How Facilities Management Reduces Business Costs
Facilities Management is more than simply looking after the services and resources that enable a business or company do its work. When done effectively, facilities management can have a huge impact on business costs, productivity and even company culture. Proficient facilities management can reduce the costs every business faces when it comes to building and system management. Below we take a look at some of the key areas effective facilities management can reduce costs for businesses.
Facilities Management can streamline business practices and reduce costs. (Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash)
GETTING AHEAD ON MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
Things break and when they do, it can cost a business in lost productivity as well as repairs or replacements. Effective facilities management gets ahead on maintenance and repairs by scheduling and carrying out regular inspections, servicing and maintenance of key systems and machinery. Whether that’s a department photocopier or the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC), when it breaks down it has wider implications than simply needing to be fixed.
Preventative maintenance reduces the instances of unplanned breakdowns and the costs they cause for business. Simply maintaining a schedule for preventative maintenance can reduce costs to businesses by as much as 40% when compared with reactive maintenance.
According to a report by McKinsey Global on the Internet of Things, predictive maintenance driven by sensors and the Internet of Things has the potential to save manufacturers anywhere between $200billion and $600billion by 2025. Similarly large figures are predicted for worksites, offices, retail environments and other places of work.
UPDATING SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES AND USING SMART TECHNOLOGY
A building’s energy consumption is one of the biggest costs to businesses, after personnel. Facilities managers who implement sustainable practices and install smart technology can reduce business costs remarkably as well as their carbon footprints.
A study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy, found that smart technology within a building can reduce HVAC, lighting and plugged in equipment costs by as little as 5% or as much as 50% - depending on the technology installed.
Smart technology can be used to reduce energy consumption directly and also to change the behaviour of a building’s occupants so they become more frugal with their use of resources. For example, sensors can switch off lights or heating when a room is unoccupied. Devices such as smart metres and apps for monitoring water consumption can change the behaviour of the occupants within a building by making them more aware of their actions.
LEGAL AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE
Adhering to legal and regulatory requirements for how a business premises is run often falls to the facilities manager – and it’s not just Health and Safety that matters. The consequences of non-compliance with Waste regulations, Environmental rules, Building security, Employment law and managing contractors goes well beyond fines. Business downtime from blocked sewerage, or loss of reputation for environmental transgressions can be far more damaging to a company.
In some cases, neglecting regulations meant to govern the running of a premises can result in the business being closed or even imprisonment for the business owners.
Effective facilities managers ensure that the businesses environment remains compliant with all relevant regulations. This includes regularly updating necessary certificates of compliance and ensuing systems are checked and in good working order. Without this function, businesses would run up unnecessary costs and run the risk of severe damage to customer and personnel relationships along with severe fines.
STREAMLINING PROCESSES
A lot of functions and responsibilities rest on the shoulders of facilities managers. Many of these can be brought together under a single smart facilities management system. By implementing such a system, facilities managers are able to keep track of the myriad responsibilities and tasks – from preventative maintenance to regulatory compliance and even assets tracking.
In some instances, various functions can be streamlined, partially automated or even completely taken care of by a smart facilities management system.
A great example of this is preventative maintenance. By noting all systems that require regular checks and servicing, the dates these are required and linking them to the relevant contractor, the function of preventative maintenance can be made even more robust and a smart system can notify the relevant parties, track the work and even alert the facilities manager if the required inspection does not take place. Similarly, when sensors are incorporated into a smart facilities management system, further savings of time and costs can be realised.
Facilities management is not a ‘nice-to-have’ for businesses. Without this function, running costs can sky rocket, working conditions can become unbearable and the risk of being fined by a regulatory body for non-compliance increases remarkably. What’s more, facilities management is made far more effective with the technology available today.
Talk to us now to help you reduce costs with a Digital Twin Facilities Management across one or more locations on +61-1300-1-725-2647 or press the button below to send us a message.