MasterLibrary Blog

In this blog post, we will examine the all of the elements that make up an EFR System. 
First, we refer to the suite or bundle of applications that manage these elements as the Electronic Facility Records Management System or EFRMS. An EFRMS enables a facility manager to securely store electronic facility data, graphically connect asset data to facility drawings, document work performed on assets, plan and budget for future facility projects and updates, and aid in decision making through robust reporting. Your EFRMS will help you manage data, drawings, documents and dollars. All of this information combined together will help you with the final “D”, decisions. Facility managers that implement and use an EFRMS give themselves a chance to make better decisions, more efficiently.

The first step in creating an EFR system at your district is to collect all of your existing data and documentation. 
​In many cases, this also means doing site surveys for your assets and converting hard copy documents into digital files. Data harvesting is easily the most labor and time intensive step in the EFR process, but it’s critically important. A good tip to remember when embarking on data harvesting is to start with the end in mind. Think of the project specifications and close out tasks you need to complete when you have a facility project. This also includes the budgetary side of things. Oftentimes, you will need input from business officials to provide you with original cost information. It’s important to draw the line in terms of information and data that will be useful and necessary and the minutia data that you will most likely never use or look at. This will help you develop the scope of data you want to collect.