Facility Consulting Projects
Maricopa County, Arizona
FM Solutions was retained by the Maricopa County Office of Enterprise Technology (OET) to perform surveys, assessments, and evaluations of all Emergency and Standby Power Systems (ESP’s) in the Facility Management Division’s (FMD) facility portfolio.
The project scope was to survey the existing ESP system equipment and configuration in order to update the current systems’ one line documentation, assess the adequacy of systems’ conformance to codes, analyze performance capabilities, and address the suitability of the current maintenance program. Also provided were recommendations for maintenance process improvements, as well as system upgrades and equipment consolidation. FM Solutions also evaluated corrective costs, capital budgets, benefits, and proposed alternatives for the implementation of recommendations provided.
The project scope was to survey the existing ESP system equipment and configuration in order to update the current systems’ one line documentation, assess the adequacy of systems’ conformance to codes, analyze performance capabilities, and address the suitability of the current maintenance program. Also provided were recommendations for maintenance process improvements, as well as system upgrades and equipment consolidation. FM Solutions also evaluated corrective costs, capital budgets, benefits, and proposed alternatives for the implementation of recommendations provided.
The following items were developed during the course of the project.
- Recommendations addressing code, best practices, and condition deficiencies with suggested actions and cost estimates to implement
- A consolidated maintenance and repair program to manage ESP systems in Maricopa County Facilities including
- Program Organization
- Functional/Job descriptions, qualifications, duties, responsibilities, education, salaries, etc.
- Program management guidelines
- Program performance metrics
- A five-year O&M plan to include:
- O&M Maintenance Program
- PM, tasks, schedules, frequencies
- Personnel, organization
- Contracts, update to meet current code and plan to revise as needed
- Capital replacement plan
Arapahoe County, Colorado
Needing effective management of their public facilities, Arapahoe County wanted a standardized process used to provide an accurate and consistent accounting of facility needs, expenditures, conditions and availability. FM Solutions was chosen to help provide a systematic approach to develop and implement the County’s program. An asset inventory of all facilities was performed to include cost impact of deferred maintenance and FM Solutions provided a review of facilities operations to include annual operations and maintenance costs.
Strategic Planning reviews identified the need for an investment in Energy Efficiency. FM Solutions prepared a request for proposal as well as pre-qualified potential bidders and evaluated submittals by potential energy performance contractors. The result was the award of an energy performance contract that reduced overall energy expenditures without impacting capital budget constraints.
In addition, system and operational requirements for an Arapahoe County Facilities Information Services Center were defined. FM Solutions developed a Request for Proposal to include evaluation matrix and supplier demonstration requirements. Arapahoe County determined that an Application Service Provider (ASP) CMMS concept with universal Internet accessibility would best meet their needs. ASP Suppliers using MAXIMO and proprietary CMMS were short listed and subjected to a detailed evaluation process, including site visits. Supplier using proprietary SQL database scored highest and was awarded the contract in Jan 2005. This project was awarded by the Colorado Chapter of APWA for operational improvement.
Update: In 2010, FMS was rehired to perform a Facilities Diagnostic Update to evaluate the progress of the County’s Facilities operations since the original study. Through the strategies described above, the County was able to achieve the following:
Strategic Planning reviews identified the need for an investment in Energy Efficiency. FM Solutions prepared a request for proposal as well as pre-qualified potential bidders and evaluated submittals by potential energy performance contractors. The result was the award of an energy performance contract that reduced overall energy expenditures without impacting capital budget constraints.
In addition, system and operational requirements for an Arapahoe County Facilities Information Services Center were defined. FM Solutions developed a Request for Proposal to include evaluation matrix and supplier demonstration requirements. Arapahoe County determined that an Application Service Provider (ASP) CMMS concept with universal Internet accessibility would best meet their needs. ASP Suppliers using MAXIMO and proprietary CMMS were short listed and subjected to a detailed evaluation process, including site visits. Supplier using proprietary SQL database scored highest and was awarded the contract in Jan 2005. This project was awarded by the Colorado Chapter of APWA for operational improvement.
Update: In 2010, FMS was rehired to perform a Facilities Diagnostic Update to evaluate the progress of the County’s Facilities operations since the original study. Through the strategies described above, the County was able to achieve the following:
- Facility Condition Index (FCI) improvement across their entire facility portfolio by over 25%
- Increased productivity of custodial staffing by over 30% while maintaining same service levels
- Decreased operational expenditures:
- Reduction in average utility expenditures by 15%
- Reduction in average maintenance expenditures by 44%
- Reduction in average custodial expenditures by 37%
Coconino County, Arizona
Coconino County in Northern Arizona contracted with FM Solutions to conduct a 10-year master plan for their growing county. We began by developing an online questionnaire geared to collect preliminary space needs and functional information from various groups across the County. The results from the questionnaire were used to generate additional follow up questions for one-on-one interviews that were conducted later in the FMP process. The County was then tasked with assembling a steering committee comprised of key personnel to review and critique FMS’ findings, conclusions, and recommendations as they were developed. Interviews of various levels of County leaders and staff provided a comprehensive understanding of the facility opportunities and challenges from key stakeholders, employees and managers. Three levels of interviews were conducted to capture the County’s needs from various levels of hierarchy. Historical operations data was gathered from Coconino County and analyzed as an annual total cost per square foot per O&M category. This information was benchmarked against the Facility Managers Round Table to draw a comparison of how the County compares to similar organizations. This data, in conjunction with County’s growth expectancy will help footmark the next steps in determining the best plan for moving forward. We will also be providing them the tools to be self-sufficient in this arena moving forward.