Computer-Aided Facility Management: How Implementing CAFM Might Benefit Your Industry

As a facilities manager, you might feel like you’re juggling a dozen glass balls every day. Trying to manage operations, improve space utilization, track assets, stay on top of maintenance tasks, and generate reports for informed decision-making is a full-time job and every task is just as important as another.

With technology that allows facility managers to organize and streamline the numerous aspects of facility management, operations, and maintenance, your job as a facility manager might become less stressful and more controlled. 

Learn how a computer-aided facilities management system can enhance the overall efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness of facility operations. 

What Is Computer-Aided Facility Management (CAFM) Software?

Computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) software gives facilities the tools to:

• Plan and monitor assets
• Schedule maintenance and repair tasks
• Track work orders
• Meet compliance requirements

CAFM software helps maintenance managers clarify the cost of repairing and maintaining assets, the quality and condition of current equipment, and the performance of vendors. 

In certain areas — old warehouses, decades-old companies with large inventories, and companies that use multiple facilities — CAFM software can make the difference between chaos and order, filling the gap that other software solutions often leave open.

Computer-aided facility management software does even more, including:

• Utilizes the Internet of Things in your facility
• Monitors remorse assets that are part of your facility in different locations
• Controls certain aspects of physical building maintenance, like work orders and replenishment paperwork
• Works alongside other software solutions to provide a clearer understanding of the facility’s relationship with the overall company

Depending on the software solution, it may or may not be able to accomplish all these things. However, depending on the needs of the facility, they may not all be needed.

UpKeep is a CMMS software solution that works with CAFM to help businesses by giving maintenance and reliability teams the tools they need to run operations efficiently and effectively. With many features, including asset management, inventory and work order management, and preventive maintenance, facilities can maintain functionality and order.

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What Does a CAFM Include?

Different CAFM systems highlight characteristics that differentiate them from one another, but most offer the same baseline features and functions. From there, features may get more specialized or advanced, but at a minimum, most CAFM systems include:

• Space planning and management
• Maintenance management
• Tracking asset abilities
• Physical building administration
• Space reservations
• Reporting
• Energy performance analysis 

Space management is at the top of every facility management team’s mind. How a facility can use its space more effectively and efficiently is a struggle that seems never-ending, and using CAFM software takes much of this load and automates it.

Taking CAFM software into a new space, extension, or facility enables facility managers to plan a move to a new space or expansion by working with Building Information Modeling (BIM) tools and other architectural software. A collaborative effort between these software solutions enables new facilities to start on the best organizational scheme possible.

Tracking asset abilities is something most mainstream CAFM software do, including the location, history, and track record of:

• Tools and equipment of all sizes
• Company computers and software
• Lock and entry systems
• Facility-specific expenses and accounts
• Facility systems
• And more

Why Use CAFM?

Companies use CAFM software because it brings cost efficiency, flexibility, mobility, and metrics measurements to any given facility. A quality CAFM solution reaches all industries, making their facilities management better, even if:

• The facilities’ needs are different
• The goals are different; or
• The metrics in question change

There are a few areas that CAFM affects, providing niche options for management:

• Space Management – CAFM allows managers to understand the natural flow of a building and optimize the space. 
• Capital Project Management – For larger scale projects, CAFM helps ensure projects are finished on schedule and stay on track through their progress.
• Asset Management – There are many assets within a facility, and using a coherent and centralized system is vital to optimizing their use.
• Risk Management – CAFM may help ensure your facility is compliant without a huge tax on your resources or productivity. 
• Day-to-Day Operations – From morning to night and all of the hours in between, CAFM helps manage little details and improve workflow across the board.

The Purpose of CAFM Software

Computer-aided facility management allows each facility to tailor its solution to meet very specific needs. 

For example, consider a facility used for storing highly valuable products. They will need increased security, very accurate inventory counts, and tight control over who comes in and out of the facility. 

Now consider a huge sprawling warehouse that contains massive amounts of inventory which is distributed on a regional basis. Both facilities may be able to use the same software solution, depending on the individual system. All they’ll need to do is tailor it to meet their needs.

This allows one experienced facility manager to implement a working solution across multiple locations rather quickly. 

Facility Managers and CAFM Software

How do people in charge of facilities use CAFM solutions?

In short, they can run their buildings more effectively and efficiently because they can control all of their work orders from one system and one point of access. 

As a facility manager, having access to data and information at your fingertips is crucial. Instead of wading through endless paper, UpKeep allows facility managers to manage all reports in a well-organized software system. Now, they’re more free to attend to the myriad other tasks on the back burner and can focus on things that might otherwise fade into the background.

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5 Benefits of Using CAFM Software

#1: Centralizes All Of Your Data

All approved maintenance technicians can conveniently access data from the system with their mobile devices, making it easy to see what tasks are waiting to be completed, enter completed work when done, report problems identified, etc.

By eliminating paperwork, maintenance teams can proactively identify and solve problems, complete tasks, and more. Additionally, paperwork can no longer be lost, destroyed, or forgotten. While some problems, like turning in reports on time, remain, many obstacles to keeping accurate records and reports are removed.

#2: Simplifies Reports

With the right CAFM software, everything you need is available at the click of a button. Whether it’s work orders, maintenance reports, or usage assessments, anything you might need to remain compliant at your facility is readily available.

#3: Offers Straightforward Visualization

With a full perspective of your facility, CAFM increases management awareness and simplifies the asset management processes. Utilize CAFM to mock up changes to an infrastructure or see into a building to ensure its operations are running smoothly.

#4: Allows for Scenario Planning

With the ability to create scenarios for processes like space planning, move management, and asset management, you can report, compare, and analyze to ensure you’re making the best choice. 

Once you decide on a scenario, the CAFM system will update your database and support the processes with project management, workspace management, work order control, and more.

#5: Tracks Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Quality CAFM software also provides the data to allow facility managers to track and measure their KPIs in ways that aren’t otherwise possible.

For example, consider a facility that wants to measure its work order fulfillment time. This information can be automatically tracked through a CAFM interface. The same is true for other KPIs like workforce productivity, number of employee complaints, average completion time, and more.

Where Does Utilizing Computer-Aided Facility Management Make the Most Difference?

Implementing CAFM software can make a difference in nearly any facility in any industry. The theory is not limited by the size, space, requests, scope, or other common barriers that most software solutions struggle with.

However, it does offer significant advantages to specific industries, companies, and employees.

Industries

CAFM software makes the most difference on an industry level in industries that require large facilities and heavy maintenance in those facilities. The larger the facility, the more difficult it is to keep track of everything without some form of automation. 

When a CMMS solution is implemented in these facilities, the benefits carry more impact in a large facility as opposed to a smaller one that does not require heavy maintenance. 

This is particularly true in the following industries:

• Manufacturing
• Maintenance
• Industrial technology facilities 
• Large technical or vocational schools
• Universities or other large campus facilities

Companies

If a company has a mid-to-large range facility, it can typically benefit from a CAFM solution. Even if they need much bigger software for all of their needs, some element of computer-aided facility management software should be part of that larger solution. 

Companies will see the most return on investment from a CAFM software solution in cases where:

• Large or multiple facilities need to be managed from a fairly centralized location.
• High levels of oversight/security are needed in the facility.
• Increased documentation is required by upper management or law enforcement.
• Other situations require increased tracking, observation, etc.

Is Computer-Aided Facilities Management Right for You?

Computer-aided facility management does offer many benefits for most facilities, but others may do well with simple, less expensive software or demand more functionality.

Most organizations focused primarily on maintenance tasks might find everything they need with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software that handles work schedules, work order assignments, tracking of repairs and assets, and compliance. However, CAFM works with CMMS, computer-aided design (CAD), and BIM tools to bring together a broader amount of facility data than is possible with just a CMMS. For this, you might want to start with a CMMS that can integrate with a CAFM suite of tools.

If your facility is too big for one single solution, you might require an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) that includes heavy analytics, invoicing, payments, and sourcing contractors. With an IWMS, data management can be extended into real estate, project management, and sustainability topics.

However, IWMS might not be the best investment for smaller or mid-size companies. They’re typically time-intensive to set up and slow to implement. If you are in a field that pivots quickly or utilizes facilities that shift from purpose to purpose, IWMS might not offer the flexibility that you need. Small businesses typically find themselves without the necessary resources while larger facilities might become enslaved to the software. 

A CAFM system fills the gap between simple, one or two-trick systems and larger systems that tend to cover more than is needed at any facility. It eliminates old and obsolete systems in a fairly straightforward way while still retaining the flexibility and functionality of multiple systems.

UpKeep: A Reliable, Mobile-Friendly Computerized Software for Facility Management Teams

Efficiency and productivity are the name of the game for facility managers, and using software designed specifically for their needs across many industries and company sizes is key.

With a mobile-friendly solution, facility managers have everything they need at their fingertips. They can access important data, resources, schedules, and more, freeing time and increasing productivity. 

CAFM software can replace obsolete systems. When paired with CMMS software, like UpKeep, CAFM offers more data and power in your system.

Start using mobile-friendly computerized facility management software today to increase productivity and efficiency in your company.

 

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