Finding a Match

"Our main focus when we launched the system was to better manage our office facilities in Europe by tracking and maintaining occupancy data," says Snook. "ARCHIBUS/FM has enabled us to produce reports on both vacant space and potential areas of change far more quickly that we could in the past."

When evaluating computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) systems, Snook and his team sought one that would be compatible with AutoCAD® format drawings, in addition to other features such as strong product support.

"Among the competitors, ARCHIBUS/FM represented better value for the money and had a more robust support mechanism in place in Europe," he says.

Easy to Use, Hard to Live Without

To begin building the database, Snook and his team extracted some occupancy data from AutoCAD drawings. However, not all occupancy information was conveniently stored in other systems. An electronic survey was sent to the sites that had not yet automated their information. The survey data was then loaded into the new system with custom routines designed to prevent bad information from being included.

Today, all office rearrangements and churn management are performed in ARCHIBUS/FM® for two European Technical Centers, as well as additional office facilities in both the UK and Germany. These moves vary from the large-scale relocation of 240 people to daily individual move requests.

Move coordinators are notified of all new starts and moves, and the database is updated accordingly. System administrators help to check and maintain the accuracy of the data. Coordinators also have a variety of reports available to check for problems. For example, the program can provide a list of all rooms with more than one employee assigned to it, or a report showing which rooms do not have financial information assigned.

Since various departments in two countries access data from the system, Ford Land decided to modify the menu selection to ensure that the most commonly used commands and reports are easily understandable for each individual who accesses the system. For example, telephone administrators use a module labeled 'Tele.'

"We've taught people how to effectively navigate through the system when they just want to perform a simple task, such as changing a phone number," says Snook. "This way, everybody has everything they need at the click of a button."

It also saves Ford Land the resources that would otherwise go towards training these users on the complete system. Snook adds that since Ford Land chose to modify the menu selections rather than the software itself, upgrades are simply and easily achieved.

Benefits Gained

Early on, Ford Land determined that the measure of a successful CAFM implementation would be whether the system could identify 10 vacant workspaces that were otherwise unknown.

"On this basis, the cost of the implementation paid for itself almost immediately," says Snook.

According to Snook, prior to implementing the new system, users had no way of accurately tracking occupancy, and some people claimed multiple desks at multiple sites.

"People would be sent to Germany to work on a vehicle launch, which led to an excess of unoccupied desks" says Snook. "Now we assign each employee to one workspace, and identify walk-on positions where temporary employees can work without taking up that space permanently."

In addition to increasing the company's revenue potential, the database helps users at Ford Land in the UK and Germany to perform their jobs quickly and accurately.

"Our upfront planning data is far more accurate, available in seconds instead of days or weeks, and keeps us from having to walk around the facilities, scribbling on floor plans!"

When a customer move request is submitted, Snook's team checks the information against the database and makes any necessary changes prior to the actual move. All departments involved in the move (moving contractor, IT, and telecom) use the information to coordinate their roles in the actual move. Once a move is complete, the request is closed. Reports of moves made can be categorized by project, building, floor, or cost center. Multiple moves associated with a particular project are closed out all at one time, eliminating the need for individual data entry of each move.

"We are currently churning around 200 employees per week using this process," says Snook.

Snook also acknowledges that having space usage information in an easily accessible format has had a positive impact on his team’s interaction with other groups.

"One of the unexpected benefits of implementing this system has been the far greater level of cooperation that we now have with some of our internal partners, notably the IT groups," he says. "For example, we have been able to offer them access to occupancy data in exchange for information about equipment. These groups are now much more supportive of the controls that we have in place to prevent unauthorized moves and changes—they understand the significant negative effect such actions have on the integrity of the data."

Riding on the crest of enhanced interdepartmental communication, Snook and his team are currently discussing the potential for further integration of information with Ford Land's human resources and IT departments.

Driving the Future

While Snook has never been able to define a precise "dollar value" in terms of savings, he does confirm that the new system delivers more efficiently managed space, better work processes, and a faster response to change.

"CAFM has made us far more capable of identifying strategic options earlier, such as releasing leased accommodations when they are no longer required," he says.

Ford Land is also investigating ways to streamline maintenance operations using the new system.

In addition, the company will soon implement other components of ARCHIBUS/FM including Web-based applications.

"We believe that a Web-centric interface for our clients is key to the long-term success of this system," says Snook. "We plan to publish the data, reports, and drawings that we hold for review by other groups via the intranet."

by Lysa Lewallen
Content based upon an ARCHIBUS Success Story © 2004