Table of contents for October - November 2016 in Facility Management

Innovation. Integration. Collaboration. While these three words have basically become clichés in the language of our political and business leaders, they continue to be at the heart of the development of the facility management industry in Australia. It is the ability of facility or property management companies to incorporate the meaning of these words into their service offering that is playing a crucial role in setting them apart from the competition in Australia’s marketplace. One such example of this, which also forms the basis of this issue’s lead feature, is global real estate management firm, Cushman & Wakefield, which is now combining innovation, integration and collaboration into its FM service for BP at the petrochemical company’s retail outlets around the country. According to Cushman & Wakefield, it is blue chip…

How is BaitSafe different from traditional bait stations? BaitSafe can be installed into walls, ceilings, flat-roofed areas, eaves and floors, between floors, cupboard bottoms and many more applications, allowing Adams Pest Control to inspect, monitor and/or place bait directly into areas where pests live and breed. In contrast to traditional bait stations, BaitSafe is not exposed to the public, therefore eliminating the risk to staff, children or pets coming into contact with the bait. As the bait is stored inside the station, it is also good for the environment. Thanks to the unique design, BaitSafe is the first product on the market to offer such a discreet solution and window into ‘their world’. Once installed by Adams Pest Control, pests living in the walls or ceilings have easy access to…

Too often companies, in an attempt to drive portfolio performance, tend to focus on management costs, neglecting that the real driver of portfolio performance is costs managed. This is particularly relevant for organisations embarking on an outsourcing strategy driven by procurement personnel. However, to drive portfolio performance, using both internal and external expertise, the key to success is understanding the different impacts that management costs and costs managed ultimately contribute to the portfolio total costs of occupancy (TCO). TOTAL COSTS OF OCCUPANCY To be meaningful, portfolio performance management should be based on the TCO. This concept works as the measure used to determine the true cost of the physical premises used to conduct operations and how costs impact business performance for both leased and owned portfolios of occupied facilities. The…

The changing nature of Australia’s education system, with developments such as rising tuition fees and the digitisation of the industry, has many implications for the safety and security of students, staff and the public. At the same time, legal consequences and reputational issues arising from any failure to protect and secure people, physical assets and information data, are increasingly severe. Rapid advances in technology, especially internet and smartphone enabled devices, means that each security challenge has a plethora of potential solutions, including the implementation of wireless alternatives. The choice has become so wide, however, that it may, in itself, be a problem for timeconstrained educational facility managers. The question therefore is simple: how do we adequately protect our young people in educational facilities in a secure and costeffective way? Access…

Maintaining a high level of workplace hygiene is a key consideration for modern facility managers. Research by workplace washroom specialists Initial Hygiene has found that one in three office workers do not wash their hands after using the facility, causing employees to take 1.6 sick days each year, and costing businesses $5.4 billion1 in lost earnings as a result of sub-standard hygiene. According to Initial Hygiene, which is part of the Rentokil Initial group, applying colours to washroom equipment can lead to significant improvements on these figures. Rentokil Initial head of marketing, Kate Levy, says colourful washroom equipment increases hand-washing compliance through the effect that colour has on human behaviour. “The most obvious benefit to using colour in functional design is that most people notice colourful things,” says Levy. “In…

DEFINITIONS BUILDING AND FACILITIES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Web-based maintenance management applications. BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM) SOFTWARE BIM is the process of generating and managing building data. COMPUTERISED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMMS) Used to monitor equipment performance and enhance the efficiency of maintenance operations. ENTERPRISE ASSET MANAGEMENT (EAM) SYSTEM Enables holistic control and optimisation of enterprise assets. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP) SOFTWARE Manages business processes and automates back office functions. INTEGRATED WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (IWMS) Solutions that span the life cycle of facilities asset management. PROCUREMENT SOFTWARE SOLUTION Automates the purchasing and inventory processes. Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) FM Innovations www.fminnovations.com.au 03 9600 1646 FM Innovations (FMI) is the only Australian owned software company to take your FM and property management objectives and tailor a software system that measurably helps you…

ASSA ABLOY’S DAVID WARD David Ward is business development manager – wireless access control at ASSA ABLOY. He has more than 15 years’ experience in the security management and access control services industry. SCHINDLER LIFTS’ PETER DARLEY Peter Darley is national portfolio manager – service for Schindler Lifts Australia. He is a B2B sales and marketing specialist with experience across a broad spectrum of industries, including events, facilities marketing, IT and vertical transportation. SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’S PREETI BAJAJ Preeti Bajaj is the vicepresident of strategy and transformation at Schneider Electric in Australia. Drawing on her entrepreneurial spirit, Preeti believes motivating and building high energy, high performance teams is the most effective way to deliver results.…

How commercial and strata building facility managers engage their elevator and escalator service providers is a vital part of ensuring vertical transportation equipment operates at peak performance. It may seem obvious for facility managers to establish a strong relationship with their service provider, but this engagement is often an overlooked aspect of a building’s service and maintenance program. Facility managers generally understand how critical it is to keep building transit assets well-maintained and running efficiently. In commercial or strata buildings, facility managers must ensure reliable operation of the equipment so inhabitants of the structures can remain as productive as possible. But how does a facility manager know if the building’s service provider is delivering on the potential of their agreement? It can be as simple as inspecting the equipment’s motor…

Managing risk is a significant part of the job for facility managers, who require ongoing training and education to ensure they are up-to-date and aware of current risks, liabilities and regulations. With higher levels of training, facility managers can progress in their careers more easily. Adequate training is also crucial for facility managers to perform to the highest possible standard, improving productivity and strategic thinking. Even experienced facility managers need training when they start a new job. From a comprehensive overview of the facility itself, to an understanding of the job-specific policies and regulations, facility managers need to assimilate large amounts of information as quickly as possible. Most businesses understand the importance of training employees adequately. Training has implications for health and safety issues, customer service quality and business performance.…

A 1980s building with dubious construction and poor interiors has been gutted and renewed to form a contemporary office space for the Stonnington Council in Melbourne. The existing Malvern building was demolished and brought back to its basic enclosure and floor slabs, while the atrium was reconfigured to extend up above the roofline. The extension draws natural light deep into the oncebleak space, as well as providing visual relief and improved air quality. Consultation with more than 25 staff departments helped to shape the brief for the workplace, which now provides open plan working spaces, as well as a new publicly addressed custom service foyer. The brief for the atrium was to obscurevisibility to the spandrel panels while achieving a visually appealing and luminous area. The project, run by Harris…

It is 12.15pm and no sign of Harry Scott. Marcus double-checks it is the right Friday for their agreed meeting. The waiter approaches Marcus; he is impatient for a lunch order. “I’m sorry – give me a few more minutes. My guest must be delayed.” The waiter walks off for the third time. Marcus calls Harry’s speed dial. The phone rings and rings. On the point of hanging up, Marcus reaches Harry’s voicemail. “Harry speaking. I’m sorry I can’t take the call, so please leave a message and…” Marcus talks as he walks out of the café past the waiter. “Harry, it’s Marcus. Don’t worry about lunch today. Let’s reschedule. Call me when you can.” As he walks back to his office, Marcus considers all the pointers he gleaned from…

After many years of attempting to define facilities management (FM) competencies it seems that there is now a real opportunity for a general consensus on what is required to be a competent facilities manager. This opportunity is mainly being driven by the recently announced collaboration between the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). One of the outcomes of this collaboration is that the two organisations will “work together to determine how best to align professional credentials and qualifications to shape the single career path for the collective benefit”. However, things never stand still. Driven by a range of technological innovation, FM is entering the next stage of its evolution. To be able to effectively work in this new environment, facilities managers will have…

Australia’s cities are experiencing rapid growth, which will require a high level of strategic infrastructure management in the coming years. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city, having expanded by 92,000 people (2.2 percent) in 2014/15. Australia’s other capital cities, including Darwin (1.9 percent), Sydney (1.7 percent), Perth and Brisbane (1.6 percent), are also growing significantly. As Australia’s cities expand there is increasing focus to plan for the future by developing smarter cities that maintain liveability while establishing an economy of innovation. In April, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled an ambitious funding plan to build ‘30-minute cities’, where residents can access essential work, school and lifestyle services within a half-hour commute. Turnbull’s plan is not just about making life easier for city-dwellers – it…

Take two teams. One has team members who are low in trust, while the other is high in trust. In the low-trust team, people spend most of their time bickering and complaining about other team members behind their backs. Collaboration is slim and team members can’t count on each other to do high-quality work or deliver their work on time. It is a group of unhappy people trying to make the best of it, but without full support from every team member, deliverables end up being of poor quality and late. To contrast, let’s look at the high-trust team. Team members can openly discuss issues with each other before they become problems. They also can suggest new ideas or workarounds knowing that what they say will be heard and considered.…

Our bodies tell a story of what we do all day long. Each body tells a different story because we are what we repeatedly do and repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) are a product of that repetition – they develop over time well after bad postural habits are formed. Sometimes these habits are seemingly so small and insignificant that we don’t even realise strain patterns are forming. That is, until someone like me finds tender points in places you didn’t know were sore. RSIs take time to heal and, while it is important to remember that time does heal all wounds, we are impatient and no one likes to be in pain. The good news about RSIs taking a long time to develop means that there are plenty of opportunities along…