During the past few decades, the fourth industrial revolution has emerged (known as Industry 4.0). It connects the physical with the digital by using connectivity (Iot). The result provides real-time monitoring of all your assets and systems.
What is the ‘Internet of Things’?
The Internet of Things is the network of dedicated physical objects (things) that contain embedded technology to sense or interact with their internal state or external environment. Within FM, this translates into the introduction of meters, sensors, building systems and devices that measure actual behaviour and can communicate and interact with other systems.
The increasing concern with energy waste, pollution and utility costs, combined with the higher expectations from tenants, creates enormous pressure on Facility Management companies to optimise their services. Unfortunately, traditional Building Management Systems (BMS) are not equipped to offer the data and real-time response required from managers to make informed decisions concerning comfort, efficiency and staff productivity.
Reducing costs
There are two big advantages when you leverage the advantages of IoT, which are highlighted below:
The use of smart energy meters in buildings
The installation of these types of devices eliminates or reduces site visits by technicians that take time and money. Valuable data can be easily collected remotely and used to regulate and optimise energy consumption.
Predictive maintenance solutions
Users of Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) or other FM applications can access real-time information about the condition of each machine to decide when repairs are needed, unlocking optimisation opportunities, reducing capital expenditure and budget and consequently raising the profit margin. Operational efficiency, therefore, enables a Facility Management company to make the best possible use of the company’s resources to offer the best service packages and contracts to its customers.
Sensors also allow centralised control of the asset network. For example, if a meeting room is booked the IoT system can turn on the lights and heating to the room, ensuring a comfortable working environment and reducing costs by only providing energy to occupied rooms. Sensors can even be placed on consumables like printer toners, alerting the procurement system to order a new cartridge before the current one is depleted. In this way, problems can be rectified before breakage, reducing downtime and saving money.
Sensors can also assist with space planning in the workplace. Placed in offices, data is created to show areas with most traffic. When combined with space management software, scenarios can be created to plan the most efficient use of office space.
Living in a ‘Smart Building’
With the introduction of IoT solutions, facility managers are not only serving their self-interest. By reducing costs and expanding the scope of their services and business, they can supply a better experience for their tenants. They can also be compliant with government requirements concerning urbanism or even help achieve local and national environmental goals through the transformation of traditional buildings into efficient and connected smart buildings.
IoT services improve the general conditions for building owners and occupants. They allow FM companies to monitor and adjust building systems to match comfort levels, they provide round-the-clock security and surveillance services that enhance safety for all tenants in addition to using predictive maintenance to avoid outages or significant downtime caused by maintenance issues.
Now, more than ever, tenant’s satisfaction counts and can be easily heard and quantified thanks to social media and customer service apps. The capacity to react quickly to system faults before it affects the occupant’s experience is a significant value for FM firms.
Is there any downside?
Having established the benefits of IoT there are also scenarios that could sour the logistics of smart buildings. This is not an exhaustive list, but they include:
Choosing a system that is inadequate for the needs of building users, owners and managers.
Installing technology that becomes outdated quickly and requires regular upgrades.
Using hardware such as sensors and gateways that are restricted in location and make further expansion difficult and costly.
Systems can be overcomplicated and time consuming.
Installing a communications system that has limited reach around a building and between buildings.
So, it appears the downsides could potentially be costly if planning is not undertaken correctly. It is fair to say that these negatives can be avoided completely. Using a company like Moorcroft can ensure you have the right people driving this technology and you’re taking full advantage of IoT – keeping in front of the competition!
What to take from IoT?
One of the biggest advantages goes back to the beginning of this article – Industry 4.0. Having the ability to carry out preventative component maintenance, or to know when something is going to fail is fundamental. Maintenance plans can sometimes be unnecessary and not cost effective, relying on the ‘mean time between failure’ data of components for service schedules. IoT will change the way buildings are operated and maintained. Subsequently, managers will develop a better understanding of buildings. The development of the Internet of Things and ambient intelligence will allow managers to develop a much better understanding of how people are using buildings, leading to new maintenance approaches, better designs and more productive spaces.
The technology discussed here is certainly the future and can give FM companies the edge when dealing with competitive contracts. As always, the right people are needed to understand, embrace and drive this forward within FM. Ultimately, this new technology will create skills gaps that FM and services industry companies will have to address to maintain the optimal level of business performance.
Moorcroft have worked with some of the biggest companies in the FM sector. We don’t just want to work with you, we want to understand your culture, your ambition and what kind of people fit your company. How do we do this? Well, we talk to real people and build real relationships. Technology is vital to all our work. However, it is no substitute for picking up the phone. This is what we do and our skill lies in identifying the right people – we pride ourselves on it! We have a proven track record and we strive to work with the best people for each project.
If you have a recruitment requirement, please contact Simon Moorcroft in the first instance.
Email: simon@moorcroftconsulting.com
Website: www.moorcroftconsulting.com
Twitter: @MoorcroftRec
