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Guest Article
How
Technology is Re-engineering FM Processes
A Visual Information System can Transform FM to Better
Serve the Business Mission
A special supplement to
Facilities Design &
Management Magazine
sponsored by an educational grant from
Aperture Technologies, Inc.
Take a close look at your organization. Are your FM processes up to the challenge of global competition? If your FM activities aren’t running perfectly, then your existing processes may not be working as well as they should. It’s likely they need to be examined and re-engineered.
Applying today’s technologies properly can transform a process that causes you angst to a process that makes you a hero. Global competition demands near perfection of an organization’s products and services. It also demands perfection from its facility management operations.
One FM recently described his organization’s space configuration process as a “nightmare”. Another said his company’s quarterly chargeback process used to take more than three months to prepare. Both used computer and network technologies to re-engineer their respective firms’ processes. As a result, they have become strategic players within their organizations.
Consider a well-designed automobile assembly line: Everything runs like clockwork along an immaculate, organized path. Parts are delivered at precisely the right moment to precisely the right place so a perfect product drops off the end of the assembly line. Not just once, but time after time.
This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because every aspect of the process has been examined and designed to work flawlessly.
Now imagine a well-designed FM department where all processes also run like clockwork: Space needs are always forecasted accurately for the entire organization. New space is always ready when new hires arrive. Resources are always available “just-in-time” to meet business managers’ changing demands.
In a smooth running organization, maintenance and repairs are tackled in a timely manner. Chargeback reports are always accurate and on time, and management information is always available when requested.
This isn’t a dream. The vision of having all facilities resources available to you at your fingertips can be a reality. Whenever you need a current floorplan, a list of occupants or resources, you can access it instantly and accurately.
Extend the vision one step further by seizing the ability to communicate this pertinent information to business managers in a form they can grasp and analyze immediately. You don’t have to pinch yourself. It can happen at your company. It’s not a dream.
Can your FM department run like this? If you don’t examine and re-engineer your FM processes, then the answer will be “probably not.”
So, how do you know what to do? There’s no set formula designed to tell you a system makeover is needed, but you’ll know it when you see it. Failing processes have distinct, recognizable symptoms:
Projects run slowly.
Things seem to be more difficult than they should be.
Pulling together information requested by management is a disruption.
Getting management to make key decisions seems to take forever.
Too many projects require re-work.
Move-ins don’t go as smoothly as you would like.
Your customers are “impatient” with your department.
While the immediate reaction to process disintegration tends to be “we need more people,” hold off on the hiring and do a quick assessment of your organization. It’s more than likely the problem can be found in the processes already in place.
When you re-engineer a process, you’re seeking to minimize the number of transactions it takes to get something accomplished. Doing this eliminates unnecessary transactions between people and accomplishes others in just one exchange.
Think about how e-mail has totally re-engineered the process of communicating. In the past a message was handwritten or dictated. It was then typed, edited, retyped, copied, addressed, and mailed or delivered to each recipient.
Now we can write messages in a form that can be easily manipulated. It is just as easy to send the message to a group as it is to an individual, and it can be sent and received instantly. The steps of handwriting, dictating, editing, retyping, copying, mailing and delivery have been eliminated.
By changing the process, e-mail has made communication dramatically more efficient. The same dramatic changes can be applied to your FM processes.
The value of making these processes work more effectively and efficiently reach far beyond the direct cost savings that could likely occur within the FM department. The parts of the organization impacted by an inefficient process now get what they need when they need it, enabling them to fulfill their business missions. This increases the entire organization’s competitive ranking in the global marketplace because better decisions are made and things happen faster.
Out of all the diverse activities FMs oversee each day, space management stands out as one of the most crucial in terms of positive re-engineering.
Modern organizations run somewhat like a factory assembly line. Space is the raw material that keeps things moving. It must be reconfigured to meet the changing needs of its occupants. Additional space must be delivered on time to match the growth needs of the business. The lack of space should never hold up the execution of business objectives. An excess of space, however, is a waste of money.
FMs walk a fine line. Managing space requires short-, intermediate-, and long-term planning and processes that support efficient decision making and execution.
For the short- and intermediate-term, it is critical to keep space working optimally for its occupants. This includes assigning offices to new employees, moving people, reconfiguring space to accommodate business requirements, producing accurate charge-back reports, and keeping everything in good working order.
While the space management process seems straightforward, it’s actually quite complex. You need to assemble a great deal of diverse information then communicate it and evaluate it. Many decisions must be made. Numerous activities must be coordinated. It’s no wonder this process rarely runs smoothly.
Many times when a space request reaches the FM department, it already has passed the point where FM can satisfy the need in a timely manner. A slow, inefficient space management process will only make matters worse.
Space requests trigger a process that includes a series of planning sessions with the requesting business manager. To prepare for the meeting, the FM will typically:
Gather information from various sources concerning the people, furniture, network communications, and special requests involved in the move.
Request or print CAD drawings of the affected areas.
Walk the space to see what actually exists and has to make adjustments to the CAD drawings.
Marks information and changes directly onto the CAD drawing (crossing out walls, writing in people names, department names and floor areas) to reflect the proposed changes that satisfy the space request.
Presents the marked-up CAD drawings to the business manager who is unable to understand the hand-drawn “blueprint” presented.
Spends time going between the business manager and the CAD operations as the drawings get closer and closer to a workable solution.
As this occurs the requirements usually change, requiring still more interactions. And, as you may have guessed, the process isn’t problem free. Stumbling blocks occur when the FM:
Doesn’t know when people are being hired.
Doesn’t know when departments will run out of space.
Can’t determine where space exists in order to figure out where to put new employees.
Spends too much time gathering data about who is involved in the change, what levels they are at, what furniture and network connections are needed, and if there are any special requirements.
Relies on CAD-based construction drawings that rarely show the detail required for effective space management, such as actual space use, current occupants, network services present, security arrangements, etc.
Presents plans to business managers using CAD drawings that are hard or even impossible for the business manager to understand, particularly if there are hand-drawn changes.
Finds it difficult to co-ordinate the requirements of different department managers in order to effectively lay out and outfit each space.
These, however, are not insurmountable problems. All can be addressed with re-engineering and the proper application of technology.
Imagine a space management process that not only minimized the number of transactions but also one where all the steps happened smoothly! This process would be defined by three major capabilities of the FM:
The ability to provide accurate, timely information on all facilities resources
The ability to clearly communicate ideas and proposals to business managers
The ability to communicate quickly and concisely with service providers who need to set up the space.
An efficient process starts with an accurate up-to-date base of information. If the database is not kept current, information will need to be gathered every time a change is considered. This will build up, causing delays and confusion. Eventually, the process will break down.
The information system is the heart of the process, but it is not a silver bullet. The system provides a structure for FM to succeed, but in order to achieve success the FM organization needs to make commitments to success.
First, FM itself must own and operate the system.
It is critical that the FM organization controls all aspects of the system. It can’t afford to rely on anyone else to do this for them. FM owns the process, so FM should own the system.
For example, a company’s CFO has announced that a new formula must be used to determine departmental chargebacks. FM must respond to this directive. It can do so quickly when it has its own system and, thus, the ability to make the change in the system.
FM cannot rely on an MIS department, an outside consultant, or even a software vendor to keep the system operational. FM must choose a user-friendly system that its staff can maintain and manage within their own department. It should not be one designed for CAD professionals, architects, engineers, or database administrators. It must specifically take into consideration the needs and functions of the FM organization.
Second, FM must organize and take responsibility for keeping the data current.
Processes can be streamlined by tracking space needs and uses with up-to-date space management drawings and data.
For example, it is FM’s responsibility to insure that all workers are included in the system. This includes employees (both onsite and offsite), temps, consultants, and contractors. It is not enough to tie the system to a human resource system since the HR system knows nothing about onsite contractors and consultants.
The FM department cannot rely on the CAD or engineering department or outside consultants to keep this information up-to-date. If it does, delays and slow turnaround of information when decisions need to be made will certainly occur. Additionally, the information will not be formatted effectively for good management decisions.
This doesn’t preclude CAD or engineering from having an important role in facilities planning. It means these departments do the work they are best suited to do -- creating specification, design, and construction drawings. CAD and engineering don’t know who occupies the space, nor do they understand your customer’s needs. You shouldn’t expect them to be responsible for maintaining space management drawings or providing information for planning decisions. That’s FM’s job.
Third, an effective FM must present information in a way that business managers can grasp quickly.
Business managers don’t have time to worry about space needs. That’s FM’s job. They expect that FM will clearly communicate space proposals back to them in a way that is easily understood. Business managers do not know how to read or interpret blueprints and CAD drawings. In most cases, it’s not necessary, especially if FM is doing its job efficiently.
If information is presented using blueprints or CAD drawings, then the process will require an interpretation step. This wastes time. If the information, instead, is presented in colorful and clearly labeled drawings, business managers can quickly understand the proposal. The business managers and FM can then become a team for solving space requirements, leading to fast customer buy-in.
While there have been attempts in the past 20 years to automate facilities information, only recently have a number of factors allowed such technology to become successful in practice.
These factors include powerful desktop computers with high-resolution graphics; user-friendly, feature-rich software that permits FM administrators to get the job done properly; and a common method (web browsers) for anyone to access drawings and data using intranets.
In the past, computer-based solutions tried to tie existing CAD products to database systems. Because these products weren’t FM-driven (nor were they necessarily “database friendly”), they often required the support of MIS or an outside consulting organization to perform software customization, administration, and modification. And these CAD-based products also required a CAD specialist to make all graphic changes. The results usually fell far short of needs and expectations.
The latest improvements in technology have given birth to new software systems - visual information systems - that can be used directly by FM without reliance on CAD departments or MIS personnel. Because FM personnel maintain these systems, the time to make changes decreases along with the affiliated costs of those changes.
In a visual information system an easy-to-use drawing system is combined with database management. Objects in a drawing are tightly integrated with the data that describes them. The integration is so tight that variances in data values can change the way the object appears on a drawing. For example, offices can be color-coded based on department assignment or by occupancy.
This new approach to space management allows FMs and business managers to visualize new ways to get the most out of existing space using meaningful graphics and data designed to communicate information to executive and department managers. As a result, alternative proposals can be quickly communicated and easily understood by all.
In developing an alternative, FM and business managers can move people and furniture configurations on the drawings. This can even be done during planning sessions to see the effect immediately—leaving little open to interpretation down the road.
Many FMs assume they can accomplish this with CAD drawings. But CAD was designed for people who design things to convey specifications to people who build things. It’s great for architects and engineers to create construction drawings for contractors to use in estimating and construction. But CAD falls far short in conveying easily understood, actionable, management information. It is like using a spreadsheet to do the work of a word processor; it can be done, but the results will fall short of expectations.
CAD floor plans do have an important place in the process. They form the basis of a visual information system. This system adds intelligence to CAD drawings with a database that describes the objects in the drawings. The original CAD “base-plan” drawings become reference drawings. Any change is reflected immediately – and automatically – in the visual information system.
Surprisingly, a visual information system is also the best way to communicate with architects and outside contractors —the very people who rely so heavily on CAD to perform their duties. The clear visual information conveys the purpose of each and every proposed space, an invaluable tool for professional designers, contractors, furniture dealers, network installers, and electrical technicians. Such a system can help contractors do their work faster, with no misunderstanding or miscommunication.
Maintaining a current data and drawing database has many ancillary benefits. For instance, departmental chargeback reports can be produced at any time. Because data is always current and accurate, the streamlined chargeback process includes only the amount of time required to print the report. In fact, browser and Intranet technology eliminate the need to even print the report. Business managers can see their current space charges any time they wish online in real time.
When it comes to maintaining the space, a visual information system simplifies specification of materials needed for routine repairs. Every object in a drawing has specific data associated with it. Unique information about equipment and systems, such as manufacturer, model number, installation date, and warranty, can help in both repairs and preventive maintenance because it is easy to “see” where the maintenance will be performed.
Other departments can also use visual information systems. Data communications, security, electrical, and mechanical, for example, can simply tap into the system and add their “area of interest” objects on new drawing layers. Managers can also track building contents like PCs, printers, copiers, telephones, and mechanical equipment with ease.
Consequently, organizations can deploy a visual information system as an enterprise solution that coordinates all facilities and technology infrastructure into one system. This enables everyone who maintains part of the infrastructure to see – and better understand – the plans made by other members of the infrastructure team.
At one well-known Fortune 100 corporation, the FM department manages 8 million square feet of space, housed throughout 40 buildings in a campus environment.
In the days before installing a visual information system, staffers described their space reconfiguration process as a “nightmare”. Using hand-rendered changes on CAD drawings, they simply could not communicate reconfiguration plans clearly to business managers. There was little customer agreement because the customer couldn’t understand the impact of the recommended changes. Additionally, the turnaround of CAD updates resulted in too much time between planning meetings.
Installation of a visual information system solved the crisis. In five months, the department had more than half the campus up and running on the system. Today all 8 million square feet is operational in a system that is entirely maintained by FM.
The company’s FM process focuses around “building managers” who oversee space maintenance and reconfiguration for a specific portion of the campus. Each manager taps into the visual information system to plan changes and maintain his or her portion of the system.
When they prepare for planning meetings and other related activities, the building managers distribute colorful drawings that clearly show how each space is to be used. They even make last minute changes to drawings and data during the planning sessions with business managers. This enables decisions to be made rapidly and creates strong customer buy-in.
Thanks to the successful implementation of a visual information system, the FM department’s reputation has changed from being an information bottleneck to one of a strategic department that efficiently meets the challenges facing the business.
The Real Estate department for a large computer manufacturer tracks 300 facilities that comprise 4.5 million square feet. The department is responsible for providing business managers with chargeback information.
In the past the staff used CAD drawings and hand wrote pertinent information into each office space in the drawings, including the occupant’s name, the department in which the office was located and the total square footage.
Such data was entered into the CAD system and then “extracted” as a file. The business managers then reviewed and verified this data and then sent it to IT for validation and compilation. If a name had been misspelled or had been entered wrong, or a department designation had changed, the data would be rejected.
Completing such a lengthy process took 40 people half of their work time and cost the organization more than $1 million annually to produce. The reporting cycle took over three months to complete, only to have the chargeback information challenged by many business managers who found errors in the data.
To make matters worse, the business managers wanted to receive accurate chargeback information quarterly, rather than annually. Obviously, this was impossible since the reporting process itself took longer than the desired reporting cycle!
They needed a system that would retain one central repository for all facilities information; a system that could be used by everyone in FM. And most importantly, one that was easy to learn and use.
A visual information system offered the business and facility managers a workable solution. Seven “zone” managers use the system to maintain the drawings for all 300 locations, streamlining the process and eliminating administrative clutter.
The system restored the integrity of the reporting process. Because the company now has accurate quarterly reports produced, it has saved upward of $1 million a year in direct costs to produce the reports. By empowering zone managers with a visual information system that they can use to track personnel moves, the way FM is viewed in the corporation has improved dramatically.
The
success of a visual information system is nearly insured when you have the
backing and commitment of your executive management. Receiving this commitment
is contingent on a favorable return on investment (ROI).
The ROI for implementing a new process is hinged on three questions:
Who is impacted?
How are they impacted?
What is the cost of the impact?
Give the "who" question a lot of thought, and you'll soon see how spearheading a re-engineered, efficient FM process makes you a financial asset to your organization.
Let's take our first example where space planning was a "nightmare." Who was impacted? Certainly the business manager who made the request. Also the people directly affected by the request. How are they impacted? The delays may cause them all to spend too much time with the space change, reducing their productivity.
What is the cost of the impact? Multiply the number of days lost by what each employee is supposed to contribute, times the number of employees that are moved each year. If the employees produce revenue, such as sales people, the number could be staggering.
This could have a large negative impact on the organization’s financial results and it's ability to compete!
This "nightmare" process can easily cost the organization millions a year and be the source of lower employee morale and lower employee productivity. You now can see how this "nightmare" process negatively affects earnings and hence the CFO, the COO, and even the CEO!
Or, what about our chargeback example? Business managers need to control their resources. But, if they don't receive accurate chargeback reports on a timely basis, then they can't control one of their largest budget items. They feel out of control and frustrated, which affects their ability to manage their other resources. This leads to a negative effect on corporate operations and on financial results. Again the CFO, COO, and CEO are affected, not to mention every department and manager between you and the CEO!
Thanks to this newest form of computer-assisted facility management, FMs can make a difference in an organization providing pertinent information quickly and effectively to all customers.
Best of all, they finally know they are making a difference to the organization. This, in turn, raises the esteem of the entire FM department. Moreover, senior executives begin to view the FM organization as more professional since they now see how it contributes to the business mission.
A visual information system can help you to re–engineer your FM processes. It places ownership for space planning in your department’s hands, helping you reduce your dependency on expensive consultants, streamline the planning process, and communicate more effectively with business managers. This can lead to strong decisions.
The direct and indirect cost savings associated with re–engineering the space management process can be dramatic. Obviously, cost savings will vary by organization, but the principles reviewed here can be applied to any organization.
Re-engineering the FM process can bring dramatic bottom line results and transform FM into a strategic player. The key is quickly providing executives and department managers with the information they need-- in a format they can understand-- so facility decisions can be made faster and more effectively. Armed with the power of this latest technology, members of the FM department will become strategic players, raising their esteem in the eyes of management and peers.
The Characteristics of a visual information systemDesigned to be used by FM
Does not require professional programmers to customize or modify. Facilities staff can modify the system to meet the organization’s changing needs.
Easy to use drawing system, so FM can make changes directly without requiring CAD operators.
Allows FM to tie drawings and data together.
Easy to access and navigate through drawings and data.
Built in report writer, so FM can create or modify reports.
Ability to run reports against objects in drawings by highlighting objects.
Ability to run reports against one or more drawing.
Ability to move objects from one space to another and have the database automatically be updated.
Ability to easily access and update data in industry standard databases.
Ability to access drawings and data live over the organization’s Intranet using a Web browser.
Ability to access drawings and data in a client server environment.
Ability to control access to drawings on a layer by layer basis so different groups can work on the same set of drawings.
Ability to easily integrate with other applications, such as Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) or bar-code systems.
Designed to be an information system
Friendly, easy to understand graphics.
Ability to instantly color-code drawings based on data.
Ability to change text on drawings as underlying database information changes.
Provides information in a form that is clear and understandable to management.
Ability to progressively disclose layers of information.
Ability to find personnel and equipment easily, no matter what drawing they are in, over the organization’s Intranet.
Ability to customize the application by placing buttons on the drawings that automatically perform pre-defined functions, such as running reports.
Aperture Technologies, Inc. delivers visual information solutions that help organizations around the world manage their facilities and technology infrastructure more effectively. From needs analysis, to software and customization, to implementation and training, Aperture provides total solutions directly and through an extensive business partner network.
The information in this white paper comes directly from in-depth interviews with several Fortune 500 class organizations who use Aperture regularly to manage their facilities infrastructure.
For more information about re-engineering your FM processes contact -
Aperture
Technologies, Inc.
9 Riverbend Drive South
Stamford, CT 06907
203-357-0800
www.aperture.com
Jeffrey S. Weil,
MCRS.h, CCIM, SIOR, Vice President
COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL
1850 Mt. Diablo Blvd. Suite 200, Walnut Creek, CA
94596
Phone: 925.279.5590 Fax: 925.279.0450
Email: jweil@colliersparrish.com website: www.officetimes.com