Alternative Work Styles

Mobile technologies are rapidly changing the way corporate, healthcare, educational, and other large facilities are maintained and managed, according to Dan Lorenz, vice president of AMS CAD + CAFM Solutions, and Brian Haines, director of marketing at FM:Systems. Rather than waiting for mobile technology to catch up to the needs of technicians in the field, companies are taking a more proactive view: creating wish lists of typical activities that their near-ubiquitous mobile phones and tablets can expedite, and commissioning mobile solutions to fit those needs.

The following is a condensed transcript of a panel discussion that took place at Tradeline’s Academic Medical and Health Science Centers 2013 Conference. The panelists are Ian McDermott, senior director of MedRIST, University Health Network, and Scott Kelsey, managing principal at CO Architects. The moderator is Derek Westfall, president of Tradeline.

Utilizing the “big room”—collocating all project team members onsite in a single environment—to achieve true integrated project delivery (IPD) can be the best way to drive efficiency, reduce waste, and improve project outcomes through a shared pain/shared gain contract structure for all stakeholders. But it also can create a lot of noise in the form of information overload. Only by managing information as a Lean commodity can the IPD team realize the full potential of the process.

FLIR has released a compact thermal imager designed to attach to an Apple iPhone 5. The FLIR ONE is a non-contact device that detects infrared energy (heat) and converts it into an electronic signal to create a thermal image with temperature calculations on the phone screen. Thermal imaging can be used to find and pinpoint issues like loose connections, failing breakers, overloaded wiring, overheating motors, bearings and compressors, misaligned shafts, as well as air and water leaks.

Offsite prefabrication of building modules can potentially transform the construction process in the United States, according to two engineers who have implemented the technique on multiple project sites. The experience of Ed Szwarc and Dean Poillucci of Skanska USA Building, Inc., indicates that assembly of such units at offsite construction facilities (OSCFs) radically compresses schedules and improves safety while also providing cost savings.

Blindly trying to incorporate all the cutting-edge technologies and processes in the delivery of a new facility can lead to more waste than value. It’s important that building owners understand which Lean design principles, innovative technologies, and sustainability strategies meet their needs and add value to their specific project in a way that maximizes lifecycle performance, says Andreas Phelps, integrated projects executive at Balfour Beatty Construction.

Johnson & Johnson’s FLEXplace™ initiative—successfully deployed in 10 locations, with 20 more currently planned—has helped the company increase space utilization by 16 percent and accommodate 67 percent more people in the same square footage. The program is part of a global workspace initiative to enhance the employee experience and increase overall productivity, which at the same time increases asset utilization. FLEXplace is making workplaces more dynamic, with activity-based neighborhoods and strategically located mobility centers.