Building Information Modelling and SOPs
Besides People and Property, Process and Technology are the backbone of FM industry, without which it could make a lot of noise but just be found, spinning its wheels and going nowhere. John Ringness, SFP, MRICS, CEO – NEXT FMS, Vancouver and President IFMA’s Global FM Consultant Council explains in detail.
PROCESS
The quality guru Edward Deming best known for his work in Japan after WWII, particularly for his work with the leaders of Japanese industry had said, “Quality is everyone’s responsibility”. The following are Deming’s four principles referring to the manufacturing sector but, very well applicable to the FM industry.
- The problems facing manufacturers can be solved through cooperation, despite differences.
- Marketing is the science of knowing what, people who buy your product repeatedly, think of that product and whether they will buy it again and why.
- In the initial stages of design, conduct market research applying statistical techniques for experimental and planning & inspection of samples.
- Perfect the manufacturing process
The following are some examples as it relates to process:
Standard Operating Procedures
While vision is the direction in which we want to head, SOPs provide the rails on which the train will ride to get there. SOPs must be checked from time to time to ensure proper execution and capture and document any changes which may have occurred in business processes.
Automation: There is much potential to maximize in the area of automation
as India labor rate continues to increase and productivity and profit become more accentuated. For example, a custodian, housekeeper, janitor, etc. here in India can maintain approximately 1,000 square feet per hour but an auto scrubber can dramatically increase to 12,000 square feet per hour, if applied correctly. Automation reduces the amount of manual labour and the number of body injuries. It also helps create jobs in the manufacturing sector and increase opportunities for the export of those goods.
Another potential for automation is the chemical dispensing systems using dema proportioning technology. This system removes the human error which normally occurs from measuring or worse estimating the amount of water and chemical required; thereby reducing chemical costs by 30-60%, the amount of packaging manufactured, less shipping (fuel) required and less storage space – all essential elements of sustainability.
utilized), attaining productivity requirements. The next level would train the employees to self-check or audit their own performance, with occasional checks my management personnel.
Suppliers: Suppliers should be brought more into the business process than to simply provide the cheapest product on the market. I don’t mind paying more for a higher quality product or service unit, when they provide value added initiatives such as training, online, tools, benchmarking, benefit cost analysis, audit tools, software, etc, assuming my overall cost is competitive.
Process Indicators
In many cases facility management is asked to reduce its operating budget, which may be fine if repairs and maintenance is current i.e. two-three days but when the time to repair extends, the amount of rupees required actually doubles in value very five years. A standard procedure is that, 70% of work orders must be in preventative
maintenance category otherwise the asset management program
may operate in an inefficient and / or ineffective manner. Running on
a Corrective Maintenance method only, is reactive and thereby inefficient.
Another business process which requires attention is called a “Capital Renewal Program”. Assets with a realistic preventative maintenance schedule have a predictable life cycle. A Capital Renewal program lays out a financial planning model so the finance department is not surprised
but can anticipate future capital outlays so when the chillers or elevators reach the end of their life cycle, finances can be planned accordingly.
Deferred Maintenance
It is a formal or informal listing of unaccomplished maintenance tasks. Such situations arise because of shortages of funds, personnel, or specific management practices. It is the value of maintenance not attended to. Capital Renewal (CR) is the amount of funds allocated to renew (replace) the existing assists once they have surpassed their life cycle. Current Replacement Value (CRV) is the cost required if the facility had to be rebuilt utilizing current construction costs.
Why Deferred Maintenance is sometimes called a cash flow killer?
In a vehicle, if the engine is not checked and oil changed periodically, the engine will eventually seize and fail. Instead of a few rupees to change the oil and filter, the entire engine would have to be replaced. Similarly, if the maintenance is not addressed as and when required, the cost to maintain becomes deferred, builds up and gradually increases the business risk liability for building owners and customers. As a standard practice, corrective work orders should be completed in two-five days. While, urgent work orders on asset failures which pose imminent life safety risk or may interrupt business continuity should be addressed within hours of receipt. To proactively stay ahead of deferred maintenance:
- Repair and maintain assets when they fail.
- Regularly conduct facility audits.
- Conduct predictive maintenance on technical equipment
Total Cost of Ownership
Considering an office building may last 55 years, the original design and construction cost, while important, only account
for approximately 10% of the total cost of ownership as compared to 62% on operations and maintenance costs. Naturally how a facility is designed and commissioned, will have positive or negative impact on long term operating costs.
How bad is the state of deferred maintenance at my facility? To determine the complete value of the deferred maintenance, an engineering firm could be hired to conduct a building condition assessment using the Facility Condition Index or FCI. The Current Replacement Value (CRV) is determined by the current cost (`) of replacement for the facilities’ fixed assets. This would not include rolling inventory such as chairs, desks, etc.
Predictive Maintenance
One way to check on an a
sset’s health is to conduct one of the following forms of predictive maintenance which are generally static in nature:
- Thermography Scans – Examines the component for unusual heat generation via infrared radiation. Excessive heat can cause a fire, as well reduce the effective life cycle, increase operating costs, and interrupt service delivery to our customers. Thermo gram showing a fault with an industrial electrical fuse block if not attended to, could result in a fire.
- Power Analysis – Effectively measures Power Quality which if not addressed can impact motor life longevity, realize transformer faults, overheating of electrical wiring (fire), and greater operating costs.
- Vibration Analysis – Measures the extent of the vibration for a motor, or mechanical device which if not addressed could increase operating costs, and reduce the intended life cycle of an asset.
- Oil Viscosity Test – Measures the quality of oil to engine it is operating within defined parameters which if not adhered could reduce the asset life cycle.
- Air Quality Test – Sampling and analysis of indoor air for the parameters temperature, relative humidity, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Oxygen, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, respirable suspended particles, Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), Formaldehyde, Hydrogen Sulphide, airborne bacteria, and chlorodiene. Analysis of these parameters can lead to proactive detection of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) or Building Related Illness (BRI).
Maintenance Budgets
In a global best practice, the amount of dollars allocated to maintenance represents 2-4% of the Current Replacement Value. Indian benchmarks are yet to be established in this area. Essentially when you look at your deferred maintenance, assuming the FM systems and procedures are efficient and effective, you may well require more maintenance rupees to steer clear of the deferred maintenance iceberg.
TECHNOLOGY
The world is moving quickly to data centric sustainable facility management operations. If your company has not recently assessed how technology may be utilized to improve the cost and service efficiencies of your company’s process, it may be time to assess it. Some of the essential and emerging technologies for a typical Facility Management business unit or department:
Building Automation Systems (BAS) sometimes referred to as Building Management Systems (BMS) although, I have never seen a software system manage a building… but the day is approaching with data, highly complex algorithms, artificial intelligence swiftly advancing and converging; either way, we are not completely there, yet. Generally, these programs automate systems such as climate control, security surveillance, card access, and fire control systems within predetermined operating parameters.
Integrated Workplace Management Software (IWMS) technologies have matured over the last two decades essentially merging CMMS, CAFM, i.e. maintenance management software and space planning programs with project management software systems. Some of the more robust systems will also include sustainability, and a strategic portfolio planning program elements. The magic of the IWMS system is the integration of data thereby reducing of data input which saves time and decreases human input error.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been around for a number of years and while gaining popularity in India, the UK government has embraced BIM advantages mandating BIM technology in all their projects commencing 2016.
One thing to consider is the use of standardized asset nomenclature like project Haystack, which is an open source initiative to streamline working with data from the Internet of Things. It creates a standard communication tag so multiple databases can seamlessly integrate with one another thereby reducing the labor and expense required for system integrators and speeds up the run to implementation stage. For example, an asset associated with cooling would have the tag “HVAC”, not “aircon” or “HVACR” – the two databases would merge properties for assets with that particular “HVAC” identifying digital tag.
Another developing trend in sustainable facility management is M2M (Machine to Machine) and M2M2H (machine to machine to humans) which is enabling condition based analytics in real time, i.e. one step more advanced than predictive maintenance, due to the Continuous Based Monitoring (CBM) which occurs in this model, predicting asset failure, real time cost and consumption dynamics, etc. This type of real time monitoring is accentuated for example, when IBM suggests that 50% of municipality’s water is lost due to leaking water lines and commercial buildings account for over 33% of electricity consumption.
“While we often think of the latest technology as a way to improve building functions, we usually fail to fully consider how technology might alter the way people use those buildings. In other words, we tend to overvalue the role of the technology and undervalue the resulting re-engineering of the operational processes. And those process changes, rather than the technology itself can have the biggest impact on costs, effectiveness and efficiency.” J. Sinopoli, Managing Principal of Smart Buildings.
In the last three to five years, the technology focusing on the corporate real estate world has grown exponentially. There areover 50 vendors and 700 solutions in the information managementsegment (IWMS) and 100 plusvendors and 1000 solutions in thesmart building/campus category.As mentioned by Ravi Venkatesan,former Chairman, Microsoft Indiaand Cummins, India, in his book,“Conquering the Chaos”- “Middle market customers segment isvery demanding and driven bythe value for money. They havelimited disposable incomes butbig aspiration and will not acceptproducts that compromise onquality or functionality.” Indeed,with the extent of change going on in the workplace, a well thought out strategic movement towards sustainable change is required to weather future challenges.