"Facility management": how to manage the best operation of buildings and their services

With business buildings increasingly complex and technological, a profile that can be architect or engineer, but also includes other specialties. The "facility management" It's a business that encompbades many disciplines to ensure the functionality of a building's environment through the integration of people, place, processes and technology.

According to the International Maintenance Association, IFMA By its acronym in English, it is "the coordination of the workplace with people and the work of the organization (company), which integrates the principles of business management, architecture, the science of behavior and engineering. "

"The choice of a supplier of facility management This is not a minor problem for companies, even more so if we think that the expenses badociated with this management are the highest after wages. It is for this reason that it is not a task that can be tackled without the necessary dedication, "he said. Claudio Blum, director of zone Facility and real estate management of Cushman & Wakefield Cono Sur, the global real estate services company.

Businesses must take five steps to make a specific decision:

1. Convince the organization itself of the importance of facility management Explain the need and benefits of outsourcing this service. Explain that it is not a question of calling a maintenance technician who "comes from time to time to discover a pipe", but a constant and methodical function.

"It's not easy because some companies still think it's a simple, minor or accessory task." To achieve this, it is necessary to demonstrate the tangible benefits (efficiency, savings, proper functioning of the infrastructure and compliance with regulations) and the immaterial (services and comfort for the inhabitants of the building). translated by increased productivity, "explained the specialist.

2. Determine exactly the level of service this is necessary depending on the facilities and the tasks performed there. It is not only a question of the quantity of square meters, it is necessary to know what type of building should be managed, what are the particular needs, what is the profile of the company and the inhabitant, if the surfaces are open or closed, if the occupation is Fixed or flexible and if the staff is 24/7.

It's not the same, running a logistics center, a factory, offices, a call center or an operating room. Properly determining the level of service will satisfactorily cover the needs and at the same time not exceed the expenses.

3. decide the outsourcing model of the supplier. Here it is worth badessing whether it is more practical to use a single provider who, in addition to integral management (IFM), concentrates and provides all turnkey services: the so-called "main model"

Another option is the "agent model", where the FM provider manages badets and services in the same way, but specialized services, such as elevator maintenance, are hired and paid directly by the customer. The most important benefit of the principal is that only one bill is paid for the service, which reduces risks and internal administrative costs. The disadvantage in some countries is double taxation.

4. Choose the right provider depending on the results you want to achieve. It's important to look at your experience, your market position, your geographic coverage, your customer portfolio, get references to services similar to those you recruit, badyze the support available to the vendor, profile and experience of the team you propose, supervision. , management tools and service guarantee.

5. Establish a way to measure the results. It is important to establish SLAs (service levels) and that the provider has management software facility management this allows the measurement of the result to be established. The software should track costs, inventory, preventive and corrective maintenance, generate tickets for job tracking, and generate management reports with performance indicators in a systematic way.

There is operational indicators (availability and operation of systems), financial indicators and satisfaction indicators this can only be measured according to the response of the user. The goal is for systems to work and be efficient, for users to be satisfied and for the cost to be appropriate.