Facility Management App – Against the shortage of skilled workers

The bottlenecks in facility management became clear at the latest after the announcement by the -RICS- (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and the -IFMA- (International Facility Management Association) in 2017. Due to a lack of experts, this occupational group is looking for and trying to recruit young professionals. More than 2000 facility managers from all over the world have been interviewed to come to this conclusion.

It is also said that the average age of those employed in the facilities management sector is over 50. The image of the profession is to be consistently revamped in order to meet the needs of the market and the multifaceted use.

1. Which qualifications are indispensable for FM?

As a facility management and maintenance specialist, you can be certain that there will be many unforeseen occurrences on a regular basis. So as a whole, an adequate handling of complex and unpredictable situations regardless of their origin is key. Let PlanRadar support you in this practicable scheme and try our free 30-day demo version to manage your facilities asset and resources the best way possible. Our mobile software app is going to support your daily tasks.

To be able to emblaze the high average age and thus one of the core problems in Facility Management, we must first of all deal with the starting point, i. e. the core competencies of an FM. Our premise is that it requires a very special personal disposition in order to meet the versatile tasks, especially if it starts with facility management during construction. Technology tools might enhance your productivity and time management in the real estate sector, but software apps are not only here to ease your work but also give us a chance to get more into the work as an FM. Real-time data supply is one of the key factors to your services and optimized workflows. A building is a complex organism which needs the right technology tools to be maintained properly.

In addition to a relevant university education, you must be aware of the fact that your profile must have further strengths. Operational and strategic business demands personalities, not conformists. In addition to specialist knowledge, key qualifications such as the ability to work in a team, strategic thinking, self-organization, correlation knowledge, decision-making skills, goal-oriented action as well as clear decisions on possible alternative courses of action are important. The question we are going to answer is: How would mobile apps and their tools be able to support you in your professional development?

2. Supply and demand

The market requires further competencies that are often not covered by your studies. As an example, we would like to encourage you to consider the demands of hospitals, laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry, the automotive industry, insurance companies, banks and IT service providers. The risk of outsourcing the processes of such an apparatus to inexperienced graduates is enormous. If the industry specializes, you too must do this to stay competitive. And already we have come to the root of the problem: How could a freshman meet these needs without specific practical experience as a facility manager at this point? How can this deficit be excluded without the possibility of gaining professional experience? The answer so far has been: “Not at all”! Our answer is: Software apps can help your business at this point.

The credo is now: Learning from practice! With the PlanRadar app and web platform, we now offer large Management Service Providers the opportunity to take Junior Facility Managers by the hand during construction and to accompany both the planning and implementation of all technically and economically relevant aspects of the industry from the foundation.  According to the motto: If you want to embrace the big picture, you also need to know the details & practice makes perfect! If you are open to information technology, this will not only offer you deeper insights into the work as a building and real estate specialist. Services provided by software tools like PlanRadar will save you time, make your productivity skyrocket and give you the chance to learn rapidly from practice through a mobile app.

A terrifying development

Source: statista.com 

The United States is in the lower mid-range when it comes to lack of expertise, which is absolutely necessary to make companies competitive. A lot must be done in facility asset management in particular. Without the necessary expertise, there is also a lack of trust.  Without the necessary trust, however, it will be difficult to free the facility manager in the long term from the unjustifiably attributed obscenity of a better janitor. The way out of this vicious cycle is learning. We show you how a software app like PlanRadar can help to train specialists from the ground up. Train qualified personnel and ensure a change in the Facility Management industry.

We are confronted with a development that presents difficulties across all industries and is not restricted to national borders. As a facility manager, you belong to the ranks of knowledge workers. The term is self-explanatory and refers to those specialists whose professional potential and manpower result from their knowledge. Companies are looking for such specialists worldwide. Statista’s research shows us that Japan, in particular, is struggling with a high demand for skilled workers. But let’s make it very clear to ourselves. The building sector will only be able to adapt to the requirements of the market if we now start to work with productivity-enhancing features that only information technology is able to provide. It´s time to break your habits and start to benefit from maintenance management software and mobile products!

Facility Management App & Construction Software rolled into one?

At which point does an app tailored to the Construction Industry also become interesting for facility asset management and property maintenance business? What kind of service does it offer to you?

The PlanRadar app for your mobile device and also via the web platform offers a software which is suitable as documentation tool in case of technical and non-technical malfunctions and deficiencies. The best data and task management tool for the real estate industry. Property asset maintenance for your business at its best! Basically, PlanRadar is a construction-accompanying software in which specialist planners, architects, civil engineers, and project managers can access their way around to optimize workflows, guarantee a fast flow of data and information between the project participants and create a documented file during the course of the project.

Communication with all project participants is quick, intuitive and easy. Everyone who owns a mobile and works on the project will be informed about his tasks and can document and check them in the protocol after their completion. The advantage for the training of the future Facility Manager generation is obvious. Accompanying a construction project with very special requirements (e. g. laboratory) and a simultaneous detailed insight into all processes from the very beginning, you form a generation of FM who are familiar with their subject matter and become consistent decision makers on the basis of their overview. Get started with our software PlanRadar 30-day free trial Version. facilities maintenance becomes a data business and software apps are the main tools to enhance your productivity nowadays.

3. What is lacking in the specialists?

What are the most important attributes when it comes to managing complex facilities? It´s not just to be able to deal with facility manager software in particular. Nowadays this is the smallest problem when we are facing a new generation growing up as digital and mobile natives. The diagram below shows the results of a worldwide survey and is clear in its statement. When it comes to managing a project, an organization, a building or personnel, there is one thing that matters most, namely experience. Only in third place does training play a role. But why is that? It is based on the efficient combination of soft and hard skills that a university cannot teach to a sufficient degree. If this is the case facility management needs to implement solutions that provide newcomers with information about necessary knowledge for building services. Using real estate technology solutions and construction management software apps is one way to intervene at this point.

Source: statista.com 

Also, the specialization on a certain task area and thus the focus of a manager is created by his work experience. If a facility manager has unilaterally supervised power plants, he or she will be inconceivably unsuitable when it comes to knowing the processes of a laboratory or medical facility. The opposite is true. In addition, this knowledge cannot be absorbed by university teaching. Construction management tasks and their benefits are too diverse to cover everything in training. The constant technical development and the innovations resulting from it are only experienced through “learning by doing”.

The manager is not a technician and the engineer not, a manager. Nevertheless, it is precisely based on the combination of the demands of both professions that makes the candidates particularly interesting.  However, the university does not succeed in producing such experts. Therefore, the companies themselves must lend a hand. We are going to need trained people for future tasks in the facility asset management sector!

Computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) the future of facilities maintenance sector

A “CMMS” is a computerized software system, used to ease facilities maintenance management processes. Its one of the best solutions that have been added to the technology market in recent times. This technology is based on tracking work orders, scheduling tasks, recording asset history and monitor the whole project workflow through an advanced software system. There are various products that support the CMMS system in the market now, however, the best of them are the cloud-based ones which supports a real-time connection among all your team members. The CMMS software can be operated on your mobile or your desktop device and it’s considered a must-add tool in most of the construction companies now.

Starting Point: Core Competence

For large FM service providers, we would like to help you to put down the “caretaker image” and produce new, qualified junior staff that is up to its tasks, makes decisions based on experience and becomes a figurehead of your industry. Building and maintenance services are very complex, therefore you need a mobile software that facilitates procedures, saves time and money asset in equal measures.

PlanRadar software is a strong partner for expanding your competence. Use our app during building construction or contact the project manager and suggest PlanRadar for quality management during construction, if it is not in use already.

With a 30-day free trial version, we would like to give you the opportunity to take a closer look and use all its new features! You can use our service for mobile property maintenance and facility management and make your business skyrocket.