The last few months have been strenuous and testing, with the global emergence of the COVID-19 crisis. As of now we are almost certain that we need to manage COVID-19 in times to come. With new challenges there are also newer opportunities in the “new norm”. The difference lies in how quickly we adapt to the new normal.
Though Facility Management began as outsourcing of non-core activities such as electrical, plumbing, cleaning, housekeeping to the service vendors by the offices, with the advent of smart and intelligent buildings and redefined working environments, facility management has become more technology driven. The developments in technology is pushing people to move towards adopting professional facility management services.
The approach of the service provider has also undergone changes . Initially it started off as ensuring manpower availability for the requirement, establishing operational standards , then moved on to service level based agreements with emphasis on Preventive maintenance. But now with CMMS, IoT & data analytics it is moving from Preventive to Predictive maintenance and Asset Performance metrics.
For many years Facilities Management has taken a physical approach to delivery. But now focus has turned increasingly to productivity, health and well-being of employees and occupants and improving the quality of life in a bid to bring further commercial benefits to organisations.Well-managed and periodically-maintained facilities empower organisations to function at their most efficient and effective level, aiding collaboration between end users and offering real added value . These benefits encompass various areas, including building maintenance, safety and sustainability.
Facility Management combined with digitalisation means an increase in productivity while tracking and assigning maintenance requests have become simpler tasks and can be tracked in real time.
Energy saving and sustainability can be translated into reduced costs and improved savings which will show an immediate return on the investment FM services with mandatory safety audits, and timely maintenance can help eliminate the pending risk from ageing utilities such as electrical and mechanical systems improving up-time & productivity.
Integrated Facility Management systems aide in collating data and information from various systems, to analyse , assimilate and introduce business best practices at their facilities, which adds value over and above Facility Management services for end users and clients alike.
Facility Management can also remove irritants such as noise pollution, poor indoor air quality in conditioned environment, which arise from poorly maintained equipment and systems. This can have a considerable influence in improving the quality of work generated at workplaces. A 2017 survey by RICS identified that over half of those
questioned said that improvements to workplace environments have a positive effect on employees. The study also finds that an effective work environment can boost productivity up by 3.5%.FM amplifies the efficiency and social interaction in daily tasks. Professional maintenance ensures good coordination of support services and systems.
Facility Management can no longer be seen as an overhead cost, but as a business investment that boosts productivity and positively impacts the growth trajectory of a business.
