ARCHIBUS Applications: Space Inventory & Performance

Evaluate and plan space usage to maximize efficiency and decrease total occupancy costs

Benefits

• Delivers flexible, self-service reporting for effective space allocation and cost control
• Improves evaluation of building performance and enables accurate benchmarking
• Enhances design/planning capabilities to use space more efficiently
• Helps achieve business results with ARCHIBUS Quick-Start, a productivity aid which includes tutorial videos and “How To” instructions
• Increases productivity with ARCHIBUS All-in-One Home Page with quick access to 80% of tasks

Use the single view, easy to use space console or mobile interface to manage space assignments to departments and employees, plan for future space needs, and report on portfolio-wide space utilization

Knowing how much space an entity has, and how efficiently it is being used, is essential for managing the organization’s Total Cost of Occupancy. To expedite self-service access to space inventory and usage reports for decision support, ARCHIBUS Space Inventory & Performance provides an integrated Webbased solution for viewing and managing an organization’s different types of space (such as departmental boundaries/rooms/common areas, vertical penetrations, service areas, and more) to ensure optimal space allocation. With this application, managers can plan for greater space efficiency by co-locating departments and identifying opportunities for consolidation.

*All information was provided courtesy of ARCHIBUS

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Conversations with Bob

This week we are thrilled to announce a new series on the blog: Conversations with Bob.  Conversations with Bob are a series of videos where Bob Stephen, CEO & Managing Director of Robert Stephen Consulting, LLC. discusses different aspects of the industry.  Be sure to keep your eyes open for more Conversations with Bob!

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Managing CAFM Information Systems

When looking into an IWMS, most companies focus mainly on technology -- spending hours on demos and showing functionality.  Basically, companies want to "touch" the software and get a "feel" for what it will be like.  Unfortunately, the technology is only 20% of the implementation.  Time and energy are focused solely on this 20%, while the remaining 80% go untouched.  To have a successful IWMS implementation, attention needs to be given to all aspects of the process.  Robert Stephen Consulting is devoted to doing whatever it takes to guide your company through a seamless implementation.  

Implementation Methodology Overview

One of the biggest needs for successful IWMS implementation is to understand what an implementation truly is. Many believe it is installing software, populating data, developing reports, and training. While all of this is true, other factors require attention that are a greater influence to the success of the implementation than just the system selected.

Knowing that our clients often understand their needs better than we do, RSC staff listens to our clients to begin to understand their real needs and the solution that works best for them.  Often the solution is more than a technical solution.  It involves business process, technology, and maneuvering through a relational (or political) arena.  RSC is equipped to provide professional solutions with these three factors in mind.

RSCs experience has indicated that most implementations require attention at the below percentages.

Business Process

A business process is simply defined as the way you accomplish work.  RSC examines what is working, what is not working, and what are nice-to-haves.  When these are defined, analyzed, charted, and agreed upon, a clear path to success can be accomplished.  RSC understands that business processes are not always easy to change and should not need to be changed to fit a technical solution.  We focus on making sure the technology fit the desired process.  For these reasons RSC has always recommended ARCHIBUS as the solution because:

1.  it is designed from best practices,
2.  it is open architecture,
3. tools are provided to allow process modifications, and
4.  it leverages existing tools used by your IT department (i.e. MSSQL, AutoCAD, etc.).

This model allows staff, existing Business partners, or other Consultants to assist in tailoring the application to meet Business Processes. Other IWMS software solutions may require Vendor staff (at a high price) to make these changes. Often the request may not be fulfilled because the request simply does not fit the roadmap of the IWMS Company.  RSC will diagram the workflow so the system will be configured in a way that will fit your business process best.

Relational Environment

All organizations have political drivers. They may range from cost constraints, manpower needs, higher priorities, or specialized operations. Recognizing these drivers is a key factor in successfully implementing IWMS. Each department or cost center may have various and sometimes conflicting drivers.  A clear understanding of additional process and data needs will need to be driven from within the organization’s leadership. If the desired outcome is left to the individual department or cost center managers without a clear understanding of the desired results the likelihood of having a successful implementation and achieving those desired results is reduced.

In layman's terms:  RSC helps multiple departments within a company work together for a common cause.  Examples of this include collaboration with an HR department and with IT.  

1. IWMS use HR systems (e.g., Workday, People Soft, etc.) to put people into the space.  This can be done manually, but would be a waste of time to re-enter the names and employer identification of all employees within a company when the information is already entered and available within the HR system.  Whatever information is entered into the HR system is synchronized to the IWMS automatically.  Often times, trouble ensues when reaching out to the HR department.  Due to the sensitivity of information contained in the records, HR is hesitant about releasing their information.  The IWMS does not need Social Security Numbers, pay rates, or personal addresses,  it simply requires the employees full name and employer identification number in order to assign each employee a desk, seat, and resources (e.g., phone, computer, internet connection, etc.).  
2. IT departments are phenomenal at what they do.  They are experts at understanding what technologies they use and how to use it.  Rarely, however, do they understand why facilities or corporate real estate need a complex IWMS.  It is vital to have a translator between IT and Corporate Real Estate to explain the importance of graphical interfaces versus excel spreadsheets.  IT needs to understand the IWMS as well as ensure it is on the server and running 24/7.

Bridging this arena can be complicated, which is why RSC is devoted to creating a smooth transition.

Technology

The technology selected must be flexible enough to maneuver the Business Process and Political Environment.  Installing, populating data, and writing reports are all just a smaller portion of the successful IWMS implementation. Too often a company will focus on the features of the technology and ignore the business process and politics.  RSC works with our clients to determine the technology features that are most important to our clients, our client’s desired business processes, and the current political climate to ensure the right goals are met.

Not only will RSC ensure our clients have a great IWMS, but that transition into the software is seamless so the system can work the way it is designed to.

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What is IWMS?

So what is IWMS and why do we need it?  An IWMS or an Integrated Workspace Management System can be defined as a software platform that helps organizations optimize the use of workplace resources, including the management of a company's real estate portfolio, infrastructure and facilities assets1.

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 ARCHIBUS Total Infrastructure and Facilities Management model covers the entire infrastructure’s life cycle, from acquisition to reassignment or disposal.
  

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The expanded discipline of Infrastructure & Facilities Management groups all those activities under four main business competencies: Property, Facilities, Technology, and Operations management, delivering all the processes from Real Estate Portfolio Management to Assignment and Redeployment.

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ARCHIBUS is the only solution available today that provides a holistic approach to Facilities and Infrastructure life cycle management.  The ARCHIBUS family of tightly integrated applications and activities deliver comprehensive solutions and capabilities. This single solution is simple to install and use, scales to grow with your organization, and provides flexible cost-effective add-on options that extend its benefits throughout an enterprise.

*Image credit goes to ARCHIBUS
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IWMS News: 9 Benefits of Space Management that will Impact your Bottom Line Big Time

Have you seen this article in IWMS News?  We came across it a while back and thought it was spot on!  Here are a few highlights and excerpts from the article in case you don't have the time to read the whole article:

1.  Identify under-utilized spaces
   45% of space is vacant at any time, which means companies are paying a lot of money to not occupy space!  Use an IWMS system to identify what space is not being used efficiently.  Once that's done you can implement necessary changes.
2.  Align workplace initiatives with business goals
   Without a firm grip on your space occupancy, organizations can't align their workplace initiatives with their business goals.  Effective space management is a fundamental requirement for impacting bottom line results.
3.  Forecast Future Space Requirements
   In order to reduce poorly used space, you need to be able to forecast future space requirements.  Space management through an IWMS help to create reliable forecasts about future needs and allows you to create hypothetical scenarios to compare costs based on business evolution variables. 
4.  Simplify Chargeback Process
   Space management helps analyze historical space usage and creates accurate chargeback reports for when disputes arise.  When departments are held accountable for their actual space usage, they tend to be more defensive, having a direct impact on your bottom line.
5. Simplify Space Analysis
   Space Management using an IWMS helps analyze actual space usage, compare it with planned space usage, and present information in a way that allows you to make informed decisions.
6.  Streamline the Move Process
   Moves are expensive.  If you want to impact your bottom line via effective space management, you need effective move management.  this means streaming streamlining the entire move process from request to completion in order to optimize chum rates and reduce costs.
7.  Compare Actual with Planned Space Utilization
   It's very important to constantly compare planned space utilization with actual space utilization.  Using dashboards and business intelligence reports allows you to monitor actual space utilization and make changes in usage accordingly.
8.  Increase Efficiency
   Two codependent departments (e.g., Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable) need to ensure cooperation.  Most IWMS systems can graphically create scenarios based on interdepartmental relations which are used to increase efficiency.
9.  Utilize Building Information Modeling
   A lot of information required for BIM is already in the IWMS which will become the dominant management approach for generating and managing a building -- meaning most IWMS vendors will include geospatial information to create cost-effective space occupancy scenarios. 

We thought these nine points were excellent examples of how important it is to have a quality IWMS system.  The impact IWMS makes to your bottom line is tremendous.  At RSC, we know we can help you achieve goals like those mentioned above and are happy to help you out every step of the way!

*disclaimer: most of the above text are words originally shared on an article posted at www.iwmsnews.com.  We do not claim them to be our own.  We are posting them to share information we found interesting or insightful.  Credit is given to the source*

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AutoCAD Advantages

In this "edition" of AutoCAD Advantages, we thought it a great idea to share some basic glossary terms to help better your understanding of AutoCAD.

Coordinates

• X,Y,Z values indicating a cartesian coordinate system for placing all objects. Most of the time Z=0
• Basically, it is a grid system for describing location.

There is a defined origin (0,0) The unit measurements are also defined (inches, mm, cm, etc.) Coordinates are indicated with the horizontal value (X) first, then the vertical (Y).

Units

Base unit of measurement. Everything is expressed in terms of this measurement. There’s a bit of complexity involved with this information – Architectural, Decimal, Engineering, Surveying Mm, cm, m, inches, feet, yards… The file has to know what kind of units it uses, and what kind of units other drawings are coming in at, and unit conversions have to take place. 1inch = 2.54cm, for instance

Extents

The rectangle that contains all the visible information in the drawing. The extents of this drawing is shown by the blue dotted box. If you were to zoom to the extents, all the lines and points would be visible. The system variables EXTMAX and EXTMIN refer to the upper left point and the lower left point of the rectangle.

Layers

The organizational system for drawings - All items on a layer share certain properties and can be turned on and off as a group. This is often explained as a bunch of layers of tracing paper on top of each other. I find that explanation a bit simplistic. Layers are used for controlling visibility and line thickness as well as organization. On/Off vs. Thawed/Frozen - On/Off layers are loaded into memory, so they can be quickly toggled. Thawed/Frozen require a drawing refresh (the difference was a HUGE deal back in the day - there was a significant trade off with performance - not so noticeable now).

Blocks

containers of geometry. Allows the program to use shorthand when dealing with multiple instances. It isn’t 20 do-hickeys, it is 1 do-hickey referenced 20 times. These could also be considered internal references (as opposed to external references), or a file within a file. There's a presentation, here that I've used to explain blocks and Xrefs. I'd be happy to review it at some point. When inserted the program mostly only cares about: Insertion point (insPoint) the X,Y,Z coordinates of the block Scale factors (X,Y,Z) these can all be adjusted separately, but usually aren’t Rotation – a number generally expressed in degrees

X-refs

External References. Allows an autoCAD drawing to contain another AutoCAD drawing. Originally this was used to make working with a file much faster. The current file doesn’t allow you to edit the information in the reference. Now it is used to allow mutlitple people to work on a single drawing. It is also useful for organization. I think of this as a pointer from one file to another. There's a presentation, here that I've used to explain blocks and Xrefs.

• Nested X-ref – A file contained within a file.
• Attached – firm connection to the drawing, passed through if this drawing is Xrefed into another drawing
• Overlayed – file just sits on top – not passed along if containing file is xrefed into another drawing.

Model Space

Model space is where the drawing takes place. 3D is available. Everything is drawn 1:1.

Paper Space

Consider this a print preview. Only 2D available. Viewports into Model Space, show areas at scale. You can have two areas at different scale (close and far) at the same time.

Grid

a rigid coordinate system where only certain values are acceptable for snapping purposes. See coordinate system

Purge

Removes unused entities (they exist in the drawing definitions but aren't visible).

Colors

There are a few color spaces that you may have to deal with: RGB (millions of colors) , and AutoCAD colors (256 colors) This is similar to the web based color palette, but not exactly the same.

RGB

Red Green Blue - Color Space for mixing light. Also expressed as a coordinate system R,G,B (can this get any more confusing?) Are colors giving you any problems?

AutoLISP

One of several programming languages in AutoCAD. Based on, but different from Common LISP. There's a great online resource here.

Question:  Are there any AutoCAD "glossary" terms you don't see here?  Let us know!  Leave a comment below with your thoughts and insight!  We love to hear from you.

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Chargeback (Space)

Chargeback (Space) is a process that determines a department’s financial charge for the actual area it occupies plus a proportional percentage of the facility's common area.

This in done in a few steps:

1. Common area is proportionately distributed among the departments on a floor, in a building, or across the facility site according to the area's Prorate field. This determines each department's percentage of facility common area.

2. Each of the department's assigned areas and its shares of common areas are multiplied by each area's associated Cost Per Area (square foot or square meter).

3. For each department, the cost of each assigned area and the cost of the common percentage areas are totaled to determine a department’s financial charge for the total area it uses

The rationale behind proportionately dividing common areas among departments is that the larger the department, the greater number of personnel it has using common areas; thus, the greater percentage it should pay for using the common area. In addition to distributing common area in this manner, your facility manager may wish to distribute a floor's remaining area to the departments on the floor, in the building, or in the site. Distributing the cost of remaining area in this manner ensures that all space on a floor is billed for. Typically, a floor's remaining area is a much smaller amount than its common area.

Please Note, you may need to run the following:

Update Manual Areas

This is required if you manually enter values to the Room Area Manual Entry ft²(rm.area_manual) field. This moves the manually entered value into the room area (calculated) field.

Update Area totals

Always run the Update Area totals.

Run Chargeback

Obviously



Question:  Do you have any good Cargeback stories? We'd love to hear from you!

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