New Trends in Facility Management
Like many other industries, the Facility Management (FM) industry is constantly evolving in the digital age. New technological innovations and trends such as outsourcing and sustainability are shaping and changing the industry. The field is not only evolving, but the European FM market is also growing at a decent rate: a growth rate of 14.1% per year is expected until 2023. Facility managers are facing a whole range of challenges. This includes on one hand successful cost management without affecting building users. On the other hand, facility managers have to respond to companies that need to become more and more efficient both financially and energetically, while at the same time having to satisfy increasingly multicultural and cross-generational teams. It is a fact that numerous factors will change facility management in the near future, offering new challenges but also new opportunities.
Technological developments
On a technological level, a lot has happened in recent years, which also has some implications for the FM industry. For example, building equipment has developed in leaps and bounds. It is therefore not surprising that around 44% of cases, obsolete building equipment is behind breakdowns, making replacing obsolete equipment therefore currently one of the major challenges for facility managers. When a building reaches the 30-year mark, facility managers should begin to consider major renovations, particularly in roofing, plumbing, lighting, elevator systems, heating and cooling systems, windows, and intelligent systems.
If a building reaches the 30-years marks, major restoration should be considered.
Developments in Big Data and Data Analysis also bring change to the FM industry. Big Data is opening up new opportunities in terms of facility management. Having more data at one's disposal means that more information is available and can provide new insights. Problems can be tackled in a targeted manner - ideally even before the building user is affected. But with all these benefits comes new challenges. Having much more information available also means processing this data, and knowing how to filter and analyse that information. It is therefore also necessary to be able to distinguish between “noise” on one hand, and data that actually allows us to gain insight on the other hand. In addition, all data that is collected must be stored securely to ensure the privacy of customers and to comply with all data protection laws.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) also belongs to the technological developments that are changing the facility management industry. This is a digital modelling tool that gives clients and architects a complete overview of the project and collects all information about the building. Especially in older buildings, information modelling can be of great benefit with regard to facility management tasks. Such a combination of BIM and facility management improves the efficiency of maintenance teams, as information can be accessed, and the problem identified more quickly.
In addition, software is increasingly used to systematically support maintenance processes in order to streamline FM and help to keep track of FM tasks, aiding in making the bureaucratic aspect more efficient. In this sense, Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) are gaining considerably in importance for the FM industry.
Outsourcing
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend towards outsourcing facility management tasks. More and more companies are outsourcing FM tasks, to compensate for labour shortages, to avoid unexpected breakdowns or failures, and to reduce costs for the company, among other things. The maintenance of public buildings, hospitals and schools in particular is increasingly dependent on external facility management companies.
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency
Achieving higher energy efficiency is considered one of the biggest challenges in the immediate future. Energy losses have a negative impact in two ways: On the one hand, energy losses contribute to an increase in our ecological footprint, and on the other hand, they also increase the costs of companies for heating and cooling buildings. A solution to reduce energy losses can be found in the use of sensors and the Internet of Things (IoT). This allows, for example, to automate temperature regulation by switching the heating on or off when the temperature reaches a certain level, to reduce resources in unoccupied rooms, to reduce lighting costs, and even to determine the frequency of maintenance and cleaning according to the usual sensor-based use of the individual systems.
Energy losses don’t only contribute to increasing our ecological footprint, but also increase the costs of companies for heating and cooling buildings.
Well-being and user experience
In recent years, it has become increasingly clear that the workplace makes an important contribution to the well-being – or lack thereof - of employees, and that the design of the interior of buildings is just as important as the environmental conditions such as temperature and air quality. It is therefore not surprising that one of the most important trends of recent years has been prioritising the user experience, together with the drive towards increasing user-friendly and intuitive interfaces. At the same time, the concept of the "smart workplace" is becoming more and more central to this; Moreover, customers should be able to report faults easily and request help without much effort. Consequently, facility management companies are not only responsible for the operation of buildings, but also for the well-being of the staff who use them - not only in terms of traditional health and safety parameters, but also in terms of the design of the environment in which people are expected to work.
The workplace makes an important contribution to the well-being of employees.
These emerging FM trends will guide facility management companies on how to most effectively reduce costs, gain support from key stakeholders and improve profit margins.
Our own Digital Services address many of these trends and help FM companies digitize and improve all aspects of facility management. Utilizing the vast experience of our team in the industry, we develop customised sensors for all types of building equipment and systems, providing access to an easily navigable monitoring and alarm system. All sensors are manufactured to be scalable and adaptable to monitor different types of critical building equipment, rooms or facilities.
Sources: Gulfnews.com, Infraspeak.com, Researchandmarkets.com