The Pragma Academycurrently offers a range of training courses aimed at improving physical asset management practices at clients in need of the service throughout South Africa as well as parts of the African continent. 
Their three-year asset management advancement programme includes the strategic, tactical and operational advancement modules, and can be customised for each industry such as energy, manufacturing and mining.

Says Billy Wilson, Academy Manager of Pragma Africa: “Companies should realise that only 18% of course information is retained by attendees if it’s not backed up by reinforcement, accountability and responsibility. With our three-year asset management advancement programme, we do exactly that. Training is expensive and there is no point in wasting money. Companies should be asking themselves whether their training programmes are effective and what incompetence and ignorance is costing them annually.

“Our courses are all PAS55 aligned. We create real value with our theoretical and practical training approach and ensure that delegates gain strategic, tactical and operational asset management insight into their company and industry,” says Wilson.

The strategicadvancement module includes an overview of asset management (a strategic awareness certificate is awarded).This entails 24 training days over a period of three years and includes practical sessions, facilitated strategic implementation discussions as well as assessments. On completion of this aspect of the course, Pragma awards a strategic practitioners certificate.

The tactical advancement programme includes the fundamentals of asset management with a tactical awareness certificate awarded to attendees. The tactical practitioners certificate is awarded after 23 days of training over a three-year period.

The operational advancement moduleconsists of 12 training days over the three years with the operational awareness certificate awarded by Pragma.

The programme covers an overview of Asset Management as well as training in PAS 55, strategy, information, technical, contractor, financial, risk, material, life cycle and project and shutdown management, technical information, organisationasset care plans, environment, health and safety,work planning and control, operator asset care, support facilities and tools, performance measurement and focused improvement. Each of these areas is covered with relevance to the levels, these being strategic, tactical and operational.

Comments Wilson: “The asset management advancement programme can be customised to suit individual companies as well as industries. It can also include specific content and need not include all 17 key performance areas. At the Pragma Academy, our aim is long term savings through theoretically sound, yet practically applicable learning interventions which in the end lead to sustainable training pragrammes.“