Data has become a major commodity not just for facility management, but for every single industry out there! With data comes the potential for innovation, learning, and a shot at exponential developmental growth. With accurate analysis of data, you get insights that help reduce costs, increase operational efficiency and predict anomalies before they even occur.

Data In Facility Management

Up until a decade ago, systems in facility management worked independent of each other. Today, the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) software manages an organisation’s real estate portfolio, infrastructure and facility assets. The availability of data mining and data science means accurate analysis and interpretation of data is more possible than ever. With accurate data analysis at your disposal, you can combine digital data forensics with predictive data to signal when and what facilities require maintenance.  

Shift To A Data-driven Model Puts You In The Driver's Seat

Data analysis allows your organization to maximize the benefits of facility management by setting benchmarks,  predicting anomalies before they even occur, and operating within a working budget. With a data-driven model, your organization identifies the where and how of resource wastage and the opportunities to increase space utilization at the premises. Data analysis improves decision-making tremendously and paints a clear picture of the business’ health.  

A data-driven facilities management model starts by making sense of all the information on offer with the help of Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) software or an Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS). Whether separately or in collaboration, these tools help the stakeholders make precise decisions, enhance employee experience and improve operational efficiency.

THE SEGREGATION OF DATA IN FACILITY MANAGEMENT

With so much data on offer, you must segregate them into useful subsets with each subset providing insights into a specific area of facility management. These are:

    • Descriptive: Data that highlights a specific trend. 
    • Diagnostic: Data that identifies the drivers of the trends. 
    • Predictive: Data that forecasts new trends.  
    • Prescriptive: Data that influences the trends

Say, you want to analyze data related to hot desking, a system where desks are used by different people at different times on an ad-hoc basis . Descriptive data tells you the number of occupied desks whereas predictive data forecasts what the number will be in future based on past trends.

Which Performance Metrics Do You Measure, And How Do You Improve Them?

As a facility head, you want to analyze each component of your business to ensure the organization reaches its set objectives. Although that is what you should ideally do, it’s humanly impossible to watch every moving part. 

This is where technology comes into play. With technology, you don’t just measure a performance metric but also get insights on the steps required to make the overall process more efficient. How?

Data obtained from integrated tech systems allows facility managers to understand the day to day functioning of FM operations. And when this aggregated data is combined with IOT, you quantify the workplace. Quantification ensures improvement in operational efficiency at the facility.         

While there are several crucial data metrics for each industry and business, here are 3 of the most lucrative performance metrics to track:

Maintenance Performance Metrics

Organizations have realized, prevention is better than cure. Rather than waiting for the inevitable equipment outage, companies collaborating with FM services are conducting predictive maintenance. Some of the key parameters to measure maintenance performance metrics include the cost of repairing the assets, cost of service, and labor hours. A deeper understanding of the numbers above will help reduce downtime.     

With facility management software, you can measure maintenance performance metrics with precision. Not only does the software point out the issues in the operation but presents them to you in a way that eliminates the need for the manual creation of custom graphics. The FM software uses augmented intelligence, a method that empowers users to work better and smarter to tell you the exact stage of the problem. Once the fault is identified, the technology, combined with operational processes, executes timely and cost-effective action. This concept is known as data-driven facilities management.  

Data-driven facilities management aims to move away from reactive operational processes anchored by alarms and failures to act that is driven by concise information detected and analyzed by the analytical software. With this data-driven model, you identify the assets that matter rather than trying to monitor the whole system. To take advantage of the model, your organization must adapt to the software’s capabilities and modify processes likewise.

Workspace Utilization Metrics

Whether it be office, meeting, or technical space utilization, the number varies day today. Moving away from a head-count-based approach (which includes monitoring metrics such as vacancy rate and office space density), companies are now measuring the percentage of space utilization and cost of leasing space per employee. The new model has proven to be cost-effective and more adaptive in the post-pandemic world.

Sustainability Metrics

Analyzing the sustainability metric increases energy efficiency, reduces heating and cooling costs, lowers paper product consumption, and decreases water usage. Additionally, it helps organizations fulfill Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

What Does The Future Hold?

The importance of data will continue to grow in the facility management industry. The implementation of technology to analyze data and put it to useful work will only increase. Activities that are still run individually will be integrated meaning facility management providers will be able to gauge the level of maintenance required at a particular site with more accuracy than ever. Learn more about our Specialized Engineering (PM5.0) and data capabilities.    

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