Operational Assessments are an oft ignored necessary metric. The problem is so many of us FMs inherited an organization and are keeping it going as is, maybe making some changes, but as the fresh eyes in the organization, did you make notes of the deficiencies to improve them, or are things just continuing ‘as they have always been done’? What we fail so often to do is remember that we are here to improve the organization, run it more efficiently, fix the glitches, yet we tend to get caught up in just running the day to day as usual.
Having a FM Consultant come in to look over the operation with the sole purpose of efficiency and regulatory compliance, not to highlight fault or blame, means that you can continue to run the organization while the assessment is being done. The assessment needs to look at operations, paperwork that could be digitized, automated, WO assignment and how and why that is done as it is. Are your building prints digitized and available in the field and on.
How is your CMMS/IWMS set up? Are all assets in, all their data (manuals, photos, date of install, warranty period…). Are you scheduling all legally required inspections of Life Safety equipment? Are you using QR Codes, do you know where every asset is located, every shutoff valve and switch, and are they located on the digitized prints?
You are too busy now to do this in depth of assessment, to make this type of improvement, this type of leap forward to the efficiencies this would bring. Imagine the reduction in spreadsheets, in things on calendars, in your staff’s heads. With all those things automated, no longer being forgotten, put off, how much more could be accomplished? You might not even need that additional personnel if current staff were on the floor instead of doing paperwork.
It has been my experience that few have their CMMS/IWMS in its best form, because time always takes precedence over accuracy and completeness during implementation and things come up as time progresses that never get put in the system. Sad but true, we don’t get the most out of our systems because we want to ‘get ‘er running’. That is costing the company time and money every day. Stop the bleeding!
There are third party FM Service Providers that are under contract with the companies they provide services for to do an Operational Assessment every so often, usually every 5 years. Why? In part to verify that the contract is being met, but also to improve efficiencies, they understand that an efficiently run FM organization means less cost to run, fewer cost overruns, greater returns to stockholders.
Operational Assessments are not to be feared but embraced.
