Moving Beyond CAFM and CMMS: Latest Advancements in Facilities Management Technologies

The facility management industry is rapidly changing, as is the asset performance management landscape. However, facilities management companies are failing to keep up with the most important digital and technological advancements.

Today, FM companies are under intense pressure to provide more dynamic data and engage with their customers strategically.? In this article, I intend to not only highlight this issue but also provide potential solutions for companies like yours to catch up. This would allow you to be more strategically connected with your customers, which is currently a pressing need resulting from a number of vantage points.

A Holistic View of the Technology Stack

Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM)?and Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) are terms that are familiar to everyone in the facilities management industry. Most facilities management companies have implemented CAFM, including the majority of tier one and tier two companies. It is used to manage work order management, planning, asset management, and more. CMMS, on the other hand, helps a company to keep track of its equipment and create maintenance schedules.

CMMS is commonly used in long-term facility management contracts and can be brought in by the property developer. In shorter-term contracts, the facility manager brings in CAFM and CMMS, and sometimes a combination of software is employed at the site. Then there's IWMS, which is the integration of multiple software into one place and is growing more popular as cloud-based versions become available.

IWMS Plus, or IWMS 2.0, is heavily influenced by the need for data from the standpoint of managing facilities in a sustainable manner. The incorporation of IoT platforms, data platforms, and analytics on top of data assets such as billing management systems is transforming this industry. As this transformation happens, facility management companies must prepare their technology stack to move beyond CAFM.

Enabling the Transformation

Facility management companies who have not yet embarked on their digital transformation journey must prepare their technology stack to go beyond CAFM. A CXO at a facility management company must consider the use of advanced technology and data analytics to meet the changing demands of the industry. Furthermore, facilities management companies must assess the best software combination for the site and consider the integration of different software.

There is a growing complexity of data assets in built environments, which includes CMMS, CAFM, and BMS. There is no single stakeholder who has all of this data, and various stakeholders are driving a variety of niche applications or end-use cases. Facility management companies must move beyond this complexity and transition to more sustainable and efficient methods of facility management.

Moving Beyond CAFM and CMMS: WHY and HOW?

In today's market, betting only on price is no longer a feasible strategy. FM companies have to go beyond the traditional CAFM and CMMS approaches to embrace an integrated services approach.

Integrated Services Approach: The integrated services strategy is not new, but it has grown in popularity in recent years. Energy companies have moved into facilities, acquired forward or backward integration, and now look at integration as a crucial factor in their operations.

Strategic Involvement: Strategic involvement with initiatives like Net Zero initiatives that call for the reduction of carbon emissions. These initiatives necessitate FM companies' active participation in collaboration with their clients. As a result of their participation, they are able to find new business opportunities such as project management, M&B, and other value-added services.

New Business Opportunities: FM companies can leverage their strategic involvement to benefit from new business opportunities. Consider a developer who has set net zero goals. In that instance, the FM company can seize the chance to drive a part of the strategy and, in turn, own a share of the value chain.

The Evolution of the Technology Stack

The technology stack that most FM companies come with only includes CAFM. It is time to look at this holistically. FM companies must create a new stack that combines multiple layers of CAFM, BMS, CMMS, IoT sensors, and all other stacks. These layers might be property-owned, FM-owned, or third-party-owned. What matters is that there is a central repository or, more specifically, a data lake.

The Analytics Layer

From an IT standpoint, it is not required to take all of the data that comes from the base data sources. The analytics layer processes or crunches the data, which gives you insight, recommendations, and so on. It then returns to the reporting and visualization layer.

The Differentiator

Right now, the analytics layer and the central repository are major differentiators. It essentially becomes the center of your service delivery mechanism. By incorporating this into the contract, whether new or current, it becomes tough to remove this layer, and this is the IP (Intellectual Property) that you can establish. The combination of your knowledge of the particular site merged with software and data becomes extremely crucial in the grand scheme of things, and this is the true differentiator that one should strive for.

The Relevant Technology Stack to Stay Ahead

Facility management companies have to look ahead and have a technology stack that allows them to stay ahead and relevant. FM companies are not software companies, but it is eventually necessary to have some form of software game that is more strategic and thought out in your whole scheme of things. You can't just rely on what you buy from your vendors because that becomes a commodity with no differentiator.

The Missing Element of Strategic Thinking

What often appears to be missing in FM is the strategic element is the thinking, which is not present in the C-Suite or top management. The three fundamental aspects that could alter the entire thought process are as follows:

Make it Part of the Service Delivery Model

To make a difference, you need to make technology part of the service delivery model. This means that FM companies have to rethink their approach to operating contracts, which are commonly cost-plus models. Rather than just adding a Y component to the cost of software and passing it on, you must select the right vendor and start with your existing sites. You can't wait for clients to pay for it since that might not happen, and taking a calculated risk is no longer an option. If you don't have the funds, look for alternative ways to finance your technology upgrade.

Challenge the Business-As-Usual Process

You've got to challenge the business-as-usual process by running the challenging process in the back of the technology stack. This involves continuing to do your PPMs, and investing time, effort, and resources as you did in the first half. Once the stack is in place, you can gradually replace your present processes and compare the effort, time, cost, and impact on service delivery.

Look at Long-term ROI

Lastly, you have to consider the long-term ROI. While short-term ROI is important, it should not be the driving force behind any of your decisions. Aside from energy, if you're looking at any gains on robotic process automation, or you as an FM have outsourced or contracted to a BMS or OEM and you are spending X thousand dollars to just ensure that there's one person looking at the BMS,?you can take that off right away.

Moving from Planned Preventive Maintenance to Predictive Maintenance

Let’s look at how you can transform your facilities management from planned preventative maintenance (PPM) to predictive maintenance.

Preparation

Before you start implementing Predictive Maintenance, you need to make a well-structured plan. The first step is to write down your hypothesis and discuss it with your team. Identify the key sites and customers you want to target. Then, you'll have to get the team in place that will be running the first few installations.

Set Expectations

Once you've put together your team, it's time to lay down the hypothesis and set expectations. Determine the value that it can bring to your company or the site you are operating. Test your hypothesis by picking two or three sites and see how the software performs. For example, your aim is to reduce energy consumption by x percentage. It can help you cut down on tasks. It's important to test your hypothesis and understand that not all of them will be proven right. The objective is to evaluate how much of your expectations were met.

Engage with Multiple Partners

To find the best solution, engage with multiple partners, whether incumbents or startups. Distribute 2-3 sites among them, let them compete, and give you value for your money. Identify potential bottlenecks and understand the challenges you will have to encounter when scaling.

Evolve

Once you have tested your hypothesis, you need to expand to more sites and improvise from your learnings. Begin validating your ROI potential and running parallel processes identified from step one.

Scale

The last step is to include Predictive Maintenance in the new bids. Cover your existing portfolio, and look at more integrations with other software or data stacks that will help you further improve productivity across your business and processes. To improve and ensure success, it is essential to keep reviewing and repeating the exercise.

In Conclusion

There is a pressing need for facilities management companies to review their technology stack beyond just CAFM and CMMS. They should also reconsider their scheduling practices and explore new ways of improving efficiency.?

The future of asset maintenance and management lies in harnessing the power of human observations and AI technologies. Predictive maintenance is a lot more within reach than we might think. By leveraging the power of human observations, traditional data sources, and cutting-edge technology, we can transform the way we approach asset maintenance and management. It’s a win-win for everyone - technicians, the operations team, and the organization.

At?Xempla - Decision Support System for Enterprise Asset Management, we're powering predictive maintenance among other use cases like FDD, real-time monitoring, and energy management for some of the world's best in the facility management business. Companies like Serco, Sodexo, Emcor UK, and Engie Solutions Middle East have already empowered their O&M teams and achieved?incredible results?with our Asset Performance Management software.

Ping me on?LinkedIn?to start the conversation (transformation)!??

If you have questions leave them in the comment section and I'll get back to you. You can also reach out to us if you want us to speak to your team or have a brainstorming session on how your company can get the right technology stack. We would love for your company to get it right!

Listen to this podcast episode, to know more about the technology stack and how to choose the right software to integrate with CAFM or CMMS.

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