Capital funding is always an issue in facilities, with Facility managers constantly fighting for replacement and renewal funding for their buildings, competing for funds needed elsewhere within the company. I’ve seen many FM’s struggle at this, yet I have seen it being done by others with great success. I worked with a charity to set…
Failure isn’t an option when managing critical facilities. Preventing failure is one of your primary responsibilities, which you ensure with a robust design, plenty of backup systems and extremely well managed operations. This applies to obvious facilities such as data centers, but also to facilities such as manufacturing, hospitals and other high reliability operations. Managing…
The introduction of space planning strategies such as open plan workspace, modular cubicles, reduction of enclosed offices and hotelling were designed to save costs, both on the space and the inevitable churn. In an effort to sell these concepts to the corporations and their workers, they came with the promise of improved productivity. This productivity…
Webinar originally held live March 28, 2012. Duration: 30 Minutes. Lifecycle costing analysis is a decision making tool Facility Managers should use, but seldom do. It’s actually a lot easier to do than many think. Forget about the long, tedious, technical and financial explanations and examples you’ve seen in textbooks. This webinar will show you…
A while back, when I was managing a large telecommunications portfolio, I got a call from a very irate customer – a senior manager in the company. It seems there was a large puddle of dried paint on the walkway leading to the front door of the building he worked in. That’s bad enough. But…
Managing facilities often includes managing the physical assets. But getting into a system is often daunting, particularly for smaller portfolios. Unfortunately, without a way to manage the assets, you won’t have the information you need to make decisions about repair vs replace or information to justify your budget requirements. You are also much more likely…
In my Webinar on Information Based Decisions (see the link below), I spoke about getting and using information for your benefit. While you need an FM system and should work towards getting approval and implementing one, if you already have one, the question is whether you use it for information, not just process management. Whether…
The best way for Facility Managers to get ahead is to keep on top of the latest issues, solutions, technologies and processes. The internet has made it much easier to access information, with the availability of content from magazines, online portals and blogs. But finding good resources isn’t always easy, since the internet can be…
I recently visited a facility for a meeting and my experience demonstrated why you need a good capital plan and adequate funding. At the facility, I had to park in their multi-level above ground parking facility, which was really the only choice unless you wanted a long walk. It was so busy, I ended up…