Saturday 16 February 2013

The Importance Of Facilities Management In SMEs

The profession of facilities management first appeared in the 1980s and has since become an integral part of big businesses across the developed world. Whilst large corporations and multinationals have been quick to adopt facilities management and install computer aided facilities management software, SMEs have not been so swift to respond.

Directors of SMEs often site the reason for their slow investment in computer aided facilities management software as value for money. The conception is that CAFM is a tool only affordable to large businesses where the potential savings are largest. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Any business, large or small is going to benefit from reducing the costs; something CAFM is designed specifically to do. The investment in facilities management software can save a company money on several fronts.

Strategic Planning

CAFM software is particularly useful for analysing facility requirements and shortfalls. Companies can carry out trend analysis using accurate, historical data for future projects to determine if their facilities contain sufficient space, headcount and office equipment to fulfil anticipated project requirements.

Moreover, facilities management software allows a company to identify slack in their facilities that can be filled in the future.

Asset Management
Keeping track of any assets is a challenging task for any firm. Facilities management software allows a company to visualise where equipment, tag it and then track how effectively it is being utilised plus how reliable it is.

In addition, effective facilities management ensures employees are aware of the location of office equipment and can go about their roles efficiently.

Facility Maintenance

Having accurate information when and where you need it results in intelligent and timely decision making.

This is particularly important in SMEs where agility and the ability to respond quickly are often essential and making the right decisions can facilitate a competitive advantage that could be the difference between survival and failure in these tough economic conditions.

Sustainability

Finally, facilities management software can allow companies to effortlessly evaluate their environmental impact, including considerations such as energy use, waste management and greenhouse gas emissions.

CAFM software also allows companies to forecast their sustainability projects and calculate the financial impact alongside environmental considerations.

The list goes on, with other uses for facility management software including estate management, project planning and asset tracking. The fact is, all these considerations are indeed important to SMEs and their impact is certainly not limited to large multinationals. The investment in facilities management software can save even a small company thousands of pounds every year.

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