The purpose of APA is to first identify the areas of client’s predominant needs, to best apply their resources. The needs would be directly related to the purpose and function of the facility with overall productivity improvement as the goal. The APA process would evaluate present levels of performance, compare the performance to a best practice or client’s specific performance criteria, develop a plan for moving forward to achieve expected targets, and finally recommend the best actions in each area of needs to achieve a step-change performance improvement. The recommended actions would include a cost-benefit analysis.

APA is a systematic process that evaluates or assesses present levels of overall asset performance within a company and compares the performance to a best practice or client’s specific performance criteria. It is to develop a plan for moving forward to achieve expected targets, and finally recommend the best actions in each area of need to achieve a step-change performance improvement.

APA Project Deliverables
• The main deliverable of an APA project is presenting a report with overall contents:
  • System description, overall function, operating parameters and constraints
  • Performance assessment in up to 12 specific areas of asset management and operation
  • Ranking of performance against industry standards and best practices
  • Identification of needs to achieve performance improvements
  • Recommendations on how to best apply the resources in areas of predominant needs
  • Estimation of costs and expected benefits from implementing the recommendations
  The exact form of the deliverables may vary from one project to another and will be clearly defined in the contract documents.
  The Flag State area provides news and general information about flag state affairs to meet the increasing number of safety, security and environmental requirements laid down in international conventions such as SOLAS and MARPOL.

Desired Outcome from an APA Project
• The following are the desirable outcomes that should strive to deliver to the client when conducting an APA project:
  • A well prepared and structured report which is understood by the client
  • A clearly defined list of activities that will lead to asset performance improvement
  • A prioritization of activities based on cost-benefit estimates
  • A detailed plan to carry out and implement performance improvement activities
  • A firm commitment to assist the client throughout the implementation
  • A strong client relationship as the service provider of choice for risk and asset management

Project Activities Overview
• Overviews of the main possible tasks relevant in APA Project are shown below. Each line is covered in subsequent sections. Each section has a description of the task and subtasks with the associated responsibilities followed by specific guidelines on the execution of each task:
  • System selection and Description
  • Business overview - market, revenues, costs
  • Availability
  • Safety
  • Environmental
  • Quality/Customer Satisfaction
  • Other risks
  • Resource management
  • Operational practices
  • Maintenance and inspection
  • Documentation and data management
  • Process control
  • New projects and management of change