One of the primary assignments of Shader's department is to catalog and maintain all data relating to the University's space inventory, including floor plans, occupancy, and utilization. In prior years, this was done through a manual space use survey that cost thousands of dollars and necessitated the printing, mailing, and collating of more than 8,000 documents.

"We had to audit more than 15 million gross square feet in six months. After all the information was keyed in, there was very little time left to verify data," says Shader.

This year, working in conjunction with Computerized Facility Integration (CFI), Shader automated the survey process using a modified ARCHIBUS 12 Internet module called Web Central running on an Oracle 8i platform. The electronic survey now occurs year-round, is more accurate, can be completed in a fraction of the time, and ties in financial and personnel data from PeopleSoft. A much smaller staff is required to maintain the system because those responsible for the space update the database.

The University of Missouri uses space inventory information to calculate indirect cost reimbursements, as well as Medicare/Medicaid rates. The data is also utilized to assign campus space, gauge billing replacement values and replacement cost data for maintenance and repair, and to create MU's space model—a formula-driven projection of current and future facility needs on a departmental and divisional basis.

Harnessing Web Integration

The ARCHIBUS database uses AutoCAD 2002 to maintain some 2,000 floor plans and provide accurate square footage data for 36 MU sites, including four hospitals. It also features a Geographic Information System (GIS) interface that links into modules by PeopleSoft, Maximo, and FindView.

"Now you can pull up a report on the Web and see exactly what the space is used for, who uses it, and where the source of departmental grant funding is at the room record level," says Shader.

When University staff members fill in their portion of the survey all necessary documentation, instructions, and floor plans are available in one place online. The edit screen automatically queries them as to whether or not they are still assigned to the room, what the space is used for, or if any changes have been made.

After a room's inventory has been updated and the changes saved, a wide range of reports can be instantly produced. Though staff members are allowed to make edits on a divisional and departmental basis only, any registered user—including students, alumni, and outside contractors—can search the database.

Real World Assets

In addition to maintaining MU's expansive space inventory, Shader's department is also responsible for cataloging and maintaining accurate maps of all MU property.

"We have more than 18,000 acres of physical land assets outside the buildings—things like experiment stations, farms, fencing, lagoons, manholes, and piping—that we are trying to designate, accurately locate, and track," says Shader.

Capitalizing on aerial photographs generated by flyovers and through a collaborative effort with the academic community at MU, including aerial photography received from NASA, Shader's team developed a coordinate grid as baseline for the GIS interface. MU's GIS was created using another Oracle application called ArcGIS. The resulting interactive maps allow users to pan and zoom through detailed geographic representations of campus data.

"We used to do field verification using CAD staff who aren't trained to measure things like fencing and roads. They would go out with tape measures, measure things, then come back and put them on the map. It was the best system we had at that time, but it wasn't grounded in any real world coordinates," he says.

Now Shader's staff uses handheld and backpack GPS units to verify the exact locations and dimensions of MU assets. These coordinates are integrated with the space inventory floor plans and other archived map data to create a single geographic environment. The map system also serves to help visitors and alumni find their way around campus and to develop the University's Master Plan.

Archiving Past, Present and Future

A major challenge facing Shader's department is that the University was established in the 1800s so building construction and as-built records have been kept in a wide variety of formats—including linen, onion skin, microfilm, aperture cards, and AutoCAD drawings—making it difficult to maintain a comprehensive document archive.

Shader developed a facilities archive by scanning old Raster-based images and storing them in a Web-based database called FindView. The archive is used by architects and engineers, as well as for campus maintenance and construction projects. FindView allows users to conduct text-based searches of image archives. For example, a user can type in "water pipe," and FindView will access every document in the database with a water pipe.

Automation is achieved by requiring outside agencies to submit electronic versions of construction documents and as-builts for all new work. Shader has managed to save costs and time in the scanning of older documents by charging a small fee to new projects.

"Every time a construction project starts somebody needs to get archived documents. When the archives are sent out to be copied, I request backup computerized files on a CD. This way we don't have to redraw or scan anything, we just clean them up and add them to the system," says Shader.

Interoperability is Key to Success

Many large academic and corporate organizations have made the jump to online facility management. What makes the MU system powerful is the way in which it ties the databases together ensuring cohesive building information throughout all applications. The square footage numbers in the ARCHIBUS database are the same ones feeding the maintenance management system, building archives, Accounting, and HR. This high level of interoperability is made possible through standardization to the Oracle 8i platform.

"It has been imperative for us that all these systems run on the same platform so information can be exchanged back and forth. ARCHIBUS data can be displayed geographically and integrated with mapping and archive and billing information," says Shader.

Future Refinements

The heightened awareness created by September 11 has prompted MU to make its facility systems more secure. Only registered users are allowed to access most records, and sensitive data such as floor plans for MU's nuclear facility are offline entirely, although many renderings of campus buildings and maps are still available publicly on the Internet for alumni and visitors.

"We can't let these documents sit in storage collecting dust and rotting away. The data needs to be verified and made available so if something happens we will know exactly where the electrical panels and water shut-off valves are," he says.

Shader's department continues to work with CFI refining the system's cross-linking and access capabilities. Detailed mapping is being developed on the basis of campus "quadrants," or neighborhoods, and interoperability between PeopleSoft, FindView, and ARCHIBUS is being enhanced further in order to give personnel the ability to manipulate data on a modular basis. Facility planners will soon be able to conduct "what if" scenarios by moving things around in the system in cohesive chunks. This allows them to consider the big picture when doing personnel moves or department consolidations.

"The ultimate goal is to provide a self-service mechanism for people to help themselves," Shader explains. "Our business is institutional support so we have to do whatever it takes to provide the maps, print the floor plans, and report space inventory. Now everybody can help themselves and, if they can't find something, then they call us. It has saved us a tremendous amount of time and resource that we can reinvest in updating the database and maintaining data quality."

By Johnathon Allen