This article argues that the inherent risk aversion of the Facilities Management (FM) profession, which to-date has been a barrier to the adoption of smart FM technologies, in 2017-18 is becoming one driver of a sea change.
The basic conditions necessary for a smart technology revolution have been in place for several years.
On the side of the technologists, increasing competition and investment have fuelled rapid evolution in the affordability, usability and connectivity of sensors and platforms.
On the client side, there has been a corresponding growth in awareness of the promise of smart operations to deliver those efficiencies and marginal gains upon which c21st success depends.
The holdup has been the lack of a party with sufficient understanding of the technology, and the clients’ needs and operations, to weave solutions that deliver on this promise.
Inherent Risk Aversion as a Barrier to Smart FM
Clearly, FM is best equipped and placed to fulfil this role. There is also increasing pressure for us to do so. IoT is quickly becoming a client expectation both within existing contracts and the tendering process.
Nevertheless, FM is an inherently conservative profession, underpinned by the principle that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. This is particular so in challenging economic times such as these.
While technology has become central to our toolkit, FM is often a hidden laggardly influence in the adoption curve. Many providers are driven reluctantly by client demand, not by intrinsic innovation.
In the case of IoT, this resistance is exacerbated by implications more radical and haunting than previous technologies.
There are concerns around ownership, security and unproven technology. Deeper still, there are existential questions around FM’s role and purpose in a world where buildings effectively manage themselves.
The explicit and implicit threats are non-trivial, not least wholesale restructuring, downsizing, and loss of control and expertise.
Are Facilities Managers ‘minding the gap’ between smart FM technology and the client?
On these bases, we attribute the failure of smart FM to go mainstream already, in part, to the risk aversive nature of FM.
Risk Aversion as a Basic Principle of FM
Nevertheless, in the arena of operations, risk aversion is one of FM’s basic principles. We assess and mitigate risk, and implement processes to ensure that failure events have minimum impact on business continuity.
It is in the area of risk management that IoT aligns best with the conservative FM mind-set.
Smart sensors offer an affordable, quickly implemented solution for remotely monitoring critical assets and environments. This application enables Facilities Managers without threatening to change them. It also allows them to take a low-risk first step into the world of IoT, and to learn about the technology and its win-win benefits for FM and clients.
Once that step’s taken, there’s no turning back!
Risk Aversion as a Driver of Smart FM
Unsurprisingly, therefore, risk management is one area where we are seeing an acceleration in the adoption of smart FM technologies. This is particularly apparent in the food and manufacturing sectors, and also as a mechanism to plug risky gaps in business information systems.
There is also a growing trend for looking beyond the measurement of discrete variables such as temperature, humidity and vibration. The new frontier is to understand the complex behaviour of specific assets and environments. The goal is to predict and resolve business critical issues before they occur.
It is inevitable that similar context-specific condition-based monitoring will become integral to planned preventative maintenance and FM. It is proposed one catalyst for this transformation is and shall be the management of business continuity risk.
Conclusion
This article has argued that, paradoxically, FM’s inherent risk aversion is both a barrier to and underlying driver of the mainstream adoption of smart technologies. A catalyst for the shift from the former to the latter is proposed to be FM’s recognition of the value of IoT for ensuring business continuity.
Check out KEY’s case studies on our application of smart technologies for the management of business critical assets and environments.
The conversation takes a particular focus on the use of the smart monitoring of critical assets and environmental conditions, but also covers emergent trends in smart technology and their implications for the future of International Facilities Management.
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A keynote presentation on the new ISO international standards for facility management, and their implications for global business. The presentation was recorded at the Scotland Works 2017 Exhibition at SEC, Glasgow (apologies for some background noise!).
The presenter is Stan Mitchell, CEO of Key Facilities Management. Stan leads the development of the standards in his capacity as Chair of ISO Technical Committee 267.
If you’re interested in KEY’s work and views, we welcome you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
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,
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.
1. What is Facilities Management? It is the management of all of those non-core activities that every organisation needs in order to function efficiently and effectively in their day to day operations
2. When did Facilities Management start? It emerged as a recognised discipline in the early 1980’s in recognition of the value (cost and efficiency) offered through the coordinated management of all support activities and the importance that they have in support of the core organisational activities.
3. Is there a certificate to be a Facilities Manager? Yes, there are several vocational and higher educational qualifications that can be gained from professional associations such as British Institute of Facilities Management and the International Facilities Management Association as well as Universities across the world. The AURD has put in its agenda for establishing the Real Estate Academy a section focussed upon Facilities Management as part of the AURD role to raise the awareness and develop our local resources to meet the international standards.
4. What does it Cost? Less than you think! Within Key Facilities Management at least, it always saves our clients money and improves standards partially through our strategy to train and develop indigenous resources as opposed to bringing in ex-pats. In reality all such support activities are being managed anyway: either efficiently and effectively – or not; focussed upon the client organisation – or not supporting all the relevant stakeholder groups – or not
5. What is the Benefit? Facilities Management’s core business is the client’s non-core business! When considering why you might utilise legal or financial expert’s i.e. statutory knowledge, competency, and experience – why would you not do the same in the management, operation and maintenance of those activities in what is the largest overhead cost; the greatest influence upon customer service; and the custodian of 80% of the whole life cost of any development or asset? The headache of those non-core activities is transferred to those who are geared to deal with it. When outsourced there is only one party to deal with.
Those within the facilities management business are working for their core business activity and as a result can have a meaningful career path – with the associated motivation that it brings. True facilities management will introduce innovation to improve standards, improve the client’s primary activities and protect the associated investments. Facilities consulting involved at the beginning of the design process will add considerable value through design input and influence; such input generates cost savings throughout the life of the project
6. What does it Include? The scope of facilities Management is wide and varied such activities will include security, cleaning, maintenance, catering, landscaping, hygiene etc….. Key Facilities Management has a ‘Schedule of Requirements’ (SOR) that defines our classified facilities management products list and against which we benchmark. The services the client requires and may ask for as well as the standards to which they are desired to be delivered are defined within this list.
7. How to Select a Provider? First of all be clear regarding what you want i.e. a Real Estate Agency; A Facilities Services provider (security, cleaning, HVAC); or a Facilities Management company! Once chosen make sure that there is an understanding regarding what Facilities Management truly is, what services and standards are required. Careful consideration at this stage will greatly influence the ultimate costs. Consideration should also be given to how you purchase such services i.e. prescriptive versus descriptive and input versus output.
8. What is the Difference between Facilities Services and Facilities Management? Facilities Services organisations are those that are specialist providers for different services that are required to support every organisation. They include companies that provide activities such as cleaning, security, plumbing, electrics, HVAC, pest control, hygiene, decoration etc. A Facilities Management organisation is a professional management business that understands the requirements to manage, operate and maintain all the support services in the most efficient and effective manner at optimum cost. Facilities Services providers are technical specialists in the service that they provide and aim to achieve maximum price from the client organisation to ensure maximum profit for their service. Facilities Managers are management specialists and aim to achieve minimum cost to the client organisation and ensure optimum value for money.
9. What’s the Difference between Property Management and Facilities Management? Property Management is all about lease arrangements, rentals and on occasion’s service contract management i.e. the management of the various facilities services provider contracts. Facilities Management is all about meeting the organisations’ needs and initially assisting in identifying what those needs really are! It will focus upon the informed procurement and deployment of assets; the effective enabling, communicating and management of people; and creating real value for money through minimising costs and maximising standards. The former is driven by their traditional standards and approach to service provision whilst the latter is driven by the organisational needs!
10. Can I do it myself? Yes! Facilities Management need not be an outsourced service. With the right knowledge, training and development any organisation is able to be just as effective through the management via an inhouse team as much as an outsourced one. Key Facilities Management has, through its consulting activities, advised as many organisations to develop and create an in-house organisation as it has to outsource to a specialist Facilities Management provider. There are a number of factors that would be considered before the ‘right’ decision can be made, such as the type of organisation; its culture; its structure; its scale and its core business activity. Key Facilities Management undertakes consulting activities to assist organisations achieve this as well as will take on the responsibility to deliver all such services on an ongoing basis; we operate as an effective extension of the client organisation’s management team. Key Facilities Management also assists clients in the design and planning phases of a project where design improvements are achieved in order to minimise occupancy costs as well as determine operating budgets that are realistic and reflect the standards and services promised by the sales brochures!
11. Can technology help and make a valid contribution? Absolutely! Technology in today’s business environment has much to offer but only when deployed in a strategic and tactical manner that will deliver on its potential. Just think about the technology we all use today on our computers, we all know that we only use 20% of what it can deliver but it is not our core business to develop our knowledge beyond that. The same applies to technology to manage and operate the Facilities Management related activities; the difference is that it is the business of the Facilities Management Company to know when and how to deploy it to gain maximum advantage. the right technology and products can provide savings of over 70% in the consumption of energy; 80% in the consumption of resources; 95% in the elimination of harmful bacteria; and utilisation of techniques available via technologies to ensure environmental standards and whole life costs are operated at optimum levels consistently.
12. What costs can I save through effective Facilities Management? You can save costs through: Professional procurement Service delivery performance measurement Competent and experienced personal Training and development Performance led design input Awareness of sustainable products and materials Whole life forecasting techniques Energy efficient design Technologies that will manage, operate and maintain Asset selection, procurement and deployment
Most organisations do not realise that the second highest cost to them, apart usually from salaries, consists of those occupancy costs that come under the management and control of Facilities Management. Therefore, is it not common sense and logic to manage those costs professionally? In times of recession, every saving made through effective management of the overhead is a direct contribution to the bottom line. How much equivalent sales effort would be required to make the same contribution? In other circumstances the cost savings are made through ‘getting it right first time’. Not having to fix it after it was finished; have it properly designed on paper and before it has been built; having thought about how it would operate and be maintained before it was installed and now has to be changed; having considered technology ‘one off’ cost as opposed to associated and ongoing resource requirement to keep it operational for the next ten years! Need any more! Occupancy and owners legislation requires proper constitutional rules and regulations to be established at the outset, when done correctly and at the right time the true Facilities Management Company will create, apply and manage the whole process reducing the need for any additional third party involvement whilst ensuring that the developer as well as the stakeholders are duly protected.
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Key Facilities Management is proud to be a founding member and supporter of the AURD and its members. We hope that the above brief synopsis is helpful. More information can be found on our web site www.key.fm as well as links to other sources of information.
As many in the facilities management world within the UK, and in particular those that have been intimately involved with the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) since its establishment in 1993, the establishment of a new professional discipline does not just happen. It develops over a considerable period of time; has to achieve its objectives through interfacing with many different and disparate organisations; is reliant upon many individuals in order to establish itself as credible get itself ‘on the map’. With the arrival of a Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities Code (SIC) for facilities management it might interest many of you to gain a better understanding regarding the journey that has been undertaken to get to where we are today as well as the significance of this milestone and what it all means going forward.
The basis and recognition of any profession starts with education and this indeed was the focus in the early years of BIFM and its predecessors the IFM and AFM. This fact was also recently recognised as demonstrated through the recent Global FM International Workshop held alongside the BIFM National Conference in Oxford in March on the topic of Education. When facilities management associations were polled as to what their top priorities were in terms of facilities management developing as a profession, education was the number 1 ‘hot topic’. The BIFM in its early years therefore quite rightly focused upon the development a solid foundation the product of which was the BIFM Qualification and the associated competencies. In many respects the BIFM has led the way within the UK, and farther afield, in this regard but of course it had to also focus on a number of other such initiatives to substantiate the importance and value of facilities management to the economy as a whole.
Over the period since 1993 a considerable number of initiatives have been developed in order to further the understanding and awareness of what we do and the potential we offer as a distinct professional discipline. Other similar initiatives included the accreditation scheme with all of the UK Universities offering facilities management degrees or modules; our involvement and the development of the facilities management perspective via Asset Skills and the work that is being done to develop a structured approach to vocational skills; the involvement and contribution towards the development of British and European Standards in facilities management in order that within Europe at least we try to utilise a common understanding if not a common language; our involvement and contribution towards the development of facilities management within organisations such as Euro FM and Global FM; and the ongoing restatement and alignment of the BIFM Qualification and competencies; to name but a few.
One additional area which the BIFM Board considered to be important was to gain Government recognition of our role as a professional discipline through the establishment of a SIC Code for facilities management. A major revision of the UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities was announced in 2002, being due for completion in 2008, and it was therefore decided to take advantage of the revision and as a result BIFM entered into discussions with the ONS to do so.
A Standard Industrial Classification was first introduced into the United Kingdom in 1948 for use in classifying business establishments and other statistical units by the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. ONS gather statistics from all employers to capture vital information regarding working patterns in the UK and what SIC codes categories workers fall under. This essential data is issued by ONS to government to help the planning of the economy and tracking of social trends.
The United Kingdom SIC is used to classify business establishments and other standard units by the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. It provides a framework for the collection, tabulation, presentation and analysis of data and its use promotes uniformity. In addition, it can be used for administrative purposes and by non-government bodies as a convenient way of classifying industrial activities into a common structure.
Without this code ONS firstly does not recognise that you exist (as a distinct discipline) and therefore cannot provide Government or any other interested party with data associated with the sector.
The system is identical to the EUROSTAT System NACE at the four digit class level and the United Nations system ISIC at the two digit Divisional level.
The BIFM Executive, led by CEO Ian Fielder, met with the ONS and submitted a proposal, working closely with the Asset Skills Council to influence the revision of the SIC and to include reference to facilities management. Following many meetings and revisions they were successful in persuading ONS to introduce a new facilities management class, 81.10. This class is described as follows:
81.10 Combined facilities support activities
This class includes the provision of a combination of support services within a client’s facilities. These services include general interior cleaning, maintenance, trash disposal, guard and security, mail routing, reception, laundry and related services to support operations within facilities. These support activities are performed by operating staff who are not involved with or responsible for the core business or activities of the client.
Whilst such definitions will always be potentially flawed, depending upon which perspective you view them, the fact that such a classification exists is significant. As a discipline and a sector we now officially exist! Because we now officially exist we have an opportunity to record the fact that as a sector we have a considerable part to play in the success and efficiency of the health and wellbeing of the UK economy. The fact that we now exist in a similar context within Europe equally offers advantages in terms of any measurement and communication at this level.
BIFM is delighted, along with the Asset Skills Council, that facilities management has been recognised and the use of SIC code 81.10 will help gather accurate information that can be used across the sector.
It is interesting to note that to achieve such recognition, which is arguably critical for the future of facilities management as a profession, it is important that we are involved with the development of facilities management in all its facets and that we recognise that to ultimately succeed your Board in BIFM has recognised the importance of engaging with the community as whole across all boundaries within the UK and Internationally.
Some examples of the benefits of such a strategy can be illustrated by two specific developments:
1. CEN TC 348 is the facilities management standards committee that operates across Europe working on the development of European standards. When accepted through this committee they become BS Standards and are applicable across all counties in the EU plus some others.
During the discussions with ONS to achieve the SIC code one direct influence on them was the fact that we already had two standards in facilities management that were recognised across Europe i.e. BS EN 15221-1 Terms and Definitions and BS EN 15221-2 Guidance on How to Prepare Facility Management Agreements. This demonstrates the indirect ‘value’ that can be achieved through such initiatives.
2. One of the many strengths of BIFM has been its examinations and qualification process which has continued to attract a growing number of candidates year on year and is greatly respected throughout the world. The BIFM Board recently endorsed, through its Medium Term Business Strategy an application to gain recognition by the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) as an Awarding Body. The QCA is responsible for the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) which sets out the levels at which qualifications can be recognised within the UK.
BIFM has commenced the development of entry level qualification through its partnership with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). It is also working with Asset Skills to develop the new Schools Diploma programme aimed to bridge the gap between vocational and academic qualifications focused upon children aged 14 to 19. They will be able to take specific subjects, including a Diploma in the Built Environment which will be launched in September 2008.
A complete pathway for the FM career professional is no longer a dream but a reality and can be achieved through a complete blend of knowledge and experience in facilities management, and through the achievement of the SIC code such career prospects will become increasingly recognised.
All these initiatives represents an incremental step to the overall recognition by Industry, Commerce and Government that facilities management not only exists but has a significant part to play in the overall effectiveness of our economy and the resultant GDP of the UK.
We have come a long way since the humble beginnings of BIFM in 1993 and achieved much. To those who have contributed to our development on the journey a hearty congratulations and well done!
Stan Mitchell CEO Key Facilities Management stan.mitchell@keyfm.co.uk
Stan Mitchell is a Past Chair of the British Institute of Facilities Management and Global Facility Management Association. He is the current UK Committee representative on the CEN TC 348 Technical Committee developing the European Standards.
This paper was published in the April 2008 issue of FM World magazine.
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