Innovating the Business of Facilities Operations: A Framework for the Next Major Advancement in Facilities Operations

摘要

Facilities leaders are under budget pressures that manifest themselves as a need to do more, limit headcount, go faster, and reduce energy costs. There is an urgent need to improve operations to meet these constantly increasing demands. Sound familiar? Then this article is for you. Two main business facts form the core of this article. First, businesses need to change, and make no mistake, operating a facility is a business. Incremental improvements happen continuously, but every once in a while there needs to be a quantum leap forward— something more revolutionary than evolutionary. Often, technology is an agent of change (PCs, internet, DDC, CAD), but it is only a catalyst. For major progress, facilities leaders must realize the need to do something very different, embrace the idea of innovation, and be willing to make fundamental changes to how the group operates. Second, data are immensely valuable. This is true for every business function within every industry. Facilities operations is no different, just a little behind the curve. The facilities industry has focused its technology advancements on hardware efficiency and control technology, but still has not seriously embraced information technology (focus on information). The few that have operate in a different world than the rest. The value of using data and information technology to advance the business of facilities operations has been proven. The examples and situations in this article are real, taken directly from various facilities organizations. The use of data is a foundation that affects much more than just operational efficiency.