Trends and Challenges in Facility Management
The International Facility Management Association (IFMA), the largest and most widely recognized professional association for facility management,
sponsored a forecasting workshop to examine the emerging trends and issues that will influence facility management professionals in the coming years.
In 2007, IFMA invited a panel of industry experts to represent various industry sectors and constituencies of the facility management profession to
its two-day conference, held in Houston, TX. The 2007 IFMA forecasting conference and the report that was published after the conference highlighted
the many challenges awaiting facility management professionals in the coming years. The top eight issues that emerged from the retreat were as follows
(presented in order of importance):
- Linking facility management to strategy
- Emergency preparedness
- Change management
- Sustainability
- Emerging technology
- Globalization
- Broadening diversity in the workforce
- Aging buildings
Linking facility management to strategy ranked first among the issues, because
experts strongly believed that this issue will be of even
greater importance in the coming years. They suggested that
a critical facet of successful facility management is the
ability to link the role of facilities to an organization's
core business strategies. This is also known as branding.
Physical facilities have a major role in determining productivity,
supporting innovation, efficiency, employee satisfaction
and public perception of an organization.
Although ranked fourth in the list, sustainability is a
major issue of concern for facility managers, architects,
interior designers, and manufacturers alike. Sustainability
has ceased to be an option and has become a fundamental
requirement and expectation across many industries. The
panel of experts urged those involved in facility management
to get informed about LEED, ENERGY STAR and other high-performance
building ratings systems and initiatives. They were also
urged to establish programs to reduce, reuse, recycle, and
develop/maintain technical skills expertise.*
As a research driven and manufacturing company, MAiSPACE
understands its responsibility for sustainability. According
to IFMA, sustainability includes environmental responsibility,
energy management, investing in high performance systems,
indoor air quality issues. A commitment to sustainability
is part of the company's mandate and translates into many
different programs; specifically areas such as post consumer
content; reusable and minimum packaging; recycling within
the product line; and recycling within the organization.
MAiSPACE has also reduced packaging refuse by offering bulk
packing and alternatives to the traditional corrugated and
Styrofoam materials used in packaging products. Alternate
carton-less techniques and the introduction of minimal packaging
for truckload orders have reduced harmful products that
are not biodegradable to the environment. Reusable packaging
is also used by companies who supply parts and products
to Maispace. In addition to protecting the environment from
unnecessary packing materials, these packaging methods reduce
the cost of de-trashing the installation area and facilitate
installation through less clutter.
All MAiSPACE products are 100% recyclable including the
steel frames. Additionally, we use Guilford of Maine Fabrics,
who as part of the Interface Group, has an exceptional sustainability
program. And finally, we practice what we preach. MAiSPACE
already recycles office paper, computer paper, fabric, foam,
plastic bags, cans, bottles, corrugated materials, vinyl,
and chemicals including solvents that are reused in production.
In the IFMA 2007 report, emerging technology was listed
as the fifth trend, which encompassed topics such as changing
building technologies, Building Information Modeling (BIM),
Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS), underutilization
of current technology, and obsolescence.
IFMA report demands on facility management professionals
to keep abreast of changing technology (communications,
BIM, IWMS; work closely with tenants/users to anticipate
changes; build the technical skills expertise of building
operations personnel; and use technology to attract young
professionals to the facility ma
nagement professional role as well as to facilitate data
and information sharing.
As a research driven company MAiSPACE is constantly evaluating
and updating our product options to enhance its capabilities
and keep up with advancing technological, ergonomic and
architectural innovations. Yet, while the basic system is
inherently designed to accommodate change, new product enhancements
allow your system to transform as your company and space
does.
* Information taken from IFMA website.
