With added pressure, year on year, to improve results and demonstrate that a company is performing to the best of its ability the demands of modern business can often seem unrelenting. Managers and workers alike are always looking for ways to improve systems and processes without having a detrimental effect on the smooth running of a business. Getting this balance right can often be the difference between success and failure.
Larger companies are involved in a continual process of adapting, streamlining and improving the way things are done all with the intention of saving money, working smarter and improving the strength of a company in the market place. Smaller companies often look to this model as well although obviously on a smaller scale. But there has to be a point where these improvements and changes become harder to achieve by virtue of the fact that further changes would no longer serve the purpose of improving things but would have the opposite effect. So what more can be done.
Surprisingly the area of strategic facilities management is one that many companies neglect for a long period of time before they put into practice a program that drastically improves the running of their buildings and associated facilities. Because the whole area of strategic facilities management can often seem like too much to take on at the same time and a holistic approach to it can often seem daunting and even confusing, many companies do not deal with it adequately.
Companies neglect strategic facilities management at their peril. There are incredible savings to be made if it is carried out properly because it impacts on so many different areas within a business. If the prospect of sorting out the situation without help is too much there are companies who can help with the logistics and the implementation. Even after paying an outside source to deal with the situation the savings can be significant.
So what areas with a business are we talking about? The aim of strategic facilities management is to make the most of a company's physical assets and infrastructure. That seems like a straightforward statement but if it's not done while taking into consideration a business's goals and objectives it can have a negative effect and even lead to long term problems. The management of buildings and physical assets takes priority but a good strategic facilities management plan will also take into account several factors that are not so obvious.
Air Conditioning - Cost saving through energy efficiency is something that strategic facilities management gives a lot of importance to because it is often overlooked or taken for granted and yet can have a knock on effect in other areas and can also lead to huge savings for a large company. The task of dealing with inadequate or damaged air conditioning units within premises can often be pushed to one side in favour of more urgent matters. This is bad practice. If that attitude is carried over for several months or even years it can be equivalent to throwing money away.
Electric Power - In the same way that air conditioning is often looked at as secondary, electricity and powering buildings can often seem invisible. Because electricity is something we take for granted throughout our day, both at work and outside of work, it is often never looked at properly and with an eye on the way it impacts on a business as a whole.
A strategic facilities management plan will look at areas like lighting, heating and the working hours of a building or facility and try to make electricity usage fall in line with the way everything else operates and turn it from something that is added on top of a business plan to something that is integral to a business plan.
About the Author:
Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the business management industry.
Find out more about
Strategic Facilities Management and how it can benefit your business.
No. of Times this article has been viewed :
1544
Date Published :
Feb 3 2009