FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
COLLABORATIVE IMPLEMENTATION DECISIONS
Our analysis revealed that we could reduce planned maintenance hours by 35 per cent, providing significant potential cost savings. The utilities provider chose not to simply take these savings but rather to reallocate the hours saved to supporting additional works and remedial activities identified during planned predictive maintenance (PPM).
This reallocation of resources allowed better use of labour and created flexibility in the contract to mix between self-delivered services and those that were contracted out. Cost savings were ultimately taken from subcontracting arrangements rather than reducing overall maintenance activity. Our data-driven recommendations provided the foundations, but final decisions remained with the customer, based on factors beyond pure asset performance, including employee experience with assets like lifts.
For HVAC assets scored as critical, we worked with specialists to explore condition-based monitoring options. The carbon team implemented demand logic, analytical software that processes BMS data to identify energy efficiency opportunities within HVAC systems. This revealed excessive demand patterns, such as systems switching on and off out of hours, indicating unnecessary wear and tear. These insights enabled targeted interventions without wholesale system changes.
STRATEGICALLY VALUABLE RESULTS
Our Asset Dynamics service created a single asset register from multiple data sources, recording 28,500 assets with more than 280,000 data points. This analysis identified 26 per cent of assets as critical, which informed our customer where to focus resources.
This approach enables monthly, quarterly and annual ongoing reviews that allow us to adjust our strategy based on performance data. Long-term budgeting accuracy for investment strategy has improved, which addresses the organisation’s key challenges for Ofwat’s AMP cycle planning.
The shift towards proactive risk-based maintenance has optimised resource allocation, extended asset lifespan and focused attention on critical assets. By moving away from a purely time-based maintenance approach towards one informed by actual risk and condition, the water utilities provider gained both efficiency and effectiveness.
The Head of Facilities Management and Estates at the customer site said of these changes: “EMCOR UK delivered accurate asset information that drives our collaborative operational and investment asset maintenance planning, to achieve reliable, efficient and cost-effective workplace operations.”
THE ONGOING APPROACH
Business Focused Maintenance cannot end at the implementation stage. It requires periodic reviews to validate the strategy and check that it is delivering on its intended outcomes. To date, our decisions have not been reversed, but this review process still provides an important safeguard.
SFG20 updates monthly, and we maintain a standard process for taking the customer through the changes that affect its assets. When new statutory requirements emerge, our team reviews all new implementation changes, but these depend on the asset context.
Overall, our Asset Dynamics approach provided improved cost certainty for budgeting and planning by combining comprehensive asset data with risk-based maintenance strategies. The solution balances those key elements – efficiency, compliance, and operational reliability – across an estate that is far from simple.
