More Than a Glorified Janitor Please do not take offense to the title of this article – I do not wish to dismiss janitors’ hard work. In fact, my intention for us, as facility professionals, is to realize the value of every team member in the facility department – from custodial and landscaping to […]
Category: Article
A Tale of Two Facilities
Facility management and related services arguably have a greater impact on customer experience and occupant productivity than any other department within a building or campus. Granted, as a facility practitioner, I may be a bit biased, but, as you will see in the following examples, my statement is sound and difficult to counter. Continue […]
Facilities Department Not a Profit Center – But Can It Be???
If you have been in the facility industry long enough, you have likely heard on numerous occasions “The Facilities Department is not a profit center”, “facilities are a necessary evil”, “you are just overhead”, and many other discredits. While the facilities department does not necessarily manufacture the widgets or process the transactions of our respective […]
“Facilitopia” – A Brighter Vision for the Facility Industry
I am honored and excited to be this year’s keynote at NFMT in Baltimore, where I will be speaking about a topic near and dear to me – Facilities! This passion for the industry is the impetus behind my utopian vision for facilties, that I have lovingly coined “Facilitopia”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I […]
Getting an A-Grade at the C-Level
As facility professionals, we are pretty good at reacting in an emergency, dealing with difficult people, figuring out how to get a square peg into a round hole, doing more with less, and many other challenges that fly at us daily. However, the one key area where programs fail or struggle time and time again […]
Maintenance Management Systems: Managing the Business of Facilities
A robust, easy-to-use maintenance management system that grows with the facility program is a necessity for any facility department. Here’s how to get it right. Maintenance management systems come under many names. Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), computer-aided facility management (CAFM) systems, integrated work management systems (IWMS), and even enterprise asset planning and resource management […]
Mobile Technology Offers Efficiency for FMs
Possibly more so than any other technology, going mobile has made facility staff’s job easier and more efficient. Here are the benefits of mobile facility technology. Possibly the most significant advance, in terms of its impact on facility staff, is the shift from paper and pagers to handheld tablets and smartphones. The power that facility […]
Understand the BAS’s Role in Facilities Management
The facility management industry has seen significant gains occurring in technology in the past few decades. One example is the migration from work orders tracked on a dry erase board to online service request submissions that auto-assign to appropriate craft or contractors while providing fluid feedback to the customer. Or consider the intricate pneumatic control […]
Low-Hanging Green Fruit – Cost-Effective Ways O&M Can Save Energy
For the past decade or two, the latest and greatest advances in design methodologies and sustainable products have garnered much of the attention and headlines. However, with my stint in the energy arena, I was continually perplexed by the millions of dollars expended on technologically-advanced energy conservation projects, while ripe, low-hanging green fruit dangled untouched […]
Emergency Preparedness – A Plan for Failure…
While much of our corporate focus is on catastrophic events that grab headlines, such as active shooters and major storms, not much attention is given to the incidents that affect facilities on a routine basis. Not to minimize the tragedies that result from such events, as we should all remain vigilant in preparation and prevention, […]