Running a facility can be a challenging task demanding a range of responsibilities, including upholding standards, maintaining the building and managing costs. As a facility manager, you can count on not having to go it alone in keeping your facility running smoothly. Whether you’re dealing with issues related to energy costs, compliance, hybrid workplace utilization, sustainability, or other emerging trends, having current information is crucial to your success.
Make Informed Decisions
Here are some top facilities management trends, so you can make the best decisions. You can invest in the right technology to maximize productivity, ensure safety and gain cost advantages to stay ahead of the curve to keep your facility optimally functioning.
Trends in Facilities Management for Maximum Productivity and Efficiency
1. Paperless Building Operations
Today, there is a significant global trend toward sustainability spurred by a common challenge: finding ways to make facility management more cost-effective. The solution lies in adopting a paperless approach. Mobile technology can oversee energy usage, track the performance of assets and schedule timely maintenance. This approach is a tangible intervention empowering facility managers to take the reins to identify shortcomings efficiently. Real-time updates for facilities managers can keep building occupants informed and current.
2. Cost-Cutting Energy Conservation
Implementing an energy-saving plan is crucial for reducing facility operating costs. Managers can accomplish this by using context-aware technology to monitor occupancy levels and real-time hotspots, resulting in a reduction in excessive maintenance.
Since buildings are responsible for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, technology plays a pivotal role in achieving sustainability.
To enhance corporate sustainability efforts, it’s imperative to proactively monitor building energy consumption through FM software. Through detailed facility mapping, facility managers can identify trends in energy usage and optimize lighting, HVAC and other factors. Doing this increases energy savings and minimizes environmental impacts.
3. Perfecting Hybrid Work in Post-Pandemic Offices
Once the transition from remote work to an in-person or hybrid working model is complete, building managers can use real-time IoT intelligence to manage future offices. Mapsted is proficient in this area. By incorporating location-based solutions powered by IoT sensor data, offices can be transformed to facilitate wayfinding, room reservations, event scheduling, and notifications. These solutions enhance employees’ well-being and satisfaction.
Office hoteling is an effective strategy to enhance workplace productivity and streamline costs. To optimize office spaces for your employees, it is vital to understand the concept of office hoteling and its potential to revolutionize the workplace.
Mapsted is the ideal platform for monitoring real-time performance of facilities such as rooms, parking lots and concession stands, among others. Only Mapsted provides facility managers with the ability to manage and optimize office floors. Doing so can achieve maximum safety, productivity and efficiency.
4. The FM Role Will Transition from Reactive to Proactive
Preventive and predictive maintenance strategies will become the core of facility management trends, thanks to equipment monitoring tools and data analytics. Facility management will depend on intelligent tools to help track asset performance and predict potential equipment failures. Managers can then be more proactive and responsive to situations. Taking a proactive approach is also likely to enhance the resilience of facilities and prevent potential safety hazards.
Mapsted provides an ideal solution for facility managers to track assets and mobilize teams to prevent maintenance issues. Tracing problems to specific areas within a building and scheduling maintenance during non-peak times can help avoid disrupting occupants. Adopting preventive measures through real-time location intelligence could help FM teams prevent high overhead costs and business downtime.
5. The Dawn of Maintenance 4.0 – Embracing the Smart Future
Facility Maintenance 4.0 involves the integration of advanced technologies. They include the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and big data analytics. Basically, these can optimize the management and maintenance of facilities. This approach enables facilities managers to collect and analyze vast amounts of real-time data. They then can make data-driven decisions and identify potential issues before they occur.
By leveraging the power of predictive maintenance, FM 4.0 aims to improve the reliability and efficiency of building systems. Also, it can reduce maintenance costs and enhance overall building performance.
Additionally, it empowers facilities managers to prioritize maintenance tasks, allocate resources more effectively and improve the safety and comfort of building occupants. Ultimately, FM 4.0 represents a significant shift in the way facilities management is approached. This is a new era of smart, connected and data-driven facilities.
6. Heightened Dedication towards Achieving ESG Objectives
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting is rapidly gaining prominence in facility management. It is a tool for measuring sustainability and social responsibility. With increasing awareness of the impact of business operations on the environment and society, investors are demanding greater transparency and accountability from companies owning and managing real estate. Real estate owners and facility managers are turning towards ESG reporting tools to generate comprehensive reports on sustainable practices and performance.
Reporting solutions allow facility managers and building owners to demonstrate commitment to ESG goals and identify areas where they can improve sustainability. Through ESG reporting tools, FM sectors can gain insight into the environmental impact of their buildings. Additionally, they can also better understand the needs and expectations of their stakeholders and align their strategies with the broader sustainability and social responsibility goals. This trend will undoubtedly shape the future of facilities management. Companies are continually striving to meet the growing demand for sustainable and socially responsible practices.
7. Automation to Overcome Productivity Constraints
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) demonstrates its ability to streamline simple functions such as room bookings and performance reporting. However, facility managers are now seeking to leverage its potential in more complex areas.
By incorporating RPA into their operations, facilities managers can improve sustainability and security measures. For instance, RPA can be useful in the manufacturing industry by enabling bots to detect suspicious objects inside facilities and report them to supervisors remotely.
Regular virtual auto audits of buildings, HVAC systems and emergency equipment can provide a detailed safety report on the building’s safety. By using IoT platforms, the need for maintenance staff to visit hazardous sites for equipment monitoring can be eliminated. The result is enhanced safety and efficiency in building management. Continuous development of RPA has the potential to transform the way facilities management operates. It can open up the possibility of a more intelligent, interconnected and eco-friendly future.
Recap
As facilities management continues to grow in scale and complexity, businesses are feeling the pressure to innovate to keep up with the latest trends. They need to be prepared to adopt a comprehensive approach to transformation, as trends underscore the vital role facility management plays in the overall effectiveness of modern organizations. Therefore, facility managers need to integrate these trends into a practical framework streamlining facility management processes.
Are you grappling with facility management problems or searching for a smart solution to tackle challenges arising within the FM realm? Mapsted offers world-leading, enterprise-ready location technology! Our system seamlessly integrates into your operations, scales with your business, and delivers significant benefits in record time. Let Mapsted empower your organization today! You may enjoy our blog on How Building Technology Makes Smart Buildings Even Smarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the paperless approach in facility management and how can it help?
Ans. The paperless approach in facility management involves utilizing mobile technology to oversee energy usage, track the performance of assets, and schedule maintenance on time, resulting in cost-effectiveness, efficient identification of shortcomings, and real-time updates for building occupants.
Q2. Why is energy conservation important in facility management, and how can it be achieved?
Ans. Energy conservation is crucial for reducing facility operating costs, and it can be achieved by utilizing context-aware technology, monitoring occupancy levels and real-time hotspots, and proactively monitoring building energy consumption through FM software, among other factors.
Q3. How can IoT technology enhance employee well-being in future offices?
Ans. IoT-powered location-based solutions can transform future offices, facilitate wayfinding, room reservations, event scheduling, and notifications, and enhance the well-being and satisfaction of tenants.
Q4. What is Maintenance 4.0, and how can it benefit facility management?
Ans. Trade Show organizers can leverage a variety of technologies to enhance the attendee experience, including indoor navigation and wayfinding tools, mobile event apps, and real-time communication and engagement platforms. Mapsted offers these solutions to help organizers streamline their operations and to gain impressive ROI.
Q5. How can technology help trade show organizers streamline event logistics and operations?
Ans. Mapsted’s suite is perfect for event management, data analytics, and automation to help trade show organizers streamline various aspects of event logistics and operations. From venue booking and budgeting to vendor management and post-event reporting, Mapsted’s technology frees up time and resources for organizers to focus on other critical functions.