How Technology is Redefining Plant and machinery valuation

Abhrasnata Das

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Plant and machinery valuation is a critical aspect for every industrial segment that includes – agriculture, construction, mining, food manufacturing and processing, communication and computing industries, and more. An effective and efficient plant and equipment valuation is crucial for identifying, describing, determining the price and establishing the value of fixed assets. Furthermore, understanding the market value of the firm’s capital assets will help the management to make informed business decisions, particularly when it comes to financial or market transactions and risk insurance coverage.

Melissa Lee, Associate Director of Valuation and Advisory Services, Colliers International said, “Plant and machinery valuation makes good business sense since it ensures that the estimated value of the equipment is adequately recorded. Valuation of such assets is done for a variety of reasons, including accounting, M&A allocation, yearly financial reporting, financing, asset acquisition and disposal, leasing, and insurance. It may also be used to estimate the asset's remaining useful life and residual value.”

Moreover, new technologies are changing the way businesses operate. In particular, Industry 4.0 will certainly impact industrial machinery as automation, robotics, additive manufacturing, and digital innovation take flight. Operating models will change - plants will likely go high-tech and machineries will be more connected and data-driven than ever. In this hour of change the plant and machinery service providers are also upgrading their service structure and bringing advanced technologies like AI, ML, Big data etc, to deliver a precise data driven valuation service. Now, let's look at the key technologies that will shape the future of the Plant and machinery valuation market.

Utilization Of Drone For Big Plant

Drones may still sound a little like science fiction, but their use is rapidly becoming mainstream. The practical applications of drones are multiplying - from energy generation to the protection of birds of prey.

While much of the reporting of drone technology has focused on how retailers may use drones to deliver parcels, such applications are still at the trial stage. Drones have found their way in the plant valuation market. Today, drones are increasingly used across the world to assess and survey large plant sites.

“Drones are becoming a valuable tool for professionals by enhancing their capabilities to accurately calculate the numbers of assets, evaluate their condition, as well as improve managerial risk accounting,” explains Magdalena Czernicka, a manager at PwC’s drone-powered solutions

According to Deloitte, the advancement of software is also expanding the ways in which drones can be utilized. New algorithms can better analyze data from drones, such as counting individual plants in a field and detecting metal corrosion in infrastructure. Human involvement in the study of drone-provided data is becoming less necessary.

Asset Valuation Using Machine Learning

Asset valuation of things like industrial machineries are a critical task to perform. More often than none, the assets are either under or over-valued. Moreover, with different variables in the picture, different events like – guessing with hard-to-quantify factors, human bias, often distorts the data while defying the purpose of the project.

However, AKW Analytics, a New York based firm is leveraging Artificial Intelligence and machine Learning to transform the asset valuation market into precision maintained space. The company has developed a proprietary software PALM™ (Petroleum Analytics Learning Machine) that automatically looks into all the available data using predictive and prescriptive analytics. Furthermore, while delivering more accurate asset valuation the utilization of AI and ML is helping to provide Quick computation to obtain dynamic results.

Looking Forward

Plant and machinery valuation is important to ascertain the collateral value of the asset in exchange for newer machinery. Valuation of plant and machinery also benefits the business as it helps comply with legal and regulatory requirements. The value of assets determined by valuation is important for financial reporting and auditing. This type of valuation helps ascertain the remaining lifespan of the machinery.

Valuation ascertains how much the machinery has depreciated in value and how much longer it will be able to perform its function. Therefore, it is useful to perform a valuation as it verifies the asset before buying it. In the days ahead, more innovative technologies like computer vision, deep learning will come into play, thereby transforming the market from the very basics.

“As companies and markets embrace digital transformation, I think there is scope for valuers to continue to improve and retool for the future - perhaps in the way valuation is being done. It is important to keep up with technology. In addition, there will be new types and classes of assets to value” says Melissa Lee, Associate Director of Valuation and Advisory Services, Colliers International.