In its efforts to collaborate with industry towards the improvement of transport projects engineering governance, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) along with its independent standards body, the Asset Standards Authority (ASA), have developed a framework to make it easier for Authorised Engineering Organisation (AEO) authorisation seekers to understand the requirements set by the ASA, in terms of the engineering management system capabilities engineering organisations must possess and practices they should employ, to be considered for engineering work in relation to the asset life cycle of NSW Transport assets on behalf of TfNSW.
ASA requirements for AEO
This article summarises the ASA requirements for AEOs for the effective delivery and assurance of engineering services. The requirements are broken down into 11 sections (7.1 through to 7.11) which provide the engineering management capabilities with descriptions of the activities AEO seekers must have in place to be granted authorisation. Below, we go over the required capabilities along with their associated required evidence.
Engineering management process and planning of an AEO
This requirement outlines the various engineering management activities needed, as well as the plan for their systematic execution, to ensure that AEOs comply with all relevant standards and meet all TfNSW requirements throughout their service delivery.
The requirement evidence states that AEOs must have the appropriate plans, processes, procedures, guides or manuals that outline how their services are consistently carried out in the absence of, or in combination with, the contractually specified relevant processes.
Requirements management, analysis and controlling the requirements of AEO’s
This requirement outlines the various engineering management activities needed, as well as the plan for their systematic obtention, definition, analysis and service or solution requirements allocation, for controlling the traceability and satisfaction of those requirements throughout the service delivery cycle.
Evidence includes:
- Requirements management plan
- Operational concept definition
- Business requirements specification
- Requirements database
- Stakeholder engagement plan
- Maintenance concept definition
- Stakeholder register
- Stakeholder engagement meeting records
- Stakeholder needs statement
Service or solution engineering
This requirement summarises the various engineering management activities and arrangements supporting the application of relevant engineering principles and practices in the development of engineering products, services, or solutions as applicable to the scope of authorisation.
They are as follows:
- Interface management
- Integration management
- System architecture management
- Sustainability in design
- Reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) management
- Human factors (HF) integration management
- Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
Evidence includes:
- Managing safety risks at interfaces
- Interface control documents
- Interface meetings, design reviews and check records
Assurance, verification, and validation for processes and procedures
This requirement lists the various engineering management activities and arrangements supporting quality product, service, or system engineering delivery through assurance that appropriate processes of AEO were followed, requirements are satisfied, and the end result meets or exceed its intended purpose.
Evidence includes:
- Verification and validation plans
- Verification and validation processes and procedures
- Verification and validation guides
Configuration management for an AEO
This requirement describes engineering management activities and arrangements that protect the integrity of the network product or service being delivered and ensure that all modifications to assets over the system life cycle are managed through a well-defined set of standards, including all associated material and records.
Evidence includes:
- A cohesive documented system
- Configuration items that are known and recorded
- Changes to configuration items that are appropriately controlled
Competence management
This requirement describes engineering management activities and arrangements that ensure that only verified engineering staff disposing of required expertise, competencies and behaviours are hired to execute pre-defined activities as part of a specific role or function, within a particular engineering discipline.
AEOs must be able to demonstrate their knowledge capture abilities and arrangements for storage and redeployment.
Evidence includes:
- Planning to identify, obtain, retain and deploy knowledge, skills and knowledge assets
- Arrangements to qualify and control it
- Evidence of the knowledge sharing to have been occurring within the organisation and with the ASA
Stakeholder management
This requirement outlines the various engineering management activities required to create and maintain stakeholder involvement in the work and within the scope of the authorisation.
Evidence includes:
Standard evidence could come in the form of organisational processes, plans that support stakeholder management, records of meetings minutes, communications, stakeholder registers, stakeholder engagement tracking tools and records.
Resources management
This requirement illustrates the engineering management activities and arrangements that are in charge of making sure that all tangible and non-tangible resources are where they need to be to support the provision of the engineering service within the scope of authorisation.
Evidence includes:
- Engineering intranet home page with links to standards
- Links to TfNSW and ASA standards
- Standards change briefing notes or emails
Supplier management
This requirement demonstrates engineering management activities and arrangements that support acquisition management from internal and external suppliers as required for the scope of approved services.
Performance measurement and evaluation
This requirement goes over engineering management activities and arrangements that enable service consistency and repeatability or product delivery by offering objective quantitative data on the performance and quality of the organisational processes of the product or service.
Evidence includes:
- Relevance of the selected performance framework to business objectives
- Rationale behind the adopted measurement baselines
- Measurement models and methods being used
Continual improvement management
This requirement lists the various engineering management activities and arrangements that support the sustainability and growth of organisational efficiency and effectiveness by deploying measurable improvements.
Evidence includes:
- Systematic identification
- Objective evaluation against business needs and best industry practices
- Prioritisation using established criteria or process as suitable
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