I recently had a chance to talk about space planning with David Spence from OfficeSpace at The Facilities Management Show in the UK where I was an invited speaker. His experience confirmed my own observations – I see that for many companies, space planning in Facility Management hasn’t progressed much beyond the manual process I…
DetailsIt isn’t your mother’s CMMS. These days, CMMS isn’t simply a computerized maintenance management system meant to replace a paper based planning and work order system. Modern systems include both preventive and corrective / demand based maintenance and requests received from occupants on a variety of maintenance and service issues. They are flexible, adaptable, easy…
DetailsI’m getting more and more frustrated with the acronyms in use in our industry to deal with Facility Management computerized systems. Yes, I you read that right. I used a non-acronym to describe the other acronyms, and you know what, you probably knew exactly what I meant. How about simply using a general yet descriptive…
DetailsGetting your senior management to approve implementing a system is tough, whether it’s Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) or a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). To start, they may not understand the Facilities Management function and it’s importance, so they may not recognize the benefits of having a system. Rather than trying to focus on…
DetailsIn 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…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsManaging 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…
DetailsI’m constantly surprised when I talk to FM professionals who haven’t implemented an FM system to manage their responsibilities, whether it’s CMMS, CAFM, IWMS or other systems for managing processes, space or maintenance. Having started my career over 20 years ago at a company who had an FM system back then, to not have an…
DetailsI continue to talk to senior FM managers who have computerized maintenance management systems such as CAFM or CMMS installed – often installed before they arrived on the job – and they know they aren’t being used the way they are supposed to be used, if at all. Their organizations are sold on the systems…
DetailsThere are certain realities with implementing an IWMS / CAFM / CMMS system. I find that the right process is critical to success and is often overlooked. Here is what I recommend in a nutshell:
