Using Global Asset Management Solutions Can Positively Impact the Bottom Line

This week the facilities management community came together to celebrate World FM Day and honor all the men and women who support the health, safety, productivity and well-being of people who utilize the built environment. In honor of this annual occasion, I wanted to talk about the importance of effectively managing your assets.

Why do companies outsource in the first place? Topping the list are efficiency, reduced risk, cost reductions and a corresponding increase in profitability. Leaders of hospitals, corporations, manufacturing plants, oil fields and mines are focusing on their core business in uncertain economic times. Increasingly, they prefer to rely on outside experts to manage the physical plant – their assets – to ensure reliable, uninterrupted service that supports quality of life for employees and customers, extends the useful life of the systems and improves financial performance.

Companies are realizing the importance of asset management as an enterprise strategy and demanding a standard of excellence. Sodexo, world leader in facilities management, is the first services provider to offer a global asset management service in compliance with ISO55001: 2014 Asset management – management systems – requirements, and is leading the way in offering comprehensive asset management capabilities globally to clients across diverse segments.

The benefits of a comprehensive asset management strategy are tangible:

• 20% improvement in operational efficiency through improved asset management planning
• Total annual cost of operation reductions of between 7% and 12%
• Increased reliability of asset infrastructure by between 10% and 25%

With clients in 80 countries, Sodexo needed a standardized approach. Since FM services were often added to the portfolio by acquisition of existing providers, there were inconsistencies in quality and variable levels of maturity which hampered the global strategy. Our solution was to develop the “Sodexo Way” Asset Management Framework that enables a standardized approach to be delivered everywhere Sodexo is responsible for FM services.

The architecture and main content was developed by a central, multi-discipline working group and piloted in numerous locations across a wide range of countries and contracts. Each pilot learned from the one preceding it and participants soon discovered many similarities in the solutions they developed. This led to a standardized “toolkit” that enabled FM solutions for any contract to be assembled quickly. In 2014, Sodexo became the first outsourcing company to win the prestigious Asset Management Achievement Award, given by the Institute of Asset Management  for excellence in the management of physical assets and infrastructure. Last year the company received accreditation from ISO 55001 for its global asset management framework and its application at two of AstraZeneca’s UK sites.

The Asset Management Framework enables ongoing capture and standardization of best practices across all sites with embedded continuous improvement. Once clients are engaged and agree on the objectives that align with their business drivers, outcomes and benefits are realized and measured.

Sodexo is committed to improving performance and enhancing quality of life for the individuals, organizations and communities we serve. How did you celebrate World FM Day? Share some ideas in the comment section.

Eric Jouane is Senior Vice President of Facilities Management for Sodexo North America. He leads the Facilities Management Platform including process, systems, costing and delivery of services for the Asset Management Framework, Technical Command Center, Cleaning Services, Construction and Energy Management.