A World-Class Water Asset Management System by Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad

Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB) is Malaysia's national custodian of water assets, responsible for supporting the government in achieving its national policy objectives to raise the standards of the water supply and services industry.

Its main aims are to develop new water infrastructure and to manage existing water assets efficiently and effectively in Peninsular Malaysia and the federal territories of Putrajaya and Labuan in line with the Water Services Industry Act 2006 (WSIA).

This is no easy task, with a range of uncontrollable factors providing significant challenges for the organization. For example, one of the major issues to date has been the fact that the country's water operators each use different geospatial technology platforms. In a bid to address this issue and achieve its ultimate vision—to be a world-class water asset provider—PAAB partnered with Esri Malaysia to develop a geographic information system (GIS) technology solution that would introduce a new level of efficiency to the organization.

The solution—known as the Water Asset Management System, or WAMS—is a powerful data management and collaboration platform that integrates information from water utility operators to provide an up-to-date view of the utility's entire operations.

Key industry players can visualize information on all water assets—such as pipelines, valves, treatment plants, and reservoirs—via an intuitive, map-based dashboard.

The WAMS is able to easily retrieve the condition ratings of each asset, identify maintenance alignment opportunities, perform budget constraint analysis, and generate visually impressive reports of key insights for decision-makers.

The benefits that the solution delivers back to the business and the broader community have been vast.

For example, efficiency levels have dramatically increased as a result of improved collaboration and the ability to take a strategic view of PAAB's entire operations.

Key business workflows have been optimized, ensuring there is clear visibility and communication across divisions.

This has improved decision-making abilities across all organizational levels—whether it's a member of the asset management department providing an internal customer with an inquiry update, or executive management determining opportunities for new water assets expansion.

PAAB can now respond to data inquiries more quickly and accurately by having GIS technology as part of the business process.

Ultimately, the solution has enabled PAAB to be proactive with its asset management, instead of reactive. GIS technology has allowed the utility to create smarter processes, optimize its assets' performance, and extend the assets' life-span.

PAAB is also undertaking an initiative to ensure that the entire industry uses the same GIS data model in line with Malaysia standard MS1759.

Efficiency levels have dramatically increased as a result of improved collaboration and the ability to take a strategic view of PAAB's entire operations.