THE FUTURE OF WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT – FACILITY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

As the nature and objectives of emerging business establishments are undergoing radical change to stay afloat in volatile economic scenarios, the ways of managing all the aspects associated with the business of a company are also evolving. Any business enterprise is established not only on the apparently short-term simple objective of Profit-earning, but also making sure that the activities undertaken by the company are sustainable so as to be productive in the long run. In order to achieve harmonious operation of all the functionalities of a business, companies are seriously considering implementation of the emerging scientific discipline of Facility Management or Facility Management Services (FMS). These services involve management of all the supporting components of a business, so as to optimize its primary functions, enhance its productivity, and give the company a definite and measurable competitive edge in a particular business sector. Since, the functioning and requirements of different business sectors vary so do the implementation and scope of Facility Management Services in relation to them.   

Fundamentals of Facility Management

The operations of any business enterprise comprise of broadly two types of activities or aspects – Core & Non-core. Whereas the Core business activities take into account the products of the business, which can be any commercial product or services/business solutions provided by the company at specified costs, the Non-core activities encompass all the supporting activities, like real estate and HVAC maintenance, cleaning, security, and health & safety of staff. Facility Management relates to the optimization of the latter type of business activities with the aim of enhancing performance or output of the former activities. Earlier, companies could distinguish between the two fundamental activities, but did not appreciate their interrelationship. The significance of the Non-core activities lies in their ability to add value to the Core activities, if properly managed. This is the essence of Facility Management Services. The effective implementation of FMS at corporate level of a business firm can achieve realization of Strategic & Operational objectives of the company.

Standard Definition of Facility Management

Although there is no consensus on a standard definition of Facility Management, in 2006 all 29 European countries of EU agreed to use the following official definition of facility management: “Integration of processes within an organization to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary activities.” (EN15221-1: 2006 Facility Management – Part 1: Terms and definitions)

Advantages offered by Facility Management Services

Although there are various distinct advantages associated with the use of Facility Management Services, the most important of them are as follows:

Ø   Enhancement of productivity of a business by improving efficiency by adding value to the Core activities and reducing downtime expenses

Ø   Minimization of the Running Cost of a company

Ø   Reducing losses associated with mismanagement of Non-core activities

Ø   Creation of a better and efficient workplace environment for employees, in terms of Occupational Health, Safety, and Work Culture

Ø   Ameliorating the image of an organization so as to instill faith among its current and prospective clients

Business Sectors requiring FMS and scope of work for Facility Managers

Depending upon the type of business that a company is into, and its scope of work, the specific requirements and mode of execution of Facility Management Services vary. Some of business sectors using FMS are as follows:

·   Real Estate

·   Retail & Shopping Malls

·   Offices of companies belonging to IT, telecommunications, and other service sectors

·   Hospitals & Medical Clinics

·   Chemical Manufacturing Units, Quality Control Laboratories

·   Embassies & Hotel Chains

·   Schools & Universities

·   Sports Complexes

·   Recreational parks & Resorts

  

The scope of responsibilities for Facilities Managers is extremely varied and the services provided by them can include the following:

·      Business Management, both Operational & Strategic

·      Business Support

·      Installation Services

·      Optimum utilization of Space, Interior Designing

·      Health and Safety Audits of cafeteria, kitchens etc.

·      Ensuring Compliance of the organizational activities with the various regulatory       requirements

·      Ensuring overall cleanliness of the organization

·      Security

·      Performance Measurement

·      Procurement

·      Property Management

·      Strategic Planning and Advice

·      Outsourcing

·      Business Relocation

·      Utilities and Services 

Future scope of Facility Management

Successful organizations in future will approach FM as an integral part of their strategic plan. The success of business organizations in the future will depend heavily on the way they implement the discipline of Facility Management to manage their core and non-core activities. The implementation can be done either by hiring experienced FMS professionals or by outsourcing the work to companies specializing in this field. Outsourcing can be a better option for companies who can not afford to hire these professionals due to limited finance. Companies specializing in FM can develop customized services to satisfy a firm’s business needs and consolidate its support activities. It must be kept in mind that FM is a scientific discipline and various standards are being drafted to make its implementation meaningful. Proper understanding and application of FMS can make a company achieve its objective using optimum quantity of its resources.

Significance of the concept of 'Cleanroom'

Maintenance of a Clean room needs utmost care and control, and this can be accomplished by proper design of that room, availability of testing equipments and skilled technicians, and regular monitoring in order to maintain it.

'Cleanroom' as the name suggests refers to a room, space, or a particular confinement which is quite clean. But having said that, when we are talking of a scientific process any system needs to be quantified, and the same goes for a 'Cleanroom'. Although there are a number of different standard definitions of cleanroom, it can be defined as " A room where there is a controlled level of contamination, and the contaminants can be dust, bacteria, mold, electro-static discharge etc." The level of contamination is quantified by the number of air particles/particulates, of a particular particle size, per unit volume (generally cubic metre).

The concept of Cleanroom and Cleanroom service has received prominence in a number of industries and service providers which lay emphasis on precision like semi-conductor/electronics, microelectronics, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, microbiological laboratories, and other sophisticated equipment manufacturers. Since the work of maintaining a cleanroom is quite complicated, the varieties of jobs also vary. The expertise level range from that of low-skilled workers to that of highly skilled engineers and microbiologists. But all the technicians related to Clean Room Validation need to be thoroughly trained in the basic points, like wearing protective gears like masks, gloves, headgears etc., and also maintaining and following certain protocols related to the process of entering, exiting, and other movements inside that 'Contamination-free' room. Hence the job, in general, needs a lot of painstaking efforts on the part of all the technicians.

A number of environmental factors need to be controlled within specified limits in order to maintain a Clean room. These are Temperature, Air-borne particulates, Microbial particles, Relative humidity, Differential pressure, and Air Flow. Although the design of a Clean room involves quite a complicated methodology, the basic design can be summarized to employ increased air supply, use of high efficiency filters like HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) & ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air), & room pressurization. The execution of Clean room Validation is accomplished through five steps, and they are: Design Qualification, Installation Qualification, Operation Qualification, Performance Qualification, and Control Monitor. The laboratories that provide Cleanroom Validation & Designing follow ISO 14644, and some of the tests required for evaluation and certification of Cleanroom are Airborne Particle count test, Airflow (Laminar Flow) Velocity test, Air Pressure differential test, Installed Filter leakage test, Airflow visualization test, and Airflow direction test.The frequency of conducting such tests is also a matter of importance and needs to be followed scrupulously. Classification of Clean room to various grades is done according to ISO 14644-1, BS 5295, and Federal standard 209E. ISO 14644 though is the current regulatory standard.

Implications of testing of Petroleum Products

The importance of the use of petroleum products in today’s era can be seen and realized almost everywhere. The vast range of petroleum and petrochemical products being used in almost every sphere of activities is proof enough of the fact that such products have become indispensable for the existence of mankind. Although the history of the usage of petroleum products dates back to medieval periods, it is only recently that the importance of quality of such products has been realized. This is mainly because of the wide applications of those products like in household purposes, industries, automobiles, aviation sector, etc. and also because of the improvement in the refining processes developed as a result of evolution of new technologies.

Petroleum literally means ‘Rock Oil’ and implies a host of hydrocarbon-rich compounds that have accumulated in subterranean reservoirs. The large number of petroleum products exhibits a great degree of diversity in terms of composition, properties, and end-use. In order to categorize these compounds into different classes, it is vital to characterize each and every type according to their properties. This can be done through proper physical and chemical testing of petroleum products. Some of the common physical tests of petroleum products include boiling point/range, density, specific gravity, viscosity, Flash point, Pour point, Octane number, Cetane number etc. Some of the common chemical testing parameters of petro-products include elemental composition in terms of Carbon, Hydrogen, Sulfur, Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Calorific value estimation, Ash content etc. Broadly speaking, the main aim of testing of petroleum products is to address the following issues:

• Characterization of the key properties necessary from the point of view of use in refineries.

• Identification and quantification of contaminants like metal, alloys etc. which can impair the functioning of refining equipments.

• Determination of chemical composition in order to assess the environmental impact of the particular petroleum product.

• Ascertaining the commercial value of a product.
  

Apart from the determination of the above-mentioned bulk properties of petroleum products, microscopic analysis also holds paramount importance especially in preventive maintenance activities. In this context, Ferrography needs a well-deserved mention. Also known as wear-particle/wear-debris analysis and machine condition monitoring, ferrography is the microscopic examination of used industrial fluids or lubricants for the presence of ferrous and non-ferrous particles. The presence of such particles indicates mechanical wear of industrial equipments and such an analysis constitute a tool for preventive maintenance of industrial machines. Assessment of the conditions of lubricating oils is as vital and synonymous to the checking of health of an individual enabled by blood testing. Lubricants are the life-line of industrial machineries. Analysis of lubricants has three aspects: type and amount of contaminants, physical conditions of the lubricant like viscosity, and assessment of machine wear in terms of metal composition. The key objectives of Ferrography Analysis can be summarized as follows:

• Extending equipment life.

• Historic trending to help reduce maintenance and operation costs.

• Avoiding or reducing sudden downtime costs.

• Following the guiding principle of ‘Preventive Maintenance’ which is to counter the problem before it gets too late.

Importance of laboratory testing of Environmental & Building materials

Testing of building/construction materials and environmental testing go hand in hand in ensuring the infrastructural development of a nation, which eventually leads to the prosperity and growth of that country. The success of any infrastructural project lies in the availability of skilled manpower, application of advanced technologies, and utilization of high quality construction materials. The quality of such materials should be assessed properly in an accredited laboratory.

The basic properties of engineering or building materials can be broadly categorized into three types: Physical, Mechanical and Chemical. All these three test types are used to characterize the test items in terms of their respective properties. Mechanical properties describe the behavior of the materials under the application of external loads. Some of the mechanical properties are Compressive strength, tensile strength, Young’s modulus, Hardness etc. The physical properties arise due to the physical state or composition of the substance, and some of the common properties are density, specific gravity, soundness, permeability, porosity, moisture, texture etc. Last but not the least, the chemical properties reveal about the chemical composition and the chemical characteristics which arise as a result of various relevant chemical reactions involving the test item. Some such properties include pH, acidity, alkalinity, ash content, chemical composition of key ingredients (like cations, anions, chemical compounds) in cement, minerals etc. Building materials testing not only involves testing of all the key ingredients of construction, like cement, aggregate, concrete, reinforced steel etc., but also involves soil testing and water testing used for construction. The testing of such materials is done at various stages of the construction activities, and hence form an important part of the Quality Assurance program.

Environmental testing is generally done in tandem with testing of building materials, in order to keep a track of the environmental hazards posed as a result of construction activities. But environmental testing is also carried out to monitor other activities, be it industrial or commercial, that can pose a threat to human health and our ecosystem. Environmental testing differs from a lot other testing fields in the sense that its main aim is to assess the impact that the various anthropogenic activities have on our ecosystem, and hence the test results should not be viewed as mere numbers but understood in a subjective manner.

Calibration Services promote Quality and Efficiency

Calibration is an integral requirement for Instrumentation professionals who provide services to a number of important sectors such as medical care, medication, product development, food & beverage sector, etc. Device calibration is amongst the primary techniques that ensure the precision of the devices. Simply put, Calibration is the process of verifying the results generated by a measuring instrument. Although the exact method of calibration varies from one instrument to another, the basic process generally involves comparing the results from the test instrument with that of the reference standard. The latter should have a traceable result with a stated uncertainty. More often than not, the process of calibration is a comparison process rather an absolute one; the test instrument is calibrated against a more accurate one.

Experts say that the mechanical calibration services process enables the instrument to generate precise outcomes which would otherwise have been difficult to obtain. There are few calibrators that are used to recognize the connection within the functional variety of the devices. Most of the clients seek the services of 'Accredited or approved' calibration laboratories, which possess certified professionals capable of carrying out the relevant calibration activities acoording to accepted protocols. The calibration professionals can also provide counselling services regarding the current calibration routine and frequency and can also help in pointing out mistakes in the handling of instruments. If the devices on website are the cause for any of the concerns happening, they would be able to recognize this. The biggest function that you need to take into account is the adaptability of the calibration services. The professionals should be able to execute the process either with their techniques or customize according to the need of the client.