Facilities Managers today have far greater opportunity to add value to their organisation and client through efficient management and strategic planning. Increasingly, we are seeing facilities management professionals given a seat at the executive table when business models and strategies are formulated. This has not always been the case and in the past FM activities were viewed as a business cost rather than adding business value. A key driver of this change has been technology and software platforms which allow FMs to present information in a strategic way to business leaders and decision makers. The utilisation of software packages has evolved rapidly over the last several years and integrated facilities management systems and building information modelling (BIM) will continue to be buzz words in the FM space.
The backbone, and indeed the strength or weakness of any facilities management software package is the information fed into it. A common problem faced by Facilities Managers is inaccurate or incomplete asset registers. With increasing demand for facilities management to be more strategic, appropriately managed asset registers are an invaluable source of information. It could be argued that a well-maintained asset register is the bedrock on which a quality total asset management process is built and further developed. The challenge for FM professionals is ensuring they are always working from “one version of the truth”.
Key information which feed into an asset register and link to facilities management strategy plans are as follows.
An example of the useful information captured in asset registers which shape FM decisions are.
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Analysing requirements – It is important to understand the needs of the client and what information is required. Collecting data can be very expensive and a drain on limited resources. Facilities Managers must determine the right balance on what information is really needed and is likely to provide real value to the client. As a guide there are three general data sets required as a basis for an asset register.
Developing solutions – Finding the best options, what are the appropriate technologies, data collection and storage methods, ease of operator use, ongoing system maintenance and cost.
Plan the asset register – An asset register can be in several different models, formats and asset hierarchy depending on requirements.
Implementing the register and solutions – Despite a strong focus on analysis, development and planning, implementation is where it can fall down if not done well.
Monitor and continuous improvement – Implement a continuous improvement process to ensure accuracy and relevance of collected data.
“One version of the truth”
