and capable role to play in asset management. 

We support clients’ effective decision making by developing  and embedding digital and information strategies, capturing data and systems requirements that specify business needs, and embracing the best use of technology for addressing information management across its complete lifecycle.

Our approach is twofold. Firstly we help clients to bring their assets under digital control, enabling a portfolio level of management, predictive maintenance and greater operational efficiency for decision makers. Second, we develop tools suited to specific industry asset use cases.

Bring digital operational benefits to a vital Queensland foodbank

Foodbank Queensland is an organisation that collects unwanted and excess food from large organisations and distributes it to community organisations and charities. Despite using a dedicated digital system for the management of inbound and outbound food since 2022, Foodbank had never analysed the data contained within to identify trends and opportunities for improvement. At the same time, they had noted a desire to expand their service to deliver directly to the community. Through analysis and dashboarding of the data contained within the system, Arup has enabled Foodbank to gain a live view of its operational data, informing and improving future planning.

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Capability transformation

  Achieve cultural change, improved training and operational insights  

Capability transformation

Our goal is always to ensure that clients gain new insight and expertise as a result of our work together.

We provide advice and deliver solutions that transform the performance and capability of our clients. We enable effective knowledge transfer as an asset management partner. We also provide a range of bespoke asset management training courses and upskilling suitable for all levels of an organisation.