Tirumala Rau K, CEO, KBPML
After 18 years of providing consistent, reliable, professional FM, KVR Best Property Management Pvt Ltd (KBPMPL) is all set to enter its next phase of expansion and growth with a slew of tech-backed services. In this interview, Tirumala Rau K, CEO, KBPMPL gives us his honest take on the past, present and future.
From inception to 2021, what are the milestones/significant achievements of KBPMPL? How has the industry evolved during this period?
KVR Best – The FM Company commenced operations in 2003; over time, we developed skills and expertise to provide a complete range of Integrated FM Solutions. We are headquartered in Hyderabad and have operations in five states. We started with 20 people; presently, we have over 5,000 employees serving 900+ clients and are a 100% statutory compliant company.
Since 2003, the industry has witnessed an increased demand for outsourcing and vendor partnership. With globalised contracts, both service delivery and the contracts themselves are being consolidated. Even though the rate of penetration is increasing more rapidly in emerging markets, this development is offset by the size of the markets that are participating.
How are you supporting the supply chain in its operations? What modern technology are you using for this?
We have adopted numerous business improvement methodologies to improve business performance. We have a dedicated logistics support team to enhance supply chain management and obtain a competitive edge. Our proven system provides smooth flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption, to meet requirements.
There is a high demand to reduce operating costs. Companies tend to look for ways to cut expenditure by introducing the latest technology, which will provide long-term solutions.
We use the latest technologies, software and tools to keep the list of assets updated. We maintain the database and share the cloud technology to harness and meet the daily demand of goods delivery in our e-commerce services.
IoT, automation, building modelling data and cloud storage are a few of the methods we use while serving our clients in e-commerce, retail and supply chain management industries. The usage of the latest technology has helped us in reducing costs, improving sustainability and boosting productivity.
How has the pandemic influenced your services in the retail segment? What trends do you see in FM in this sector?
In response to the pandemic, many organisations including public sector facilities across the country were closed as per directions from state and central government lockdown policies. With reduced occupancy, building owners have had to scale back on FM operations.
The partial closure and phasing down of services and subsequent reductions in building occupancy levels caused a serious impact on our operations and directly affected profits and liquidity by increasing procurement expenses and capital costs, while simultaneously forcing business owners to default payments. These actions lead to a reduction in income of FM service providers.
Also to be noted is that most of the workforce has been hired from other states. Several migrant workers returned home, which created a serious problem when it came to running FM services during the pandemic. The maintenance of available resources became expensive as the inflation index was high.
It has often been the case that the greatest improvements have come during the most difficult times. Business continuity is key for any organization and as a result, we have changed our strategy to tackle the pandemic and our professionals have played an essential role to keep the business dynamic and alive.
IT parks have been your major clients. As some employees resume work-from-office, how are you making the workspace safe?
For any organisation, the health and wellness of its employees is a priority. As FM service providers, we provide a strategic approach with facets like hygiene and safety gaining importance for everyone. By using the latest technology, we provide automatic sanitising machines, frequent messaging to employees to clean their hands and wear a face mask.
How is the company set to grow in the future? What will drive this growth?
We are planning to provide Integrated Solution Methodology (ISM) to serve our large retail and e-commerce customers whose presence is in more than 3-4 states. ISM includes security management, internal communication system, sharing warehouse data by usage of Big Data and user experience analysis. This will help us lead the future of facility management.
The Indian FM Industry is anticipated to record a CAGR of 20-22%, over the forecast period of FY 2021 – FY 2026). The growing emphasis on outsourcing of non-core operations and growth in the real estate sector are expected to drive the Indian market for facility management services. Along with this, government regulations about safety measures and environmental guidelines to follow green practices are expected to drive the market.
