Facilities management technology is central to recovery

Planned and emergency maintenance, alongside compliance and certification checks, has largely been on hold for four months but existing FM technology can help get things back on track.Access Maintain automates the entire maintenance workflow with the cloud-based property maintenance solution optimising efficiencies. It also addresses some flexible operational issues that should be specific to retailers’ COVID-19 recovery plans.

1. Contractor advice

Provide as much information as possible in advance so that contractors know what to expect when they come on site, and what is expected of them. In the same way as an asbestos register must be available for engineers to access, Access Maintain enables users to provide additional attendance details to make sure everyone remains COVID-19 secure.

What PPE is required, for example, is a modified permit to work needed, where and when should they report and how will social distancing be upheld between contractor, retail staff and customers?

2. Supply of PPE

With Access Maintain, there’s no need to search the internet to find PPE supplies. The technology includes a facilities management procurement process with the resources you need to keep your team protected. Sourcing from your pre-approved suppliers ensures consistency across quality, speed of service and value for money. An additional benefit of the system enables central purchasing for delivery across multiple sites for large retailers.

3. Automatic Internal Audit Trail

Adherence to new regulations and working practices is essential to safe working, for internal staff or external contractors.

A risk assessment can be completed as an individual task, or as part of a more complicated project, with In House checks added to the system to manage progress against plan. For maintenance matters handled by members of staff, they are logged as an internal user and receive the same treatment as external suppliers in respect of safety, protection and completion of work. Access Maintain also allows reporting on specific KPI’s, so the audit process will record an assessment of contractors’ service levels, where they may be marked down if appropriate PPE wasn’t worn during the contract.

Access Maintain has a 25 point fully automated audit check on all jobs which enables retailers to monitor performance and adherence to orders, which is especially important to protect everyone’s health and wellbeing at present.

4. Managing costs and cost exceptions

With reduced or no income for several months, retailers are facing a heightened challenge to balance saving costs and generating revenue. Access Maintain can make a major contribution to cutting outgoings, with customers typically achieving a 10% reduction on repair expenditure from use of the audit feature alone.

The FM solution can also support cost management through effective use of the procurement service, set appropriate authorisation limits and prevent spend in specific areas if required. However, Access Maintain also manages exceptions efficiently so if expenditure is required on essential supplies such as PPE, it will not be prevented if the overall budget cap has been reached.