Intro to EFR Series: Reporting

Building Your Virtual Control Center and Making Better Decisions When You Have the Data

With an EFRMS in place, your reporting capabilities grow tremendously. Your facility’s digital twin now puts you in a place to make better decisions, forecast into the future and keep tabs on the day-to-day workings inside of your buildings.
 
It is your virtual control center and it will make you much more efficient than you are today. It’s critical for a next-gen facility manager to have a good grasp on the business side of things. This includes making important decisions on your systems’ life cycle that will impact business decisions down the road. Many facility managers rely on third party consultants to determine when to make critical facility infrastructure decisions, however more of those decisions can be made in house when an EFR system is in place. Here are a few examples of the types of financial, operational and purchasing decisions you can make when you have reporting that scales across your facility and asset data.

• By using historical events, you can predict what will likely occur in the future and plan for budget impacts
• Procure service contracts with specific objectives and quantities which should allow contractors to be more aggressive with your quotes
• With aggregated information, bulk purchasing arrangements within and in conjunction with other districts can be considered
• Staffing can be better allocated through more efficient scheduling of maintenance tasks
• You will spend less time investigating issues and more time fixing them
• Run what-if scenarios for future capital project

Audit Trails: Liability and Risk Management Through Digital Documentation

Compliance with statutory regulations and reporting requirements with facility protocols is becoming more prevalent with school districts across the country, especially during and after the pandemic.
 
Because of this, having reliable reporting not only helps you make better decisions, it also helps you manage liability and risk. This, in itself, is extremely valuable for the next generation facility manager. Here are some real-life examples of how reporting builds better compliance and record keeping.
 

• Proof that spaces were cleaned and sanitized. Not only keeping building occupants at bay, there will possibly be state required audits in the future. We see the paper charts on the doors often, rarely filled in/probably not kept for records.
• Accountability of staff that work orders are properly completed, by whom, and when.
• Track your staff’s labor hours and efficiency. This helps keep staff on track without being a micromanager.
• Make sure your facilities do not fail important inspections
  • Can cost additional for return trips  
  • Could cause fines/building closure if a major inspection is failed
• Flooding due to failed pumps & tanks that are not regularly checked. Unchecked assets can get very costly.
• If a heating system fails in a portion of a building it can require a building shutdown.
• Safety items - stage rigging, lifts, equipment inspections. These all need to be checked, logged and dated on a recurring basis.
• Did a staff member move a fire-extinguisher out of its proper location? This could go unnoticed if the proper inspections are not happening. It’s easy to miss/forget some of the harder to find ones without an EFR system in place.
• Having to call a 3rd party for a repair/pump out rather than maintaining as you go. Adding PM protocols in your work order system for chemical treatments annually to grease traps is much more cost effective than this scenario.
• In the event of a real emergency, if a life safety system fails questions will be asked. Logging inspections and PM’s is very important so that you have a trail to prove they were completed.

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