The API is a metric used to communicate the relative importance of equipment in terms of mission criticality, security, or other measures important to the business entity. It offers a method for ranking assets based on judgment/importance factors defined by the organization, creating information to justify compelling arguments for investment, security strategies, and disposition plans.

API also provides a quantitative basis for determining and documenting operational relationships between an asset portfolio and business objectives capital investment strategies, deferred maintenance approaches, security design and analyses, continuity of business/risk analyses, and disposition decisions.

It enables management to identify critical assets and allocate resources appropriately and should therefore be an integral process in equipment management.

1.1 This practice establishes a quantitative process, an asset priority index (API), for prioritizing asset resources in acquisition, utilization, and disposition to provide managers with a method to prioritize asset resources based on predefined criteria.

1.2 The API has a wide range of applications including, but not limited to, use as a basis for capital investment strategies, deferred maintenance approaches, security design and analyses, continuity of business/risk analyses, and disposition decisions.

1.3 The API model is designed to be applicable and appropriate for entities holding equipment designated as capital assets.

1.4 In addition to the applicability of moveable and durable assets as defined in this practice, this methodology may in whole or in part be effectively applied to intangible property, real property, and materiel.

This practice offers instructions for performing one or more specific operations. This document cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this practice may be applicable in all circumstances. This ASTM standard is neither intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service must be judged, nor should this document be applied without consideration of a projects many unique aspects. The word "Standard" in the title means only that the document has been approved through the ASTM International consensus process.