Details of Facilities Management - Coursework Example

Facilities Management Introduction According to the expert analysis numerous rural electric directors as well as managers are faced by means of the need to examine the sufficiency, or lack thereof, of present headquarters facilities and make the essential decisions when existing facilities are insufficient or hinder the cooperative's aptitude to meet the rising needs of their consumers. Through case study psychoanalysis, our authors talk about the action steps which may be followed in this managerial development. If we analyze then we come to know that the impact of metropolitan enlargement throughout the United States has established a flow of growth for the electric helpful which serve this growth. For many of these similar cooperatives this enlargement is exacerbated by trying to meet all the needs by means of fractured operations, insufficient consumer access, and cramped and crowded labor conditions and, in one case, the roof caving in (Austin, N. 2004). This has caused further co-op managers to take a fresh look at the sufficiency of present services, facilities and the helpful aptitude to meet the ever-increasing requirements of today's electric customer. For many managers this appraisal has been long tardy. Feeling the squeeze Let’s take some examples of the case of Pioneer Electric Cooperative of Ulysses, Kansas. Located in the heart of the Hugoton Gas Field and bounded by acres of land ripe for augmented rural growth, Pioneer Electric found itself serving one of the best rising areas in Kansas. In 1991, kilowatt hour sales greater than before by 2.23%; though, by 1994, the percentage of increased sales grew to a whopping 14%. Pioneer presently serves 12,000 customers by means of 40 employees and more enlargements are in sight. This enlargement presented a quandary. The current office, garage and storehouse facilities were fully make use of and there was no space for adding staff or placing the wanted computer equipment for process. According to the company General Manager Dave Jesse who explained the theory of facility management that, "When I started my career as manager of Pioneer on January 1, 1991, I never dreamed that the 20-year-old structure that housed our head office wouldn't be enough. The planned planning procedure we embarked on at the end of 1991 pointed out the requirement for more space to give our helpful the aptitude to grow and assemble the changing requirements in our service area. That's like a `fine news, bad news' narrative to a fresh manager." (Datamonitor Europe 2004) Moreover, according to Assistant General Manager Scott Handy, this was the similar story for the organization named by Cass County Electric Cooperative, located just outer surface Fargo, North Dakota. For the past quite a few years the co-op has been practice a rapid enlargement in sales, clientele and employees. As far back as 1987, management began talk about how they could get together the long-term wants of their new members but nothing was determined. As a short-term gauge, they rented space in a profitable office building and additional on to existing facilities to try to put up the growth but lastly a decision had to be made to move ahead by means of the edifice of new facilities. Blue Grass RECC's explains the current facilities level in different organizations like Nicholasville, Kentucky was built in 1958, housing 19 employees as well as serving 3,500 customers. Almost 40 years later the helpful has 61 employees and serves extra than 18,000 consumers and still operates in the similar facilities. The current structure is energy incompetent, lacks parking spaces as well as has serious termite, septic system and roof troubles. Over the years the headquarters structure has been remodeled more than a few times; though, the cost of remodeling to meet their future supplies would now surpass the cost to build a new building. Frequently newer knowledge in the region of telecommunications, materials management, and even HVAC may not be willingly obtainable under remodeling or retrofitting conditions. In numerous cases troubles with asbestos and other environmental issues carry on to be a major concern, particularly in older buildings. Why can't we get the ball rolling? Usually, most managers distinguish a requirement for facilities long before the matter is discussed in the boardroom; though, there always seems to be some common confrontation that causes the matter to be tabled well beyond the requirement Facilities projects can easily be paralyzed due to a diversity of reasons. At Coosa Valley Electric, management began to look into original construction as far back as 1987. An designer was even hired to put together a plan. However, the plan was put on hold since of cost and unenthusiastic member perception (Fernie, J., and Sparks, L. 2004). Facility Management in Construction Scenario’s of Organizations At another helpful there was a feeling that the current facilities management had operated well enough for a long time, so why ought to that condition change now? Other issues that paralyze the construction choice are location, resale likelihood of the former facilities, and the dislike of alter. Each of these issues are exact points that must be resolved adequately before the cooperative can move ahead by means of something as all-inclusive as construction of new facilities. Unluckily, procrastination never resolves facilities troubles but merely postpones them until they expand into inescapable issues. Typically, the driving force is system enlargement and over time, the symptoms only augment in scale. Although it is hard to enumerate, the facts are in; insufficient facilities are directly related to incompetent operation, hampered efficiency and a abridged public image. Employees and Facility Management Employees who are focus to cramped office and/or operating conditions will never be able to achieve the efficiency levels of employees who enjoy contemporary, well-designed facilities. Inadequate space leads to a disintegration of functions where employees are frequently physically separated from management. Beyond the organizational complexity output is often hampered by means of slow access to records and equipment. Facility Management Vs Insufficient Storage Facilities for Materials No doubt, inadequate storage facilities for materials can decrease the helpful life of materials as they are attacked by the outside elements. Repossession is also impaired when materials cannot be stored under suitable conditions. One northern helpful which faces tremendously severe winter snowstorm responded by having employees volunteer to go to employment early just to locate and dig out the equipment and materials for the day's schedule. In an additional location, a helpful shared a parking area with a well-liked local restaurant. On a characteristic Saturday night, employees responding to service calls would regularly have to visit the restaurant in order to get people to move their motor vehicle from blocking the doors and driveway of the co-op. An untoward reason for slow response time. A well-planned facility can be incredible that the membership, the plank, and the whole community can look to by means of pride. On the other hand, an outgrown facility projects an image of a relaxed, outdated and toward the back organization. In the same way that customers might judge an airline's dependability and security on the basis of the paint work on the aircraft, today's supportive must surely take into thought the public image that their facilities project. Getting earlier period the paralysis According to the Dan Brewer, General Manager at Blue Grass RECC, who noticed that the majority directors walked from side to side the building seeing above all the boardroom and the manager's office? They seldom had the chance to see the cooperative functioning at normal levels throughout normal business hours. Consequently, he arranged a daytime tour for the directors from side to side the building in order to observe the packed conditions, the noise levels, the lighting and the hotness inconsistencies all through the building. Directors were able to see firsthand the operational conditions from the employee and member viewpoint ... they were soon convinced. The point was driven home throughout a rainy season when the roof higher than the boardroom sprung a premature leak and a #2 washtub had to be placed on the table to catch the water. For a few cooperatives the use of exterior consultants is critical to offer a third-party perspective and to address the current issues. A human resources and facilities study can offer an objective general idea of the co-op's current and future wants and help in formative whether or not a building project is essential. At Pioneer a planned planning session was used to widen the scope of planning, which triggered the requirement for new facilities. How are facilities assessed? In order to properly assess facilities, a study has to be made which narrate system enlargement with human resource necessities. Certainly there is an estimated relationship flanked by consumer enlargement and employees; though, this ratio can be harshly affected by technological advances, rising levels of service, job enlargement and spirited trends for the industry. The addition of new knowledge and labor processes changes both the types of skills necessary as well as the level of service achieve. Trends in the industry can offer a few insights into the future levels of contractual and provisional personnel in order to recognize the optimal balance flanked by internal and outside personnel (Institute for Retail Studies 2003). Another dangerous impact is new behavior in which the helpful will move into in the near future. Managers are ever more looking toward providing extra services to increase the value of the helpful to its members. Increased services clearly require greater than before facilities. A few cooperatives have developed sole products (home energy appliances, software programs, sharing equipment, etc.) which have marvelous market possible to members as well as other helpful and utilities. These innovative products/services present further opportunities and can have an important impact on helpful operations. Examples of this may be shared billing for additional entities such as hospitals, cable TV, water and sewer, etc. Shared services with additional cooperatives in the area of data dispensation, plant accounting, engineering support services, vehicle preservation and materials management are additional areas where the helpful could develop, which in turn will have a straight impact on the facilities. Facility Relation with Organization Fundamentally, a study should include a time frame of at least 20 years into the future during which all of these issues have to be cautiously balanced in order to map out the future of the helpful in terms of both human resource and facility requirements. Within this time frame land, office, shop and warehouse food can be projected to ensure that the facilities will carry on meeting the cooperative's supplies well into the future. In the short term, there may be chance to lease excess land and/or office facilities in order to settle the costs to the helpful. After space necessities are assessed management can then assess all of the subsequent options to decide the best explanation for the cooperative: * Should we believe branch or satellite facilities? * Can we alter the existing facilities to meet our projected necessities? * What is the cost of change compared to the cost of novel construction? * Can we buy an obtainable facility which will meet our wants? Design and action According to the expert analysis whether the choice is to remodel or custom construct, design is dangerous. If we analyze Cass County Electric Cooperative Manager Mike Gustafson’s statements then we come to know that he informed us that they took all the directors on a two-day bus tour to vacation four other helpful which had recently built original facilities. Every person in the directors, two people from their architectural firm, and regarding a dozen workers from all levels went on the tour. This visit was priceless to allow CCEC to learn from others' efforts in the building of new facilities. An added advantage was two days of contact among the directors and employees who in general did not have much contact. Employees Management and Facility Employee input is significant. Often the best appraisal and advice come not from management people, but from those who really need to make the space work for them. On the management side, panel participation is critical. According to the director Scott Handy, Assistant General Manager of CCEC, it is very important that you "employ a project manager and take away all other everyday jobs from that person for the term of the project. Employ a board committee of no more than three members who will entrust to be available for committee meetings on short notice and fairly regularly." Suggestions from current projects If we review the company annual report then we come to know that CCEC's Assistant General Manager, Scott Handy, recommends to others facing alike projects: "Make sure your board is on the similar page ... Do the necessary grounding on the monetary side and be certain you give a very sensible outlook on the project's monetary impact. Talk regarding the require for a project to your members from side to side the newsletter and every meeting chance you get. Get help from consultants. Even if you are persuaded the project has merit, an impression will make you, your board and your members much more contented." According to conservative thinking, this area has a parking difficulty since, during peak periods, motorists sometimes have complexity finding a free parking space right at their purpose. The conservative response is to increase the smallest amount parking necessities at new growth or to demand that local governments support financially the construction of added public parking facilities a costly choice that would make the area less good-looking. Facilities Planning Until 1989, the state of Florida kept our facilities record information; each year they would send us a report. We, in turn, would send inform sheets of any changes occurring throughout the year. This meant that they efficient the records and then sent us one more report. Now, though, the state requires us to keep our own record and send them the information on attractive tape every year. Energy Management In an attempt to save on energy expenditure, Daytona Beach Community College installed an energy management system in 1978. It consists of controllers that can be automatic when to turn on heating, air training and lights. There is important energy (and cost) savings if expenditure can be precisely controlled. We have saved over $2 million by turning gear off when it is not wanted for over one hour. In summary, we felt that a new building and room operation system had to grip the subsequent tasks: keep track of room inventory, allow preparation of events and classes devoid of allowing "real" disagreement, contain the information essential to program the energy-management equipment, and provide the essential data for facilities planning and utilization. The final system we urbanized does all of this handily. How the System Works The primary part of our system is the Room file. This is an absolute file of all rooms, and offers instant, online access for updating or examination all variables. For instance, facilities staff can check variables such as a room's four-sided figure footage, use code and category of facility. Registration staff may be concerned in variables such as the number of seats or particular equipment in every room. Energy management staff can inform the panel number, lead number, pre-conditioning time and post-conditioning time for every room. Case Study of Organization The key to running Facilities is elasticity according to John Doe Director of Operations for Company X Stepper. This suppleness begins by means of the buildings themselves, from their lease terms and site, to their size and preservation. Company X has an exact approach to leasing real land universal: having all their leases end at dissimilar times in particular 3 year gaps flanked by leases. Doing this gives them option when one lease end, not forcing them to make hard decisions with no proper analysis. As Company X moves in the direction of a JIT system, it keeps its warehouse space to a smallest; however, special attention is paid toward the glass lenses used in its product. No doubt, preservation of the buildings is a main task for Facilities and constitutes 20-30% of the $18 Million Facilities financial plan (which is the largest allocated department financial statement at Company X.) A permanent preservation staff is not used; rather all protection issues such as HVAC, electrical, vacuum (spotless room) and janitorial are outsourced to additional companies. Additional services such as Security and Mail are also outsourced. By doing this fixed costs are lowered and troubles are taken care of as wanted, three project managers operational under Doe control outsourcing these services. Repair of the machinery takes place as needed and there are two planned shutdown days in the year for routine preservation. throughout the past 6 years, they have only been "down" double. The everyday jobs of the Facilities department do not end with just leasing buildings and preserve them. There are a lot of special requirements that Facilities must fulfill such as adhering to structure codes set by the City preparation department of San Jose; even the building of a new parking lot have to be accepted by the city. The building inner is also the liability of Facilities. All labor areas must be designed by means of ergonomics in mind and be OSHA acquiescent. Another area of anxiety is waste management, in exacting chemicals. A main concern facing Company X as well as all additional companies is the present California Power Crisis. As much as probable manufacturing always continues, backup generator are used for IS, Security and the Switchboard/Reception area which Doe deem the nearly all significant department in Facilities since they are the link to present and potential customers. Power outages can cause main delays since the testing procedure must be restarted which in turn causes shipping delays to customers. To reduce the side effects of blackouts Company X asks for prior "heads up" warnings from PG&E as well as takes time for data backups. In an effort to preserve energy, lights are turned down and chosen employees are sent house early so their work areas can be shut down. Doe have a preference a practical approach to managing, which makes communication tremendously important. Aside from frequently planned weekly meetings with additional departments, Doe also meets with his project managers and calls and emails other departments regularly. By doing this, Doe stays on top of possible troubles and allows him to plan ahead which gives him additional suppleness in finding solutions. By keeping the lines of communication unlock with additional departments such as Operations, tasks such as custom preservation and janitorial services can be listed and arranged in such a way that is suitable and helpful for everyone concerned. References: Austin, N. (2004). 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