Case Study: Healthcare

A Healthy Facilities Management Strategy

FM:Interact helps The Company streamline move processes and quickly report on facilities data 

Facilities:
9 buildings
3 leased buildings
1.3 million sq.ft.

Client Since:
2001

“With FM:Interact, we were able to generate an annual savings of $1 million from the reduction of underutilized space and a 72 percent cost reduction per move. Our processes are now automated, providing enterprise-wide visibility into our facilities information.”

Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Facilities Services

Background:
The Company was chartered in 1933 and continues to carry out its mission
to make a healthy difference in people’s lives.

The Real Estate Services Firm managing space for The Company has more than 400 employees and 26.5 million square feet of office, industrial, retail and multi-family properties under management. They specialize in diverse real estate services, including brokerage, property management, corporate real estate services, facility services, construction management, development services and investment services for customers worldwide. 

Facilities and Property Overview
The Company occupies approximately 1.3 million square feet of owned and leased property encompassing more than 12 buildings.   

The Real Estate Services Firm has managed these buildings on-site for almost a decade.

Challenges
The Company was faced with multiple challenges including reducing vacancy levels, shortening response times for maintenance and move requests and improving service quality for internal customers. 

In addition, the space and occupancy data on hand was either inaccurate or simply unavailable.  Without an IWMS system, floor plans were not properly maintained and information about space, occupancy, moves and services was scattered at best.

In addition, the CEO began asking for information about the portfolio and available space to support operational decisions. It was at this point that the senior vice president, human resources and facilities services, tasked The Real Estate Services Firm with finding a solution that would help The Company streamline and create efficiencies within its facilities operations.

Solution
The Real Estate Services Firm searched the market on behalf of The Company for a solution to meet its needs, and decided on FM:Systems.   

“Configurability was crucial to the success of this implementation,” said the on-site manager of space planning.   “As a result, we were able to set up multiple views and statuses that keep departmental liaisons and employees moving and up to date.”

The Company is also able to configure views for IT and telecom that enable them to update FM:Interact.

Results
Since implementing FM:Systems in 2001, The Company has realized an initial reduction in underutilized space netting an annual recurring savings of $1 million, reduced annual per square foot operating costs by 26 percent and improved customer satisfaction levels.

Improved Space Management
The Company has reduced the costs of each move from $280 to $68, a 72 percent cost reduction. According to the on-site manager of space planning, “The cost savings and increase in employee productivity have been astounding. With more than 100 percent churn, we can do 4000 moves per year. This would not have been possible without FM:Systems.”

This cost reduction is based on a significant reduction in time and effort required for each move. As a result, the team was able to move more than 613 employees during a period of four weekends – The Company’s largest move to date.

Streamlined Processes
Previously, employees would e-mail their maintenance and service requests and operators would create a work order and e-mail or fax the form to the appropriate person. With more than 10,000 work order requests each year, it was important that The Company automate this process to improve productivity and ensure that all work orders were received and routed to the appropriate person.

Now, when a work order gets dispatched, it is printed to the appropriate contact’s printer, thus eliminating delays and miscommunication.

Improved Internal Customer Service
The departmental liaisons are pleased with the new process and agree that it makes their jobs much easier. Prior to implementing FM:Interact, they would spend weeks on a move.  Now it only requires a minimum amount of data entry.

Also, some customers would have to wait a whole day without a computer, resulting in hours of downtime.  Overall, the solution was able to eliminate 50 percent of customer downtime, significantly improving internal customer productivity and service.

Better Reporting and Data Visualization
The reporting capability has been instrumental to The Company’s overall strategic planning initiatives.  Adds the on-site manager of space planning, “The amount of information that you can get, how you can break it out and how it looks visually is a key element. Since we have a volatile headcount, growth can be hard to project in the insurance industry. FM:Interact not only provides us with access to this data but also allows us to break it down visually which is invaluable.”

Best of all, the senior vice president of human resources and facilities is able to quickly provide accurate data to The Company’s CEO to ensure that operational decisions take into account the financial impact on the portfolio. “We’ve been pleased with our decision to purchase FM:Interact.  At any given moment I know I have access to key data. I look forward to reviewing the reports and more importantly seeing the impact to the bottom line.”