Digital Technologies in Transforming Facility Management Paradigms: A 21st Century Perspective
The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) describes facility management as the combination of processes, practices, and technologies that help drive the integration of a physical workplace with an organization’s people and work. This involves a series of tasks and projects, including, optimal equipment maintenance, streamlined space planning, and portfolio forecasting, among others.
Planning for emergencies and ensuring business continuity, driving environmental sustainability, facilitating communication, delivering quality and property management, and long-term strategic leadership are some of the critical elements of the evolving facility management paradigm. In recent years, especially in the post pandemic business ecosystem, digital technologies have emerged as a key growth enabler of the discipline, poised to be worth around USD 2 trillion by 2029.
As I look at the global facility management landscape, I feel the future belongs to these emerging digital technologies and trends, which will continue to not just reshape, but also redefine the way forward for the industry.
1. Internet of Things (IoT)
In the simplest of terms, IoT involves connecting objects (machinery, sensors, etc.) to a network. With sensors becoming increasingly affordable and the availability of internet bandwidth continuing to rise exponentially, an IoT network therefore comes with the promise of transforming facility management paradigms. It enables businesses to collect a greater amount of data, drives rapid response, and ensures the ability to act on new and relevant intelligence.
As we continue to move towards an increasingly connected world, “smart infrastructure” is going be the need of the hour — capable of leveraging new facility management solutions for dealing with the extensive scale and diverse lifecycle of dispersed, yet interconnected physical assets. For the facility management professionals and organizations worldwide, this would mean a transition to an IoT-enabled ecosystem for delivering cutting-edge and transformative experiences in the 21st century workplace.
2. Big Data
Big data is a logical development stemming from the proliferation of IoT networks and the resultant rise in the real-time availability and volume of facility management data. Teams today can leverage the advanced analytics from big data to gain meaningful takeaways from the information constantly being collected from their assets machinery. They can mine these data sets and easily detect a potential deterioration before it becomes a real problem, besides helping schedule preventive and predictive maintenance schedules with the least amount of disruption.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Predictive Analytics
The evolution and expansion of digital technologies has made it possible for us to leverage AI/ML in monitoring physical assets and gathering intelligence on their health in real-time. This makes it easier to forecast performance lifecycle before it deteriorates or fails. A deeper adoption of AI/ML can therefore help facility managers perform effective preventive maintenance schedules in a more effective manner and address the emergence of potential challenges before they mutate into insurmountable problems.
The future holds exciting possibilities, since ML does not merely rely on a set of pre-programmed algorithms, quite unlike the legacy condition-based maintenance (CBM) models. It continues to learn effectively from a large aggregate of data sets to identify new patterns, insights, and trends. Again, since these systems leverage the data collected by IoT-enabled chips in real-time, the models are continually refined to deliver analytical forecasts on the overall facility performance and the level of efficiency expected.
4. Mobile-first
And finally, mobile-first. Today, mobile technologies are helping drive improved communication, better on-ground access to computing functionalities, and an accurate and real-time access to data records. Leveraging an app that your facility managers can access from smartphones and tablets, the team can now carry all relevant information and capabilities in their palm, wherever their work takes them.
The verdict is clear — mobile-first is the way forward to reducing downtimes and empowering your facility management teams with an unprecedented degree of over projects, with the ability to track work in real-time.
Looking Forward
When it comes to improvements around quality, production, and longevity of physical assets, the digital transformation journey is an unfolding revolution. These technologies are set help global businesses streamline their facility management departments, ensuring a reduction in unplanned downtime, enhanced productivity, and a better overall performance. And when your facility teams move away from legacy solutions, the future is yours to enjoy.
For after all, the vision one needs to embrace is that we must, “Think strategically, translate tactically, and target operationally.”
Author
Global Head — Administration & Facilities
L&T Technology Services
Nitin Mehta is Global Head of Procurement, Travel, Compliance & Administration at L&T Technolocy Services. A verteran of the facility and administration domain with over 32 years of experience, he has played a lead role in streamling the company’s growth plans across geographies and continents.
A postgraduate in materials management, Nitin is an avid reader who likes to stay updated about the latest trends in the global facility managment landscape, with a focus on emerging, especially digital technologies and enablers. He is also a noted public speaker and has trained over 200 mentee’s in the fine art of public speaking, besides hosting several shows on television.
Nitin is also well-known mountaineer, and has scaled over 25000 feet with six mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas. He has a keen aptitude towards social services and continues to devote his spare time toward uplifting his society and community.
Nitin Mehta has held the post of Division Governor for India & Sri Lanka for 2012 and 2013.
