Blog Archives | Mobiess

5 Tips for an Effective Asset Hierarchy

June 4, 2020/in Best Practices, Blog /by Karl Horner

What is the best way to create an Asset Hierarchy?

If you want to streamline, improve and simplify processes for your workforce, particularly when a mix of teams and projects require access to assets at different times, spread across multiple locations, a well-structured Asset Hierarchy allows you to manage surveys and assign work orders in the right places.

Defining your standards and expectations for data collection regarding asset usage and condition means that you can stay ahead of any maintenance needs long before damage causes failure or irreparable harm. This reduces the cost – smaller repairs to prevent failure are simpler to fix than catastrophic damage – and repairing smaller damage is considerably cheaper than replacing failed assets. The impact of downtime on your workforce and your managed facilities is also reduced as vital equipment failing can stop work entirely. This also costs you in man hours, paying people who aren’t able to work, and delaying completion of jobs.

To help you create an effective asset hierarchy we have put together 5 tips based on our many years of experience within the FM industry:

1. Give your Asset Hierarchy an instinctive and logical structure.

2. Follow uniformed approach to asset coding and naming.

3. Only include what you need to.

4. Define asset-specific attributes to ensure consistent level of data capture.

5. Audit and update the information included regularly.

Let’s go through them one step at a time:

1. Give your Asset Hierarchy an instinctive and logical structure.

You may already have a maintenance system in place, with asset profiles for each asset and component listed; if so, you have already completed much of the task. If not, you need to put careful consideration into the profiles of your assets, and the structure of your hierarchy.

Many industries have existing standards for asset identification – so look at those for examples, and then factor in a system which identifies the location and the purpose of your site and the asset in relation to one another.

For example, do you consider a motor as one whole asset (parent) with component parts (child), or are those component parts themselves individual assets (parents)?

Each asset type needs to be assigned a specific, unique identifier with uniform recognisable coding – which leads to our next tip:

2. Follow uniformed approach to asset coding and naming.

By this we mean that you need to follow the same pattern for naming your assets within the system, and ensure that the physical assets can show that code/name in some way (some people label with paint, barcode labels, or some engrave the asset itself.)

The image below shows one such naming system:

3. Only include what you need to.

As we are emphasising the benefits of an Asset Hierarchy and its structure, you might think we’d encourage you to include every single thing you can think of – but that could actually be counterproductive, and make your new, efficient dataset cumbersome – which will make it more challenging for your workforce to actually utilise the system effectively. Cumbersome systems quickly become redundant.

A smaller hierarchy, with more depth per asset, is a more valuable use of time and the system than an overpopulated beast dotted with smaller, unrelated pieces of information. This is not only harder to navigate; it entirely removes the connected data aspect of the tool.

Initially, we would recommend taking your time to input things in order of priority and importance. Your priority is critical machines; things which would either be the most costly or the most disruptive to repair or replace if they fail. These would be the costliest case for downtime, so are the most significant assets to track and monitor.

Following those, you ought to input your most numerous assets; those you have multiples of which are most commonly used, so that you can determine which equipment is where, which is getting the most use, which will be due for inspection and maintenance most quickly, and which can be pulled into place should something fail, to reduce the impact of downtime across the workforce.

Finally, you can begin to return to those first and second rounds of information and input the ‘child’ components – anything repairable or replaceable which is vital to the functioning of those top level ‘parent’ assets.

4. Define asset-specific attributes to ensure consistent level of data capture.

To ensure data collected by a mix of individual engineers and surveyors is consistent, it is important to carefully consider the unique attributes required for each type of asset, and whether that data should be gathered on a mandatory, recommended or optional basis. Defining these attributes will standardise many vital elements and rules including whether a barcode scan is required, business criticality, mandatory photographic evidence, manufacturer details and of course condition grading (and many more.)

Clearly defining your asset attributes helps to achieve a high standard of captured data and maintains a baseline of expectations across your entire field team. This also avoids wasted time due to over-collecting data that is not required, or needing to make costly site revisits due to under-collecting critical data missed first time.

5. Audit and update the information included regularly.

Like any other project, a process of continued review and monitoring is important for developing an effective Asset Hierarchy. Typical issues include:

Duplicated, missing or inaccurate asset systems and types
Inconsistent asset attributes that do not meet the required scope of project(s)
Out of date info related to asset life expectancy (ref CIBSE Guide M or similar)
Inaccurate costing benchmarks for repair or replacement (ref BCIS/Spon’s/NSR)

Mobiess can help you review and improve your existing asset data, giving you a high quality, optimised Asset Hierarchy. Visit our Asset Hierarchy Review page or call us on 0203 411 1795 to speak with one of our technical experts, discuss your requirements, and learn how we can tailor our solutions to meet your needs exactly.

Benefits of Creating an Asset Hierarchy

June 4, 2020/in Blog /by Karl Horner

For those working in Facilities management and monitoring the tools and equipment used throughout their business, an Asset Hierarchy is a valuable and efficient way to consolidate all the data you need.

A structured Asset Hierarchy helps streamline information, stay ahead of the maintenance schedule, and avoid unplanned expenses and breakdowns, as well as maintaining efficient cash flow and efficient work order processing. When we say Asset Hierarchy, we are referring to the system used to list, organise and categorise information on all the assets, machines, equipment and components or spare parts a company has, in one or more locations.

This is usually presented as a top-down structure, which means that your maintenance professionals can see at a glance the relationship between these assets, following a standard ‘parent/child’ logic.

Presenting this information in a way which conveniently connects the assets means that necessary maintenance is carried out in a timely fashion. Issues can be traced, and the parts and components required for repairs or replacement are easily identified.

Why is an Asset Hierarchy a valuable tool?

We already mentioned that the Asset Hierarchy simplifies maintenance – but it also means that planners, employees and auditing systems can trace assets, their relationship to other assets, the bigger picture of company-wide assets and where they are located.
An accurate and updated Asset Hierarchy is a vital tool to assist with the processing of information when using any maintenance management system – and means that your team can respond to the requirements of your maintenance processes, rather than waiting for faults, damage or failures in any equipment to highlight issues.

With many years of experience in the FM industry, we have created platforms which simplify and automate much of this process and take the hard work out of what might just be the most important process in your organisation.

Is Your Organisation Data Driven?

May 28, 2020/in Blog /by Karl Horner

Facilities Management is no different to any other industry; always looking for the latest trends, the forward-thinking methods and technologies, ways in which your office can streamline the work carried out across your portfolio so that on-the-ground teams can communicate efficiently with every level.

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We see organisations of every size claiming to be ‘data driven’ – adamant that they have embraced a technology which promised to streamline this process, making the data available to everyone necessary, and using that data to make improvements.

Often we find that a shiny new system has promised all manner of things, has been adjusted clumsily and failed to adapt to the specific needs of the organisation – almost but never quite meeting the actual requirements of the team. Although data is being collected, once it’s inputted to the system that data is mostly ignored, and things continue in the way they’ve always been done.

Data-driven teams don’t just plough forward aimlessly. They assess, collate and compare at every stage, using data to make predictions and streamline energy. Efficiencies are brought in to the working systems, saving time, money, and meaning that fewer staff are needed to complete tasks. Many things can be automated or eradicated altogether.

How can you tell if you truly are a data-driven organisation – or whether you’re stumbling through your systems and not quite getting the best from them?

Read some of these statements, and let us know if any sound familiar…

Nobody in our workforce analyses the data.
Instinct leads most of our decisions when we plan work.
We have an idea of how efficient we are, but no real way to measure it.
There are no goals or targets for improving the data we collect

Does that sound like your experience? There is a good chance your office has requested more paperwork or even digital reporting, but the way you work on the ground hasn’t changed in years. If it does, we’ve got bad news: your claims of being ‘a data-driven organisation’ are untrue. You’re not getting any benefit from the many working hours your team have spent inputting information or collecting reports.

We input a lot of data and file reports, but nobody really knows what happens with the information.
Nobody knows how to process the information collected.
Reports are quite organic, with no graphic representation of what the information means.
Data is often ignored or directly dismissed as not representative of the ‘real picture’.
If some data is missing or reports aren’t filed, nobody notices and there’s no consequence.

This means that your organisation doesn’t have the information you need to future proof yourselves in a rapidly evolving industry.

If you want to keep yourselves ahead of the curve and make the most of your team, we can help. Ensure that everyone is where they ought to be, when they need to be there.

Keep your staff happy, your tenants happier, and embrace a data-driven system which will improve efficiencies and streamline both your data and the work you are achieving.

Call now on 0203 411 1795 or arrange a demo – and visit our website to learn more about what we can do.

Track and manage your workforce more efficiently

May 21, 2020/in Blog /by Karl Horner

With workers spread over a number of sites, timesheets to maintain, compliance audits and activities to schedule and tenants to please, facilities management can be a bit of a headache.

That’s why we created ServiceMaster. It’s an integrated solution to maintaining your scheduled workload, responding quickly and effectively to unexpected events or damage, and maintaining an assessment of conditions, compliance and tenant satisfaction. With a digital platform that your mobile workforce can access, work orders can be completed and distributed as they are needed and information is shared in real time. Compliance and audits can be stored with photographic evidence and additional comments, ensuring everyone’s working time is accurately and fairly tracked.

No more paperwork, no more missed information, no more wondering where your workers need to be, and no more buffering impatient tenants who need information you don’t have – just because the paperwork is sitting in someone’s van in another part of the country.

ServiceMaster streamlines all this data. Status updates, conditions of work and information on external contractors, tenant requests and up-to-the-minute data can be accessed, assessed and responded to in real time, giving you – and your tenant – peace of mind. Keep a record of the health and safety and compliance audits which make up much of facilities management, and keeps a record of who is working where, when, and what has been carried out.

Where other software vendors may try to fit your needs into their existing systems, the best part of our independent digital platform is that we can tailor information to your specific needs. You can streamline the information you’re processing and configure only the actions you need to manage your workload effectively.

No more wasted time, money or effort – just the information you need, right there at your fingertips.

Call us today to discuss your specific requirements – and let us deliver you the ServiceMaster app that will revolutionise your mobile working life. Call 0203 411 1795 or email us on sales@mobiess.com to find out more.

Find the best mobile CAFM solution for your business. The choice is yours.

February 11, 2020/in Blog /by Karl Horner

There are a few different work order management apps on the market, and what many people don’t realise is that they aren’t limited to the mobile CAFM solution that comes with their back-office systems.

The thing is; a CRM is designed for a specific job; they exist to manage the data about your customer base; to keep an efficient record of the work you’ve completed. Back office software exists to maintain your accounts, or to track shipments, or for stock control. Anything designed for a specific, individual task can do that exceptionally – but that doesn’t mean that it communicates that sufficiently when it is expanded beyond the intended design.

The mobile CAFM solution applications that come with these back-office systems right now are an add-on; they are an additional piece of software outside of their designed functionality – and all too often they just don’t quite deliver what you need them to. They don’t have the agility and configurability which you need to support your team on the go.

Rather than simplifying the data collection and communicating work orders, collating the information on who is where, what’s been completed, audits recorded and scheduling follow ups, tracking shipments and stock control, they try to do all of it within the boundaries of their original functionality; they are aligned with their existing systems – inflexible, slow, clunky and confusing – making it more complicated than it needs to be to share messages within your workforce, and to streamline the process of managing your workload.

Shoehorning existing functionalities into a new format is inefficient and frustrating.

But those software designers are keeping a big secret; you don’t actually have to use their mobile solution. In fact, you aren’t limited to their tools at all; you can benefit far more from a mobile solution that does everything you need it to do – rather than what you’re told it’s limited to.

That’s where we come in; at Mobiess, all we do is design high-end mobile CAFM solution which meet your needs. Which have functionality for sharing information in real time, updating work orders to the minute; which have options for including photographic records and commentary, as well as audit data and compliance records. Which give more, do more and help more than any of the add-on mobile solutions you may have tried to use before.

Facilities management is a changeable and evolving industry – and there’s always more information that you need to incorporate – so our solutions are also future proofed with availability to expand, improve and adapt the functionality you begin with.

You don’t have to stick to mobile software which isn’t meeting your needs. You also won’t need to upgrade or invest in new devices – the smartphones and tablets your team are already using will support our applications, and allow your team to complete their work efficiently, communicate their messages in real time, and share and collect the data you need for your team to perform at their best, and simplify and streamline the processes which have been cumbersome in the past.

Our applications deliver all of this – and communicate in real time with the back-office systems that you have in place now.

Simplify your systems. Free yourself from the constraints of products that don’t go where you need. Let us take you to a better, more efficient future. Call today to find out how we can tailor our mobile solutions to meet your needs; contact us or visit the CAFM system mobile integration website to request more information .

Communications in Facilities: Death of the Spreadsheet

January 24, 2020/in Blog /by Karl Horner

We all know that a good spreadsheet can perform magic with data. Collating and streamlining information for your team to process and organise your plans. Tracking the impact of work already carried out – as well as balancing the books. There are more ways to utilise a spreadsheet than there are minutes in a day.

Although spreadsheets are a handy tool, many businesses still rely on formulas doing their thing and saving the file. Tucking it away in a digital folder and moving on to the next job without using or sharing the data. A good spreadsheet is useful but relying entirely on spreadsheets could be letting your business down.

Let’s explore some of the ways that spreadsheets are failing your organisation:

Sharing information

Excel is truly powerful when it’s being fully utilised. It can process huge amounts of data and collate, compute, predict and tally that data in ways that a person can’t.

But what use is that if you just click save, close the file and move on? Data is king – exploring and measuring data to show the impact of your work allows you to track your organisation’s performance. Without sharing the results of your data, your business will stagnate. The world moves quickly – you need to embrace tools that will allow you to keep up.

Too much data being ignored

Whether you’re running one small team or a network of offices across the country, the sheer amount of data being stored and ignored is staggering. Relying on spreadsheets to collate data is a missed opportunity to improve performance and get the best from your workforce.

The business has outgrown it

Technology has improved significantly and rapidly. You may have been so focused on growing your business that you forgot to invest in processes and systems which can keep up with that growth. Now you have a bigger team spread over a larger area, with staff spending time chasing paperwork and inputting data. They are going through the motions without any assessment of the information, and no real idea of why the process exists in the first place.

Don’t get stuck in a rut – future proof your business by moving away from outdated processes.

Integrity of data

When relying on people manually filling in paperwork there are many different stages where mistakes can occur. Having different people inputting information into the same spreadsheets. Passing results to yet another person to process and assess. Information can easily be confused, missed or lost.

Human error is the biggest cause of failures in this kind of process.

Manual vs automation

Why spend hours, days and weeks manually processing information which could be instantly collated and assessed by a digital system? People can access information at the touch of a button, compiling reports in moments. This can reduce the number of administrative staff you need, saving money on recruitment and salaries.

Data tracking

Manual systems and spreadsheets can seem like a game of Chinese Whispers – hard to trace who did what and where, because information is so limited. Unless you have people manually inputting who has done what (another clunky and time-consuming approach) there is very little information on who is performing well, who needs support, and how to plan for the next project.

The spreadsheet is dead.

Hopefully we’ve helped to shine a light on some of the limitations of relying on spreadsheets in your business. We have worked with organisations in the Facilities Management industry for many years and have seen the impact of our digital systems in reducing costs and improving data quality all over the world.

If you feel held back by maintaining an outdated process and want to see how our system could help streamline your data, call today on 0203 411 1795 or visit the website at www.mobiess.com for more details.