From 6 – 7 April UIC held its Asset Management Conference in Brisbane Australia.
This conference was held in conjunction and co-operation with the Asset Management Council and their conference AMPEAK. Both conferences were well attended and it is the first time that UIC was able to showcase the benefits of membership to the wider Australian rail industry.
Around 85 experts from the railway domain, from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Russia, UK, Austria, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Finland, France, etc. attended the two-day conference.
The opening session was delivered by Tom Sargant, Australia-Oceania UIC representative in the presence of The Hon John Anderson, Chairman of ACRI Australia, former Vice Prime Minister of Australia, David McKeown, Chief Executive & Secretary, Institute of Asset Management and Dr Marc Antoni, UIC Rail System Department Director.
The focus of the conference was the dissemination of the recently issued “ISO 55001 Application Guide for Railway Infrastructure Organisations” and the main objectives of the conference was to:
- Explain the context of ISO 55001 and the relevance of an Asset Management System;
- Explain each requirement of ISO 55001, within a railway context, and suggest evidence requirements or ‘artefacts’ that can be used to support the seeking of compliance with or certification to ISO 55001;
- Provide an outline of the sequential approach to implementation of ISO 55001 and to assist railway organisations in preparing for a certification audit.
The conference also heard about the latest developments across the Asset Management world, with speakers from the wider Australian rail industry as well as from outside the railway sector and from different continents.
Feedback from members who attended and from non members who also joined the conference was that it was very rich in content and provided a great forum for the exchange of information and experiences. Although it was a long way for many members to travel, it was pleasing that members from Europe and Asia were in attendance. This experience has proved worthwhile and demonstrates the relevance of UIC in Australia and the hope that further organisations will be encouraged to join UIC.
