Improving Quality Practices in Facility Management Service

World Conference on Quality and Improvement vol. 52 - May 1998

Abstract:Two case studies demonstrate quality improvement approaches to facility management. At a major electric utility company, the improvement program reduced annual facility costs by $5 million or 23 percent. Enhancement of facility services to more than 17,000 internal customers followed the plan-do-check-act cycle. Other tools and techniques included: benchmarking of other companies' building efficiencies; process mapping of seven processes (capital projects, contracting, disaster recovery, FMDB administration, regulatory compliance, special projects, and training); consolidation of 387 suppliers to 109; establishment of performance measurements; and centralization of call-in activities for facility service needs. At a large hi-tech company, improvement in facility services was accomplished through outsourcing. An executive steering committee was formed, one of its first actions being the determination of work boundaries. A fried egg analytical model placed major work activities within primary and secondary core competencies. This led to a performance-based contract that helped identify an external facilities services provider. A major benefit of this arrangement is the ability to respond quickly to changes in the hi-tech marketplace.

Keywords: Case study - Quality improvement (QI) - Outsourcing - Facility management