By Future of Assets

In asset management, value is often discussed through the lens of optimization: improving performance, reducing cost, extending life, and increasing efficiency. 

But in today’s operating environment, optimization alone is no longer enough. 

Asset-intensive organizations are navigating long asset lifecycles, volatile markets, supply chain pressure, energy transition demands, and growing uncertainty. In this context, the organizations that create lasting value are not simply the ones that optimize for today — they are the ones that build resilience for tomorrow. 

This was a key theme in a recent Assets UNSCRIPTED conversation with Markus Göring, Director of Asset Value Controlling at Vattenfall. His perspective reinforces a critical point: maximizing asset value requires long-term control, not short-term reaction. Watch episode here.

Asset Value Is Built Across the Full Lifecycle

Asset value is not created at one moment. It is shaped across every stage of the lifecycle. 

Value can be gained or lost during planning, project execution, operations, maintenance, replacement planning, and even decommissioning. 

For assets expected to operate for decades, assumptions made early can have consequences years later. That makes transparency, ownership, and lifecycle thinking essential. 

Risk-Based Maintenance Keeps Organizations in Control 

Risk-based maintenance is not optional for mature asset management. It helps organizations understand which components matter most, where failures would create the greatest impact, and how maintenance effort should be prioritized.

This shifts maintenance away from firefighting and toward control.

The goal is not to eliminate all reactive work. It is to know where reaction is acceptable, where prevention is critical, and where condition-based approaches can create the greatest value.

Operational Readiness Prevents Value Leakage 

One of the biggest risks to asset value often appears between project delivery and operations.

If documentation, maintenance plans, asset structures, and operational requirements are incomplete, value begins to erode before the asset has fully entered service.

Operational readiness helps close that gap by involving operations earlier and making handover risks visible. The aim is not perfection — it is clarity.

Data Matters, But It Must Be Grounded in Reality 

Data is increasingly viewed as an asset in its own right. But data quality, structure, availability, and context remain major challenges. 

AI and predictive maintenance hold significant promise, but they depend on the foundations being in place. Without the right data, models cannot deliver reliable insight. 

The most practical path is often to start with specific, high-value use cases, improve the data around them, and build from there. 

Resilience Is the Strategy 

Resilience is not just the ability to recover from disruption. It is the ability to stay in control when conditions change. 

That requires strong processes, reliable data, aligned teams, clear assumptions, and a disciplined approach to balancing performance, cost, and risk. 

For asset leaders, the message is clear: long-term value is not created by optimizing in isolation. It is created by building systems that can adapt, respond, and continue delivering value over time. 

In an uncertain world, resilience is not a backup plan. 

It is the strategy.