Verified Asset Lifecycle Management (vALM): A Proposed Category Definition, Conformance Framework, and Maturity Model for Independently Verifiable Industrial Asset Records

Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) has matured into a well-defined software category, yet every mainstream ALM implementation shares a structural limitation that no additional feature can remove: the evidence it produces is self-attested. The organisation that operates the system also administers its database, controls its audit logs, and can — at minimum theoretically — alter, backdate, or delete the historical record. This paper names that limitation the attestation ceiling and argues that it, rather than any functional gap, is the binding constraint on the commercial and regulatory value of asset lifecycle data in multi-party industrial environments. This paper proposes Verified Asset Lifecycle Management (vALM) as a distinct category above that ceiling, and defines it not by any specific technology but by five testable properties: evidence at origin, multi-party attestation, independent verifiability, sovereignty-preserving disclosure, and portable proof across custody. A six-layer reference architecture, a seven-stage verified event chain, a five-level maturity model (VMM 0–4), and a twelve-point conformance framework are presented, together with a mapping to ISO/IEC 17020:2026, ISO 19650, ISO 55000, the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and its Digital Product Passport, the EU CSRD, and UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 11. A comparative assessment against conventional ALM, EDMS, and ERP approaches identifies where each satisfies the letter of emerging requirements and where each fails their intent. The paper closes with an honest statement of limitations — vALM does not fix bad data, poor process discipline, or an absent quality management system — and an open invitation to operators, EPC contractors, TIC bodies, OEMs, and accreditation bodies to participate in developing an interoperable, vendor-neutral vALM conformance specification.