Navigating Facility Management Metrics is No Easy Feat
Whether you’re a facility leader for a retail brand, a veterinary group, a fitness organization, a medical provider, a restaurant chain, or any other industry, it can be extremely challenging to identify, track, and measure facility management metrics. However, that must be done in order to control costs, reveal trends, report on progress, and effectively manage assets across multiple locations.
This is a common issue in facilities management, with many leaders often realizing that they lack the right data, have been relying on the wrong kind of metrics, or are using metrics that aren’t specific to their organization. With facilities leaders busier than ever, working with a strategic asset management partner can help right the ship and fill in the gaps to arm you with the data you need to achieve your facility management goals.
First, What is a Strategic Asset Management Partner?
All too often, facility leaders are left to manage HVAC/R, lighting, plumbing, signage, and other asset types at dozens or even hundreds of locations. This creates all kinds of inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Just as important, it prevents you from being able to fully understand and measure your efforts. Rather than navigate this function alone, partnering with a service aggregator provides you with exponentially greater capacity, expanded capabilities, streamlined project management, and program analysis and reporting.
Here, we’ll explore several examples of useful data points and resources that a strategic asset management partner can provide.
A Few Common Metrics and Reports That Become More Accessible with a Strategic Asset Management Partner
Service Spend by Trade
Each of your locations houses a large number of assets ranging from HVAC/R systems and signage to exterior/interior lighting and fire & life safety systems. Each of these assets requires consistent, proactive maintenance (and occasionally, proactive replacement). But are you aware of your organization’s investment in each of those assets by trade? For example, do you know how much you’ve spent on HVAC/R versus lighting and electrical maintenance? Understanding this can reveal key trends or expose situations that may need to be addressed (e.g. are outdated lighting systems in need of a retrofit?).
Average Work Order Cost by Site
In addition to understanding asset maintenance costs by trade, what is the average work order cost at each location? Consistently high work order costs tied to a single location could reveal a number of issues — potentially with the equipment brand, how those assets are being used, or something else. Additionally, are you able to break this down further by trade, similar to above, at any time? Are you seeing repetitive work orders for refrigeration system maintenance at a certain location, or perhaps signage repair that’s unusually frequent? Working with a strategic asset management partner to easily access this level of reporting will help you stay informed and make the best decisions possible.
Spend Breakdown Comparisons
While understanding your spend by trade and facility location is crucial, trends and remediation decisions more accurately stand on long-term data. This is best realized by comparing the above metrics and data for a certain time period over another and refining that data even further. For example, looking at HVAC/R maintenance costs by location year-over-year for a few years can give you insight into whether that system needs more consistent maintenance or needs to be replaced entirely. Comparing trends quarter-over-quarter or half-years can also reveal useful, actionable information.
Leverage Technology and Your Strategic Asset Management Partner for Maximum Value
While we can say that you should use these metrics and data points to improve your facility management program, the reality is that extracting and analyzing them cannot be a manual process. If you don’t currently have facility management technology solutions in place, working with a strategic asset management partner can help. In addition to gaining access to their project management and service capabilities, you’ll also be able to use their tools to rapidly understand where your program stands at any time.
At CLS Facility Services, we provide our clients with an online asset management portal that gives 24/7/365 access to a variety of information, all in a matter of clicks:
- Complete asset lists organized by type and location
- All estimates, quotes, and invoices for financial tracking
- Asset performance information based on latest maintenance cycles
- Work histories based on asset and location
- All work orders along with their status
- Asset warranty information and resources
With more than 50 years of experience in helping organizations in multiple industries across the country more effectively build and manage facility asset management programs, we’re the strategic asset management partner you need to streamline your program, report on progress, analyze asset performance, and more.
Get in touch with us today to learn more about our capabilities.