What does it mean to be a successful facility manager or engineer?
Having a small modification to your daily routine can make a huge impact on your facility.
At its core, facility operations maintain consistency through all responsive procedures to bring systems to their peak potential. The path to reach your goals can appear very clear, but it is only complicated by the need for more time, more space, and the need for increased safety at all times.
Many of the same principles align with my past employment as a barista in an organic foods market. It was fairly simple to estimate the number of bottled drinks needed for the day, find time to take note of supplies to be ordered, and tend to the coffee bar. It all seemed to be very reasonable when the bulk of the day was still ahead of me.
However, it only became increasingly complicated by the lack of organization that drew out the time needed for ordering supplies, a hiccup in the brewing process that led me to spend an hour clearing a blizzard of coffee grounds that escaped a cold-brew filter and caused fewer drinks to be bottled than needed, and a rush of people at the coffee bar that ate up the rest of the day’s time. In fact, there were many days I could remember leaving for the day wondering what happened to all the time in the day and why I needed to race through the next morning to pick up the slack I left for myself.
Taking the time on one day to reorganize the stockroom, prepare for delays in regular work processes, and have more available time for patrons would have made the largest difference for my job—and it would have resulted in a more efficient coffee bar overall.
Here are the 4 steps to successful facility management:
- Productivity
- Reducing Costs and Downtime
- Inventory management
- Safety
1. Productivity
Embrace the technology around you to help your facility increase productivity. Walking to and from the facility stockroom can really add up to a sizable amount of time. Mobile technology allows maintenance personnel to gain access to data in real-time, start work orders without physically going back to the workstation, and communicate with other employees. A number of different facility management software technologies exist to allow maintenance technicians to work without interruption or delay.
2. Reducing Costs and Downtime
Reducing Costs and Downtime
Downtime can lead to a negative reputation for your company as well as revenue loss. Regular walk-throughs of your facility and planning out preventative maintenance can help to create less downtime and fewer emergency maintenance calls for broken-down equipment.
Ensure everything that happens in the facility is recorded in an accessible place where it can be confirmed by other maintenance personnel. Routinely maintaining and verifying completed work in the facility will allow systems to become less vulnerable to breaking down, which leads to fewer maintenance costs. Something that looks like a quick and easy fix right now should be taken care of now before it turns into a much more costly and time-consuming job down the road.
3. Inventory Management
Unorganized stockrooms create unnecessary problems. Maintenance personnel will take more of their valuable time searching the room for parts, and maybe come up empty in the end. Extra parts may be ordered that are already in the stockroom, causing unnecessary spending. A stockroom cleanup could take up an entire workday, but it will save so much more time and money in the long run.
Space is the foundation for maintenance management, scenario planning, and many of the other things you want to do in a facility. A newly organized stockroom will provide extra space that could be repurposed or maybe it can just provide you with some extra elbow room for added comfort while working.
4. Safety
There is nothing more valuable in the facility than your own life or the life of any other maintenance technician working in the building. Ensure every employee is aware of safe working procedures and encourage frequent communication among employees to address potential safety concerns as early as possible.
Loss of work time is reduced when there are fewer mishaps in the facility. Any potential risks must be addressed promptly to be sure it does not create a safety concern for other employees.
Make safety procedures aware to everyone in the building regularly and communicate with anyone who may need more specific reminders on the protocols. Any safety information posted in the building should remain up-to-date at all times and employees should be notified of any changes in information.
Final Thought
Facilities management can appear like a straightforward operational necessity. However, effective management can mean the difference between success and failure. Optimize your success potential by focusing on the key steps that pave the way to practical management.
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