Where is Facilities Management Headed in 2019?

When we boil the main facility management challenges down, I see a couple of common themes: we’re all faced with doing more with less, fewer staff, less budget for R&M and the brain drain. Our workforce is aging out of the workplace and not being replaced with staff with the same level of experience. We often find ourselves chasing our own tails as consequence, being reactive rather than planned, which despite all of the research on how planned maintenance is better for your facility, still seems to be the prevalent approach.  

A New Model

There are now a vast array of cloud based applications available for you to choose from and to suit your specific needs. Gone are the days when you had to buy an entire application, only for you to use a module or two, and upgrades are only available if you pay for them! The SaaS (Software as a Service) model means you pay for what you need and pay as you grow. As an example, you can get into some nice CMMS applications for just a few bucks a month. The SaaS model also offers additional benefits such as  automatically applied upgrades. Your SaaS supplier is also responsible for the IT infrastructure, leaving you and your IT team with fewer headaches.

A Changing Workforce

So, let’s address the brain drain I mentioned earlier. All building owners and facility managers are faced with determining how to continually do “more with less” as building operating staffing has decreased by an average of 30 to 75 percent over the past 10 years in most commercial and institutional buildings. In addition the workforce is aging and we’re losing significant expertise and experience from the workplace, about 20% of the workforce is at least 55 years old and their skill set isn’t being replaced.

“The Jack of All Trades guy is getting older and is being replaced by the Game Boy Generation, which means they know computers but do not comprehend how such things as pumps and piping work.”

– Utility Manager

The days of trade schools and apprenticeship programs were missing from our economy for many years; thankfully they do seem to be making a comeback but not soon enough and in enough quantity to close the growing skills gap.

Work place digitization and IOT is becoming mainstream in the facility management space and we need to consider new ways of thinking about technology and as important, how can technology help fill the knowledge gap. We need to embed the knowledge workers need to do their job into software systems, have them provide actionable intelligence into their decision making capabilities.

One of my favorite quotes comes from Mike Miselowski and it’s very applicable given this topic.

“The 2020 workplace will need to be adept at uniting a physically – present tribe of employees with a tribe of offsite, and often transient, staff. The latter will be specifically chosen for their ability to add value to the task or project, regardless of where they are on the globe.”

– Mike Miselowski

 

To summarize, with the advent of the IoT, we are able to utilize remote “experts” more readily and on-demand. Our facilities generate vast amount of data and the use of big data analytics in real estate is crucial to the maintenance and efficient operation of a facility, especially when you consider the majority of small to medium buildings simply can’t afford to have someone on staff that is well versed in HVAC for example.

Here are a few examples of how IoT technology is transforming the modern facility management team.

IoT is reshaping the operation of HVAC systems. Today, cloud-based analytics can monitor operations, capture trends, and optimize plant settings, while a connection to the utility and weather systems enables demand response, real time pricing HVAC controls and the optimization of building systems based on predictive weather conditions.

Utilizing IoT also helps with breakdown costs, when you have a breakdown necessitating a technician call out. Due to remote diagnostics, they arrive at your facility knowing what the fault is likely to be and with the spare parts on their truck. This benefits you in terms of lower costs and your equipment is back up and operating sooner. Sensors on trash cans, towel and soap dispensers mean janitorial staff know what they need to do on their rounds and don’t waste time looking at items which don’t need attention.

The IoT is also helping to drive occupant comfort, which of course drives productivity. Smart phones apps can be used to alter space temperatures, mood lighting, blinds or electrochromic glazing, providing the occupant with the send that they are in control.

Any facility can make use of the IoT, secure gateways can be added at little cost to make data available to cloud applications with an added benefit that these gateways are often multi protocol. Multiple on-site systems can share data between themselves and break down those inherent data silos, facilitating more advanced and efficient operations.

In the coming years, the IoT will become the norm, instead of the exception in facility management. You can easily start small and at low cost, NOW is the time to start your facilities transition to the digital age.