The combination of smart technologies and proven methodology are pillars of KEY’s True FM philosophy, and underscore the future of FM.

Why is technology not central to every FM solution now?  Technologies with the potential to transform global FM have been around for some time.  They have failed to fulfil their potential because the raw technology is not the solution, but rather how it can deliver real value for the customer.

This is not straightforward.  On the one hand it requires a practical understanding of what technology can do.  On the other, however, it also needs the overarching management perspective on what they could do in the context of specific customer requirements.

Without the big picture, customers are left with onerous maintenance systems, or widgets and feature lists.  The onus is on them to shoehorn it into their operations and make it all work.

The c21st customer also needs to safeguard against increasing economic pressures and market uncertainties.  They need FM solutions which are easy to use, implement and scale, and evolve as they expand and differentiate.  Until recently, a toolkit suitable to these challenges has been largely impractical due to cost and inflexibility.

KEY, however, keeps a watchful vigilant eye on the technology horizon.  When we finally saw the emergence of disruptive technologies with genuine Facilities Management potential, we seized the opportunity.  There followed an 18 month programme of international pilot studies and in-house R&D.  This was driven by our commitment to ‘innovation’, one of the 5 principles of our True FM philosophy,

Why will IoT go mainstream in 2017?  The outcome of this programme is KEY’s next-generation and fully road-tested smart technologies offerings.  These range from smart diagnostics through to a fully functioning smart office or environment.   Integrated into an integrated operational solution, these represent the accumulation of our 25+ years of True FM experience.  They also provide a truly flexible, future-proof and cost-effective facilities management solution, equally suitable for one facility, or many spanning multiple territories.

While the full scope of our integrated operations offering will not be unveiled till next year, we preview here two of the many ways in which smarter technology will be integrated into the system to deliver optimal value for our customers.

Maintenance Management. The dual need for compliance and cost-effectiveness is a growing challenge. On the one hand, maintenance systems are expensive and over-complex, on the other, asset failure can seriously harm continuity and reputation.

Our two-module Cloud solution is simple-to-use.  It also easily scales or adapts to changing circumstances, and integrates seamlessly with existing systems.

The Portfolio module unifies all of your facilities, assets and inventories across locations, regions and geographies into a central Cloud location.

The Mobile Workforce organises ongoing service delivery, reactive works and planned preventative maintenance into an efficient workflow, sent to, and updated by, personnel in real-time via mobile. The combination of the two module enables unrivalled operational control and compliance, for unbeatable value.

Remote Monitoring. Designed for enterprises where significant expense, continuity or compliance hinges on critical assets, environmental conditions or effective energy management.

Our flexible, affordable, remote sensor solutions give you real time visibility over, and historical data on, the performance of all these aspects, alerting you instantly in the event of emergency.

Simple to set-up, use and adapt, this module can be used as a standalone for smart diagnostics or critical asset monitoring.

Alternatively, a comprehensive network of sensors is easily integrated into our maintenance system as a component of a total solution.

In short, affordable sensor monitoring is ushering in a new era.  Instead of managing our assets, buildings and cities, they’ll be talking to us and telling us what they need!

If you want to find out more about these modules, and how they can optimise your performance then contact us on info@key.fm or +44 (0) 1786 841603.