You will quickly run out of time, budget, and patience if your organization treats every asset as if it were the center of the universe. The Solomon-Oldach Asset Prioritization (SOAP) method offers a practical, facilitation-friendly approach for identifying which assets matter most. SOAP was developed as a streamlined alternative to the exhaustive (and exhausting) criticality assessments that often bog down teams. SOAP delivers a defensible, operationally relevant ranking of critical assets and systems with a fraction of the effort involved in traditional processes.
How Long SOAP Has Been Around
The SOAP method was first prototyped, tested, and peer-reviewed in the mid-2010s, with initial presentations to the reliability community in 2016. These early rollouts helped refine the structure, scoring, and facilitation techniques that now define the method.
Over the past decade, SOAP has shifted from an experimental approach to a recognized, field-tested tool for organizations that need structured yet resource-effective criticality assessments. This history gives SOAP a proven foundation while remaining modern enough to respond to today’s operational realities.
Core Benefits of SOAP
SOAP’s primary benefit is efficiency. Organizations consistently report that SOAP requires significantly less staff time and preparation than traditional criticality methodologies.
A key strength is the two-tiered approach. At the system level, cross-functional groups use preference ballots to identify what matters most. At the asset level, SOAP applies straightforward, function-based scoring that captures operational consequences without requiring deep failure-mode modeling.
The result is a prioritization framework that is easier to explain to executives, simpler to defend during audits, and directly useful for maintenance, inspection, and capital planning.
Why Leaders Appreciate the Method
Beyond efficiency, leaders appreciate SOAP because it reinforces alignment. The method requires operations, maintenance, engineering, finance, and leadership to participate in a structured way. Using SOAP reduces the tendency for any one group to dominate the conversation or to set priorities based solely on personal experience.
SOAP is also facilitation-friendly, meaning it can be completed efficiently with the right preparation and a skilled facilitator who can keep teams focused.
The clear outputs help leadership translate the prioritization into funding allocation or risk management actions.
Challenges and Tradeoffs
Like all streamlined methods, SOAP introduces tradeoffs. The method depends heavily on good facilitation and representative participation.
If the workshop participants do not reflect the full range of operational reality, the prioritization may be skewed.
SOAP also relies on expert judgment rather than deep analytical modeling, which may mean it does not fully capture low-probability technical failure modes that a detailed RCM or FMEA analysis might uncover.
These limitations do not make SOAP less valuable. They simply mean users should treat it as a rapid prioritization tool and apply deeper analysis where the stakes justify it.
https://www.jdsolomonsolutions.com/post/three-things-you-need-to-know-about-criticality-analysis
Where SOAP Has Been Used Successfully
SOAP has been successfully implemented in water and wastewater utilities, industrial facilities, manufacturing plants, and public infrastructure agencies. Its speed and clarity make it particularly useful for pilot programs, capital renewal planning, maintenance strategy development, and strategic asset management plan (SAMP) projects.
Several organizations have used SOAP to establish an initial risk-based asset list that becomes the foundation for more detailed studies.
Others have used it to demonstrate early wins during broader asset management rollouts, helping secure leadership buy-in and organizational momentum.
Practical Takeaway
If your organization needs clarity without unnecessary complexity, SOAP is a strong first step. Begin with a facilitated system-level ballot session. Follow with function-based scoring at the asset level. Document decisions clearly. Then convert the highest-priority assets into targeted maintenance, inspection, or capital improvement actions. SOAP helps teams move quickly from unclear priorities to aligned direction, making it a practical tool for leaders who want both speed and rigor in their asset management decisions.
