Through the Looking Glass

While understanding a problem exists is important, the FM industry lags behind other industries in its use of technology to solve those problems.

An FM may know there are 12 air handler units in the building and that five of them will need to be replaced in the next six months. That is the problem, but what is the solution? By leveraging technology, the FM could take the next step and solve the issue of how best to receive and store those replacement units.

Much of this problem-solving technology already exists. But embracing it, implementing it, and leveraging it can be challenging in an industry with a history of slow adoption.

It is time for the FM industry to embrace a mindset of change and carefully consider the incredible opportunities tomorrow can bring.

Explore what the future of capital planning technology could look like using examples from other industries. Examine some of the key factors preventing the facilities industry from progressing technologically in capital planning. Plus, learn how data capture, digital twins, and other advancements can help facilities managers begin leveraging technology for problem solving.

Inspiration for capital planning from outside industries

Observing how different industries leverage data and technology to overcome pain points offers some fascinating ideas for how capital planning and FM could be done differently in the future.

Illustrative real-time monitoring and alerting

Newer cars (especially electric and hybrid vehicles) have large touch screens built into the dashboard that can display a diagram of the car. It shows data such as battery life, tire pressure and fluid levels in a highly visual way.

In older vehicles, when a tire’s pressure is low, an icon illuminates near the speedometer. However, there’s no way to tell which tire is low or exactly how low it is. Is it the driver’s side front tire? Or the rear passenger tire? Is it slightly low? Or dangerously low? The only way to find out is to manually measure the pressure of all four tires.

The displays in newer cars often show a gauge next to each of the four tires on the car’s diagram. These gauges illustrate the tires’ current air pressure as compared to the recommended pressure. With a glance, the driver knows exactly which tires are low and by how much.

This greater level of detail depicted visually allows drivers to monitor their vehicles more closely in real time and alerts them that action is needed well before an issue becomes serious.

Location and relationship mapping

The automotive industry in general excels at creating detailed schematics and diagrams of motor vehicles. For any make or model, illustrations are available showing every part that makes up the car, where each part is located, and how each part is connected to the parts around it.

Diagnosing problems, ordering parts and installing or removing parts is much easier when there is a map to follow.

Smarter purchasing

Online shopping giants like Amazon and Instacart collect massive amounts of data from their customers - such as past purchases, items often purchased together, most popular items and more.

As a result, as a customer is shopping, the merchant can suggest complementary items, show similar items at a lower price point and even remind the consumer that it is time to reorder a product.

Online retailers use data to help people buy better, buy on time and not have too many extra items in stock. In a sense, the business is thinking for the consumer because it has so much information to draw from. These organizations are harnessing data to improve the way people buy things.

What this means for capital planning

In these examples, technology not only identifies needs or problems - it also makes it easier to take the necessary actions in response.

Many tools already exist to collect and organize the data needed for capital planning. It is already relatively easy to see what is wrong and what needs to be done. What is missing is technology that takes things a step further, helping to actually solve the issues that the data has identified. Imagine what a difference that could make for today’s facilities.

So the question becomes: why is the FM industry not pushing for technology and practices that can solve headache-inducing capital planning problems?

Why the struggle to improve capital planning?

While this is not an exhaustive list, these are a few key factors worth highlighting.

Technology has been slow to reach FM teams

There is a long-standing perception that facilities people are not tech savvy and do not use technology. They are the ones swinging hammers and turning wrenches - what use would they have for a fancy software program?

As a result, many organizations have not focused on investing in the necessary infrastructure and training needed to bring their FM teams into the 21st century, technologically speaking. Even simple things like getting Wi-Fi coverage in the mechanical room is a relatively new concept for leadership teams to wrap their heads around.

It has created something of a double-edged sword. FM teams have been historically tech-averse and have also been the very last people in the company to get access to technology. Thankfully that is beginning to change as younger, tech-native generations are coming into the industry. But there is still a long way to go.

Change is hard

The FM industry remains heavily reliant on legacy systems and manual processes. This, coupled with the fact that many FM professionals are not very tech savvy, is a recipe for sticking with the status quo.

Often, teams prefer to rely on established processes and methods, even if they are outdated or inefficient. Everyone already knows how to use the existing tools. There is a level of comfort and familiarity. Introducing new technologies rocks the boat, requiring big changes to existing workflows.

Change is possible, of course, but it requires time, training and thoughtful implementation.

Better capital planning tools don’t exist … yet

The market for capital planning technologies is highly fragmented, with many different vendors offering a wide range of solutions. However, most tools have one thing in common: they identify where money needs to be spent to most cost effectively keep a facility operating.

In other words, existing capital planning software spotlights problems. It shows which assets need replacement and roughly how much those replacements may cost. But then what?

Where is the software that solves those problems? Where is the tool that makes it easy to shop around for the best price on a new asset and forecasts the lead time to receive one? Where is the live illustration of a facility showing all of the most important assets and how close they are to end-of-life based on their current maintenance schedules?

Although these tools are not available today, they are powerful examples of where capital planning innovation is heading. In the meantime, there are actions FM teams can take today that will help them leverage new problem-solving technology when it arrives.

Laying the groundwork for better capital planning

The future of capital planning is all about using technology to not only identify but also fix the problems of aging infrastructure. And while fancy developments like those discussed earlier are still a ways off, there are existing tools FM teams can take advantage of right now that will support better capital planning moving forward.

Data collection tools

Just as data is at the root of finding problems, data is at the root of solving them. Whatever new capital planning tools become available in the future, they are all going to depend on (and will only be as good as) the facilities data being fed into them.

That is why it is important to audit and improve facilities data in preparation. Ideally, asset and building data should be granular, transparent, trustworthy, accessible and easy to keep current.

Data collection software plays a key part in bringing facilities data up to par. These tools are specifically designed to:

• Capture necessary information about each asset quickly and simply
• Provide transparency into the who, what, when, and where of each piece of data
• Keep all facilities information in one place (single source of truth)
• Easily update the data so it is always current

In addition, good data collection is a vital source of information for facility condition assessments (FCAs), digital twins, and - of course - capital planning.

Living/continuous facility condition assessments

Collecting facilities data is one challenge - keeping it current is another. FCAs remain a popular way to see what is happening in a facility. They also provide essential information for capital planning. However, traditional FCAs are static, stand-alone reports that become outdated very quickly.

Enter the continuous FCA, also referred to as a living FCA. As the name suggests, the information in this type of assessment is always current. That is because it is connected to the day-to-day data (work orders, inspections, preventive maintenance) a facility constantly creates.

Transitioning from a traditional to a living FCA not only gives the benefit of fresh data for capital planning right now - it also sets the stage for the capital planning tools of the future that will require a consistent supply of accurate data.

Digital twins

When people hear “digital twin,” they often picture a full-blown 3D hologram straight out of a science fiction movie. In reality, a digital twin is any iteration of mapped building data. It can be as simple or as complex as necessary, if it allows facilities teams to take actions that affect or are directly fed from data inside a building.

A digital twin is an important step in the journey to bring to the facilities industry living diagrams and schematics of buildings, like the automobile example discussed earlier.

Imagine a future where an FM uses a detailed 3D diagram of a building to pinpoint the source of a problem, clicks on the malfunctioning part to pull up the manufacturer information, finds the cheapest replacement part, places the order and schedules a work order for the day the part will arrive. IT is already happening in other industries, so it is not that farfetched to think it will happen for facilities.

The way to get to that future is with digital twins. Forward thinking building owners and FMs who create digital twins of their buildings today will be well positioned to take advantage of evolving technology enabling smarter and more interactive digital twins over time.

Get ready for what’s ahead

A brighter future for capital planning is coming - the question is whether FM teams will be ready for it. Those who use this time to lay the necessary groundwork for adopting more advanced solutions will be better prepared for those tools when they do become reality.