Managing Complexity at Napier University
Client: Napier University.
Project: Central help desk function plus web access across multiple sites.
Objectives: Manage the maintenance of the complex and large estate at Napier University.
Results: Improved information and reporting processes for in-house and contractor teams. Improved performance.
Complex problems often demand sophisticated solutions. Gary Watkins of Service Works Global assesses the role of CAFM software in the management of the estate at one of Scotland 's most eminent universities.
Scotland has always been the engine room for facilities management in the UK . It provides not only a disproportionate number of the profession's figureheads and pioneers, but has long been the most progressive country in the way it has adopted and developed new ideas and innovations. Scotland also boasts an enviable track record in the fields of education and research. Several Scottish Universities have led the way in providing courses that have sought to enhance the status of facilities managers as important drivers of organisational performance.
Edinburgh 's Napier University is a perfect example. The University is spread around a wide number of campuses in and around the city. It is also home to the thriving School of the Built Environment, the faculties of which include both the Building Performance Centre and the Scottish Centre for Facilities Management (SCFM).
The University has grown organically over a number of years, adding new buildings and campuses as it has expanded its range of courses and centres and increased its student population. As a result its sixteen building estate is now dispersed across 4 main campuses as well as a number of satellite campuses. The building types are equally diverse, ranging from a grade-1 listed converted Victorian asylum to a new purpose-built £23 million business school.
This complex and large estate presents a number of challenges to the in-house facilities team and its suppliers. George Boag is the University's maintenance manager. He heads a team of twenty people who work alongside a number of contractors to maintain the existing building stock and manage some of the University's smaller building projects.
'Maintaining the estate can be tricky because of the different types of building,' says Boag. 'For example, the 1960s buildings aren't too bad because they're purpose built. But then we have an old asylum building that was never intended as a teaching facility. There are some very grand and beautiful buildings that can be nevertheless difficult to maintain and the maintenance of listed buildings often presents additional challenges!'
The estate is managed through a help desk at the Site Hill campus. Calls are logged and managed using QFM software from Service Works Global. Work is allocated using QFM to either in-house engineers or contractors from outsourced service provider Integral FM.
George Boag feels that the use of a comprehensive FM software package is essential. 'QFM has made an enormous difference,' he says. 'The direct labour team has been set up with PCs so they can manage their workload and complete and return their jobsheets via QFM. The reporting of work is much improved and we now have better information on how we manage contractor performance.'
Craig Smith, Director of Glasgow based QFM reseller Walker Martyn has been impressed with the sophisticated approach taken by the facilities team at Napier. 'As well as using the software to take calls they also give their engineers remote web access,' he says. 'Engineers can log on to the system from anywhere on the estate and don't have to return to base to pick up jobs or to close them down. That's a very efficient use of resources.'
The application of QFM has been so successful that both the Napier maintenance team and Walker Martyn are looking at ways to expand its use and functionality. At the moment, in-house engineers connecting to the system remotely have limited access to its many functions and are able to view information and change a restricted range of data. The intention now is to give them full client access to the system. Similarly, restricted web access to the system is set to be extended to contractors' personnel to allow them to manage workloads in exactly the same way as in-house staff.
'It's a perfect example of how partnerships should work,' says Smith. 'We know everybody talks about partnerships these days, but unless the systems of both in-house teams and contractors are integrated, you will never have a seamless delivery of services. And that's what the ultimate goal should be in any business relationship.'
Another new development of the QFM system is in the management of space. The system now incorporates data on every square foot of space on the estate (using EMS - Educational Management Statistics) and is linked to room booking information, which allows the facilities team to accurately assess how rooms are being used. This is particularly important for a facility such as a University where a great deal of space has to be used flexibly for different users and for different functions.
'In a complex facility such as the one we manage, access to accurate information is absolutely essential,' says George Boag. 'Building performance and the performance of the organisation are inextricably linked. That's what they teach on the courses here, so it's essential we can demonstrate it in practice.'