Case Study: Indiana University

FM:Systems’ Flexible Configuration Helps Indiana University Manage Complex Building Information Tracking

Contact Name: Julie Stines
Title: Associate Director, IU Bureau of Facilities Programming and Utilization
Industry: Property Management
Facilities: 781 buildings, 29,909,588 sq. ft.
FM: Systems Solutions: FM: Space and FM:Interact
Client Since: 1998

“FM:Systems flexible products enable Indiana University to serve accurate IWMS data to staff for daily needs, as well as faculty and administration for decision support and future planning.”
Julie Stines
Associate Director
IU Bureau of Facilities Programming and Utilization

Background:
Indiana University (IU) is a major multi-campus public research institution, grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, and a world leader in professional, medical and technological education. Indiana University's mission is to provide broad access to undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education for students throughout Indiana, the United States, and the world, as well as outstanding academic and cultural programs and student services.

Facilities and Property Overview
Indiana University is comprised of eight campuses and 3,605 acres throughout the state. These campuses include 781 buildings which total 29,909,588 gross square feet.  Diverse facility types include academic, research, administrative, hotel, healthcare, dormitory and rental properties.

Challenges
The University was looking for the ability to link CAD base plans to existing space inventory and provide the results both graphically and textually to their customers, which consist of IU staff and contractors. They needed flexibility to customize the product so that it could handle IU’s “building phases” and room prorating.

One of the main challenges for the team was complying with the unique space measurement reporting requirements dictated by the state funding model. Some of the buildings owned and maintained by IU are over 100 years old and Indiana University’s state funding model is based upon the adjusted age of a structure; this necessitates the separate tracking of each subsequent addition of a building, with the ability to roll up into an overall building record. In the hierarchy, this adds a level between the traditional building and room levels in typical CAFM products. Additionally, indirect cost recovery procedures require prorating of rooms by group, space type and functional category.

Solution
Indiana University purchased FM:Space and FM:Interact in the fall of 1998, imported existing data and began configuration and testing in 1999 with final implementation in 2000. The system was then expanded to regional campuses. For transitional auditing purposes, IU ran FM:Space in tandem with the old mainframe system with periodic refreshes until March of 2002. In 2007, IU rolled out FM:Interact 7.0.2 across eight campuses statewide

In the beginning, IU worked with the FM:Systems team and the University Information Technology Services (UITS) department to standardize building code structures across all IU systems. The University mapped existing space data into FM:Systems’ flagship product, FM:Interact, and then worked with FM:Systems, who assisted in configuring FM:Interact to handle IU’s unique needs. IU’s CAFM Team worked with UITS to develop interfaces from FM:Interact that would easily integrate into the University’s financial, maintenance, scheduling and problem tracking systems.

Results/Accomplishments
Over 500 customers access the secure FM:Interact site across eight campuses. Interfaces from FM:Space feed IU’s PeopleSoft, Maximus, Falcon and financial systems, expanding IU’s reach and benefits of the facilities data throughout the University.

“FM:Interact serves as the central source for IU facilities data,” stated Julie Stines, associate director for the Bureau of Facilities Programming and Utilization. Indiana University has obtained immense benefits from the implementation of FM:Interact, including:

• Increased reporting capability which provides the ability to report on facilities across all major IU systems
• Estimated annual cost savings of $1300 from electronic desktop distribution of base plans and by providing more accurate base start-up plans for contractors beginning IU projects
• Streamlined space utilization reports to ensure appropriate state funding
• Estimated $2000 in annual savings from providing IWMS as the central building and room source via interfaces into major IU systems

Because of the above listed benefits, Indiana University has experienced a total of $26,400 in savings since 2000.

“With the implementation of FM:Interact, expectations have risen as staff come to depend upon the facilities data and as they incorporate the tools into their varying roles. As a result, changes are reported promptly and data is accurate and delivered in real-time,” stated Julie Stines, associate director for IU’s Bureau of Facilities Programming and Utilization. “In addition, customers are pleasantly surprised to have such a tool to help them with their daily duties.”