Digital Twins for Engineering Asset Management:Synthesis,Analytical Framework,and Future Directions

Effective engineering asset management(EAM)is critical to economic development and improving livability in society,but its complexity often impedes optimal asset functionalities.Digital twins(DTs)could revolutionize the EAM paradigm by bidirectionally linking the physical and digital worlds in real time.There is great industrial and academic interest in DTs for EAM.However,previous review studies have predominately focused on technical aspects using limited life-cycle perspectives,failing to holistically synthesize DTs for EAM from the managerial point of view.Based on a systematic literature review,we introduce an analytical framework for describing DTs for EAM,which encompasses three levels:DT 1.0 for technical EAM,DT 2.0 for technical-human EAM,and DT 3.0 for technical-environmental EAM.Using this framework,we identify what is known,what is unknown,and future directions at each level.DT 1.0 addresses issues of asset quality,progress,and cost management,generating technical value.It lacks multi-objective self-adaptive EAM,however,and suffers from high application cost.It is imperative to enable closed-loop EAM in order to provide various functional services with affordable DT 1.0.DT 2.0 accommodates issues of human-machine symbiosis,safety,and flexibility management,generating managerial value beyond the technical performance improvement of engineering assets.However,DT 2.0 currently lacks the automation and security of human-machine interactions and the managerial value related to humans is not prominent enough.Future research needs to align technical and managerial value with highly automated and secure DT 2.0.DT 3.0 covers issues of participatory governance,organization management,sustainable development,and resilience enhancement,generating macro social value.Yet it suffers from organizational fragmentation and can only address limited social governance issues.Numerous research opportunities exist to coordinate different stakeholders.Similarly,future research opportunities exist to develop DT 3.0 in a more open and complex system.

Blockchain and Digital Transformation of University Asset Management

As educational activities realize value transmission and value realization through a digital form, the Digital transformation of universities continues to advance. The quantity of asset data continues to grow, with internal value reflected in education, management, and services, while external value is reflected in policies, resources and reputation. Therefore, effective management of university assets is particularly important. Blockchain is an important infrastructure for Digital transformation, which provides a trusted environment for the occurrence of various collaborations and will reshape many collaboration mechanisms. This paper discusses the current situation and problems faced by universities in the process of Digital transformation. We analyze the development opportunities brought about by Digital transformation and the specific problems faced by physical asset management in detail. We discuss the data platform optimization, asset data application, digital asset security, planning strategy, and construction path of digital transformation involved in the physical asset management of universities.

Analysis of Historic Pavement and Bridge Conditions and Alternative Funding Levels for the Michigan Department of Transportation

In 1997 the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) established an ambitious set of condition targets for its pavements and bridges, and the Department received increased revenue from a 4-cent-per-gallon increase in the state motor fuels tax to help meet its targets. However, over time, actual revenue was less than both what was initially estimated as needed to meet the targets and what was projected from the tax increase. Consequently, actual conditions were projected to fall short of the target levels, so the department issued bonds to address the shortfall through 2012. To support deliberations on future funding, in 2013 MDOT performed an analysis of historic conditions to determine what additional fuel tax revenues would have been required beginning in 1997 to: replace bond revenues used to fund pavement and bridge projects from 1997 to 2012;and enable MDOT to meet its condition targets. The analysis was performed using data on actual pavement and bridge funding and conditions;as well as predicted funding and conditions for different hypothetical increases in fuel taxes. The analysis concluded that, in addition to the actual increase of 4 cents per gallon, a fuel tax increase of another 10 cents per gallon would have been required in 1997 to replace bond revenue used for pavement and bridges and allow MDOT to meet its condition targets. The analysis results were used to help inform the discussion of Michigan’s target asset conditions and funding, and demonstrate application of MDOT’s pavement and bridge management systems for performing historic analyses.

The Separation of Powers from Functions and the Establishment of a New Structure of Management and Operation of State-owned Assets

The development of the socialist market economy demands the furtherintensification of the reform of the management operating system (MOS)of the state-owned assets, the strengthening of the efficiency in the man-agement of state-owned assets,and the improvement of the operating bene-

Asset specificity and farmers' intergenerational succession willingness of apple management

Understanding the factors behind apple farmers’willingness to pass on the management of their farms to their descendants is crucial to the continuity of apple production.Due to the high specificity of the human capital,physical assets,land assets,and geographical location in apple production,this study used a binary logistic regression and a mediating effect model to explore the impact of asset specificity on farmers’intergenerational succession willingness of apple management(FISWAM)and to examine the mediating effects of loss aversion in the impact of asset specificity on the FISWAM.The results showed that about 18.68%of the respondents expressed willingness to transfer their apple business between generations,and the FISWAM was generally weak.In addition to the negative impact of geographical location specificity(GLS),human capital specificity(HCS),physical assets specificity(PAS),and land assets specificity(LAS)can enhance the FISWAM.Loss aversion plays a partial mediating role in the impact of PAS,LAS,and GLS on the FISWAM.

The Application Mode of Blockchain in University Asset Management

With the development of higher education, the scale of university assets has become more diversified, complex and decentralized. Traditional asset management is inefficient. Information is not transparent and management responsibilities are unclear. This paper analyzes the difficulties in the process of asset management in universities and discusses the advantages of blockchain technology. We research on the application of blockchain technology in the process of asset management in universities and propose a framework design based on blockchain technology to standardize the asset management process. The result improves the efficiency of asset inventory and ensures the credibility of asset information. It helps to prevent asset information tampering, and improves the security of asset data. It also pushes the asset management mode from static to dynamic.

The Management Problem of the Industrialization of Water Resources and Its Countermeasures

Water is the material basis of man＇s living. It cannot be substituted. In addition, it is the life line of agriculture even the national economy. However, water resources face very serious situation in our country. It is shown that wafer resources are in short and the water pollution is benumbing more and more serious day by day. The reason for the problem of water resources is the management problem of water resources. Besides. the per capita water resource is low because the population is increasingly serious. The industrialization of water resources is a new conception presented due to the deepening of the social labor division and the demands of the mitigating contradiction of water resources. This paper analyzes the present situation of water resources in our country and the reasons for the problems, It expounds the important significance of the industrialization of management of water resources. Then it puts forward some saggesnons for the management of the industry of water resources, and some measure to solve those problems.

Working Capital Management and Firms’ Profitability: Evidence from Quoted Firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange

Over the years, it appeared that firms failed to subject short-term investments to proper management thereby leading to either excessive or inadequate working capital which in turn affected their profitability. To empirically satisfy this, this paper examined working capital management and firms’ profitability in Nigeria quoted firms on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). A panel data methodology was used with different regression estimators to analyze this relationship based on a balanced panel of 10 listed firms during the period 2008-2017. It was discovered that cash collection period and cash payment period exerted a negative impact on return on assets, though the impact was only significant for cash payment period on the ground of −0.064 (p = 0.000 −0.032 (p = 0.077 > 0.05). Also discovered was that both the current ratio and inventory period exerted a positive impact on return on assets, though the impact was only significant for current ratio on the ground of 8.172 (p = 0.000 0.05). The study concluded that working capital management affected firms’ profitability in Nigeria. Therefore it was recommended that while the shorter collection was maintained, payment to creditors should not be elongated so as to enjoy cash discount (if any) and that firms should be proactive in the management of raw materials in order to avoid idle resources that might negatively impact their financial performance.

Tangible Assets Threats and Hazards： Risk Assessment and Management in the Port Domain

Port systems are more prone to being risk oriented. Many specific methods have been found to assess risk in a port area or operation. A review is presented in different approaches on human and environmental risks in port area. On the other hand, there is no specific risk management method or fi＇amework to cope with threats and hazards regarding on port machines or material accidents and port assets damages or losses. This paper presents a risk management methodology, seeking to investigate a process of assessing the assets hazards and damages into the domain of port container terminal, by taking into account its different factors and their mutual influences. This methodology constitutes a decision support framework that will be used to conduct port to port risk evaluations or to assess a whole port＇s and terminal＇s risk level in the critical field of assets damages and losses, in order to facilitate improvement strategies. An empirical study is contacted for the years of 2003-2012, in order to provide evidence for risk assessment and management in an economic effective way, regarding port assets damages and losses, at the Port Container Terminal of Piraeus in Greece.

Empirical Analysis on Asset Impairment and Earnings Management under the Background of Accounting Standards Variance

Earning management is a pioneering research subject and a world problem rising in international economics and accounting field since 1980s. It is also common in listed companies of our country and has a degree of adverse effect on sound operation of market economy. The exploration on earning management firstly is based on knowing the related research achievements at home and abroad to compare the environment and background of different theories generating. Then the paper starts from the definition to analyze the effect of concrete accounting standards on earning management complemented with the proof of cases. Lastly, the paper analyzes the data of some listed companies from 2008 to 2011 with empirical method, and verifies the effect of implementing asset impairment criteria on earning management of listed companies from the view of industry. Focusing on the comparative study of industries, the paper draws valuableconclusion which is consistent with the real situation, and the paper refines the research of domestic earning management.

Design and Implementation of University Fixed Assets Management System

This paper uses the J2EE framework, and proposed the development methods of the fixed assets management system in the Spring platform and the Struts. At the same time, the paper elaborates on the fixed assets management system under the framework of Spring and Struts technology, and lists some core code and part function description. Through the operation of the system many times, proved that the technology can improve the safety and stability of the system, both the Spring and the Struts framework also made redundant code of the system to reduce, avoid the waste of resources, which make the system have better scalability and maintainability.

State of the Art and Emerging Trends in Operations and Maintenance of Offshore Oil and Gas Production Facilities:Some Experiences and Observations

Plant maintenance has been a discipline that has gradually evolved with the industrial revolution. For quite some time, it has been a ＂necessary evil＂ in production, manufacturing, and process settings. The changing business needs and industrial conditions have had various impacts on the maintenance process, particularly over the last few years. While some industries have inherent difficulties seeing what maintenance is all about, others have begun to add more flavor to the organizational maintenance practices. This article brings an overview of developments within the offshore oil and gas production sector.

Revealing Importance of Management of Assets in Investment Trust Companies by DEA Analysis

In this paper,contribution of sources to the efficiency of Turkish investment trust companies is investigated by eight models which are constructed by different combinations of inputs of DEA analyze structure.Input oriented CRS based data envelopment analysis(DEA)and also Malmquist Productivity Index are applied for the time period of 2009—2016.Inputs of the CRS model are preferred as financial investments,cash and cash equivalents,cost of sales,and total sales while net profit and net sales are outputs of the models.It is reached at the conclusion that only management of investments is providing better results than only focusing on cash or cost management.In addition,effects and contribution of investment management parameter when it is added to the other ones is found more.

The Relation between Performance and Flows of Mutual Funds: Case of the Croatian Fund Market

With pre 2008 euphoria and present depression, inflows to open investment funds and outflows from it shaped general market conditions on the Croatian fund market. This article studies the relationship between performance of open ended investment funds and inflows (outflows) to them on Croatian funds data in an environment without long fund data history, with small number of funds and relatively illiquid underlying equity market. The results suggest that the driving forces behind funds’ flows encompass the combined influence of present month fund’s performance and persistency of past performances. At the end of our analysis we test the significance of the introduced explanatory variables on the data sets that include data for each particular fund. The significance of the introduced explanatory variables varies among different funds, although a general level of the explanatory power is maintained on average.

Corporate Risk Strategic Management and Probabilistic Analysis Related to Environmental Liabilities: A Case Study

Environmental stewardship is one of the main indicators of corporate performance and reputation among investors today. However, historical operational practices and accidents have created significant environmental liabilities in the industrial sector, and now require significant investments for appropriate management and resolution. A strategic approach is imperative to assure that company’s financial resources are effectively allocated, and shareholders’ interests are protected. In addition, these liabilities must be appropriately and continuously reported, which require the use of robust forecasting techniques such as Monte Carlo Simulation. The present study results demonstrate that under an optimized strategic approach, liability management costs may be reduced in approximately 50%. In addition, the financial forecast under the selected approach may support appropriate reporting of company’s liabilities.

Study of Customer Relationship Asset Management from the People-oriented Perspective

With the advent of the knowledge economy and information age in the 21st century,the relationship between managers,the managed personnel,and customers has undergone tremendous changes.In order to meet the needs of the development of the times,the business management has gradually turned to the study of people,and humanistic management has become one of the important factors influencing the sustainable development of enterprises.This paper came up with people-oriented management approaches and countermeasures for enterprises from corporate culture,customer satisfaction and loyalty,balance sheet management,customer database establishment,and improvement of the rate of return of customer relationship assets.

Local Government Asset Management:Affecting Factors and Policy Implications on Government Work Unit of Central Java Province in Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the influence of Human Resource Competence,Regulation,Information Technology,Reconciliation,and Internal Control System on Asset Management in Local Government Work Unit(abbreviated SKPD)of Central Java Provincial Government.This research is conducted because there is still record in the Final Report of Inspection by the Republic of Indonesia Audit Board(abbreviated BPK)concerning problem of asset management conducted by some SKPDs of Central Java Provincial Government,although in general the Local Government Financial Report of Central Java Province has got opinion“Reasonable Without Exception”.The data source of this research is primary data collected through interview method on asset management officers at the 48 SKPD in Central Java Provincial Government.Data analysis method used in this research is multiple regression analysis.This research finds that the Human Resource Competence,the Regulation,the Information Technology,the Reconciliation,and the Internal Control System have positive and significant effect on the Asset Management at the Local Government Work Unit of Central Java Provincial Government at level of significance 0.05.Ability to explain of the independent variables to the Asset Management variable is equal to 67.7%.

Timberland Investing and Private Property Rights in the United States of America

Investments in rural land for agriculture, timber, and other natural resource purposes occur frequently and globally. Fundamental principles of liberty and property found in the United States of America’s (“US”) legal system, from its origins to recent US Supreme Court decisions, continue to positively benefit holders of real estate in the Southern US, through a deep-rooted public policy of supporting private property rights and rural economic development. This stable rule of law enhances the long-term adaptability and sustainability of timberland as an asset class. This article is a commentary. It combines legal research methodology with the observations and conclusions of the authors. Its purpose is to demonstrate that the existence of alienable, documentable ownership, and related property rights create inherent stability and security. These principles form the basis of a culture that is defined by the rule of law and is “open for business.” This business mindset is particularly prevalent in the Southern US.

An Investigation Into the Significant Impacts of Automation in Asset Management

This paper explores the implications of applying automation, and a technological force in which computer systems can fulfill human tasks, in the asset management industry. The investigation explores a number of significant topics in which managers should begin contemplating, including workforce origination post automation and the primary skills necessary to facilitate augmentation, and how robot advisors could challenge an organisation’s value proposition. The investigation was centered on Jupiter Asset Management （JAM） to support their preparations for automation, as well as to provide insight from the “grass roots”. Research centered on interviews with experienced individuals within automation and asset management. The first interviewee was Simon Crawford, a Fixed Income, Multi-Asset Performance, and Risk Manager. The second interviewee was Daniel Hulme, CEO of Satalia and Advisor to the UK Home Office. Of crucial importance to the success of this investigation’s data analysis before and after the commencement of interviews, was the use of an analytical pattern matching produce, which examined qualitative information. The findings identify that current entry level occupations with systematic and repetitive tasks in a fixed domain, will be automated. Placing a greater demand for analytical abilities in junior recruits as the cognitive understanding of what data represents is a weakness of Artificial Intelligence （AI） thus strengthening augmentation between employees and technology. Automated investment profilers known as robo advisors will challenge the value proposition of organisations, such as JAM, which in time will need to be onboard with the technology to remain competitive within a growing millennial market. The paper concludes that there is an evidentneed for asset management firms to design training processes that blend enhanced senior level shadowing, with programmes focused on broadening juniors’ abilities to interpret and apply AI’s generated data through a series of newly identified skills.