--- title: "Pragmas On Key Enterprise Asset Management system assist with Linear Asset Management" description: "Asset owners in industries like oil and gas or roads and utilities have unique asset management requirements and are often left stranded with asset" image: https://www.pragmaworld.net/wp-content/uploads/pragma-social-placeholder-blue.jpg canonical: https://www.pragmaworld.net/pragmas-on-key-enterprise-asset-management-system-assist-with-linear-asset-management/ url: https://pragma-world.getmd.ai/pragmas-on-key-enterprise-asset-management-system-assist-with-linear-asset-management/.md last_converted: 2026-10-06T21:29:01.540Z --- # Pragmas On Key Enterprise Asset Management system assist with Linear Asset Management October 23, 2014Asset owners in industries like oil and gas or roads and utilities have unique asset management requirements and are often left stranded with asset management software designed for discrete assets. Such software systems fail to address the unique needs associated with linear assets and often necessitate the use of several standalone applications and manual actions to store and retrieve asset related information. Linear assets extend along one physical dimension in space and often connect with each other through their relationship with the linear infrastructure they are associated with. Says Stefan Swanepoel, Associate Consultant at Pragma: “A good example of this is a service road that runs alongside sections of a railway line, where the railway line is the primary linear asset and the service road is a linear sub asset related to the railway line. Linear assets can be repaired or replaced in situ as a unit or in segments that can vary dynamically, based on condition or operational considerations associated with the asset.” The structure of the asset register plays an important role in an organisation’s ability to analyse the performance, cost and risks associated with its assets and this is no different for linear assets. According to Swanepoel, the two important aspects that should be considered when configuring a linear asset are the level of detail required when capturing the cost, reliability and maintenance history of assets, as well as the organisation’s ability to maintain such level of detail. Says Swanepoel: “The solution to the problems lies in a single Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system that is capable of effectively dealing with all key linear and discrete asset data to allow the transformation of data to information for decision making purposes. EAM systems with linear asset capability have the important feature of dynamic segmentation in which assets can be split into virtual segments. These dynamic segments can be used to associate work, record condition or varying attributes with a linear asset along its length.” Swanepoel explains: “For example, a section of road could be anything from 1km to 100km in length and have varying attributes such as type of pavement and number of lanes. The road condition, maintenance cost and failures (potholes), etc. could also vary along its length over time. But the road remains one asset, and EAM systems with linear referencing capabilities allow an organisation to manage it as such without splitting it into discrete segments as required by a traditional hierarchical asset register.” The position on a linear asset can be specified as a single point or segment with start and end positions, all relative to a known position along the specific linear asset or higher level linear asset. The Linear Asset Management (LAM) system is able to translate these relative offsets to an absolute position on the asset that could even be translated into geospatial coordinates if the reference linear asset has been mapped with geospatial coordinates. Continues Swanepoel: “Pragma’s On Key is known for its industry leading functionality related to hierarchical asset type and asset tree structures that uniquely provide for structured management of maintenance plans for discrete assets from generic to very specific maintenance tasks. This functionality has further been enhanced through the introduction of a number of key functions in support of LAM with the release of On Key 5.10. An integrated approach to the management of linear assets enables asset owners to get a bird’s eye view of the performance of their linear and discrete assets without having to manually integrate data from various standalone systems.” Linear asset management has been around for years, yet many organisations still attempt to manage their linear assets using traditional hierarchical asset registers. “Our paper highlights some key considerations in the management of linear assets and illustrates how Pragma’s On Key EAM can help users to better manage their linear assets.” Visit Pragma at https://www.pragmaworld.net/white-papers/ or contact them on 021 943 3900 for more information on how Pragma can assist with Linear Asset Management. ##### Subscribe to our newsletter ##### More content ##### AI in maintenance: from CMMS records to better decisions Author | Henk Wynjeterp - Regional Lead – Europe AI is giving maintenance teams new ways to extract, structure and interpret information. But the... ##### Asset Management Masterclass or Awareness Training? Start with the role, not the course Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma I get asked this question quite often: Should I do the Asset Management Masterclass, or... ##### The lonely learner problem: why self-paced learning still needs people Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma Self-paced learning has solved a very real problem for busy adults. It gives people more... ##### Pragma appoints Stephan Kornelius as Chief Executive Officer Author | Pragma Experienced Pragma executive takes the helm on 1 October as the business continues its next... ##### No time for training? Look at what is taking the time. Author | Karen Greyling - Business Development Manager, Pragma “Not now. The team is too busy.” It is one of the most understandable reasons... ##### When Finance and Operations agree on spares Author | Pragma MRO spares are often the source of a familiar business tension. Finance wants to reduce... ##### You don’t train for a marathon by running a marathon Author | Tim Beavon - Partner Consultant, Pragma Why shutdown readiness depends on applying lessons before the next major event A major shutdown... ##### Pragma announces leadership transition and continues strategic momentum Author | Pragma Pragma has announced an important leadership transition as the business continues to build on... ##### Are we solving the wrong training problem? Author | Karen Greyling - Academy Business Development Manager, Pragma When organisations say they need training, they may already be solving the wrong training problem:... ##### The art of balancing work order feedback with compliance, learning, and wrench time Author | Scheepers Schoeman - Senior Associate, Professional Services Most organisations don’t choose their work order feedback culture. They drift into it. A new... ##### Why a qualified maintenance planner changes more than maintenance Author | Karen Greyling - Academy Business Development Manager, Pragma In many plants, the same pattern repeats itself. Work arrives late. Materials are chased at... ##### Why MRO inventory is different from other inventory classes Author | Andre Jordaan - Partner Consultant, Pragma MRO inventory differs from other inventory classes because demand is irregular, the consequences of stockouts... ##### How failing water infrastructure is quietly reshaping South Africa’s cities Author | Nelson Broden – Business Lead Pragma Managed Services On the school run through... ##### From dead capital to operational certainty: Smarter spare parts management Author: André Jordaan, Partner Consultant, Pragma Most MRO stores aren’t short of parts; they’re short... ##### Asset Management Awareness Training that fits real work Author | Karen Greyling, Business Development Manager If you’ve ever thought, “We don’t need another... ##### Asset Management Masterclass: Strategic training for leaders driving performance, reliability and results Author | Karen Greyling – Business Development Manager In asset-intensive industries, leaders are under growing... ##### Beyond compliance: Why repeated maturity assessments define asset performance leadership Author | Stephan Kornelius – Pragma Professional Services Business Lead In asset-intensive industries, leaders face... ##### OEMs need a connected platform for services Author | Henk Wynjeterp – Regional Lead – Europe | Henk leads Pragma’s OEM after-sales... ##### When rivers cry out: How asset management can help heal South Africa’s waterways Author | Nelson Broden – Business Lead Pragma Managed Services The Hennops River, once part... ##### Ditch the buzzword: OEM after-sales leaders buy execution, not “servitization” Author | Henk Wynjeterp – Regional Lead – Europe | Henk leads Pragma’s OEM after-sales... ##### Beyond the software – embedding your EAMS into your organisation’s DNA for sustainable value The key to a successful EAMS (Enterprise Asset Management System) implementation lies in integrating the... ##### Pragma’s perspective on what the proposed South African budget means for infrastructure governance Author | Stephan Kornelius Author | Stephan Kornelius – Pragma Professional Services Business Lead Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s 2025... ##### Government infrastructure investments must go beyond bricks and mortar – A global perspective Author | Bani Kgosana Author | Bani Kgosana Across the globe, ageing infrastructure threatens economic stability. In the US,... ##### Pragma partners with Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team to power maintenance excellence Author | Liza Schroeder Pragma is proud to announce its support of the Q36.5 Pro... ##### Revitalising South Africa – a better path to infrastructure renewal Author | Bani Kgosana, Pragma CRO South Africa faces an extraordinary opportunity to transform its... ##### Transforming maintenance from a grudge purchase to a strategic investment Author | Scott Gibson, Pragma CEO  With South Africans enjoying a break from load shedding... ##### Pragma 2.0 – CEO of Pragma, Scott Gibson’s vision is to compete with international giants through engineering excellence At Pragma, our roots are deeply embedded in engineering consulting. We are proud to be... ##### Are you proactively shaping your focused improvement process or is it evolving organically? Author | André Jordaan, Pragma Partner Consultant Focused improvement (FI) is the overarching process used... ##### Introducing Pragma’s Enhanced Asset Management Assessment Framework: AMIP Physical assets must be managed effectively for a business to grow and be competitive. Across... ##### Unlocking Asset Management Excellence: Pragma’s Spotlight at the SAAMA Conference, 5-6 June 2024 As anticipation builds for the upcoming South African Asset Management Association (SAAMA) Conference, Pragma is...