To ensure success in today’s fast moving and changing business environments time is precious and information is on overload. Businesses need to have on-line access to accurate information to enable key strategic decision making, service delivery & benchmarking of best practice – all of which lead to increased productivity.

Information is disparate in many different systems and processes, often inaccurate due to lack of maintenance and time constraints. Within the Science Buildings & Facilities arena to develop and centralise data requires detail knowledge of business processes and ways of working together with robust tools and standards that can adapt to change management and support compliance audits – as well as telling you what you have and where it is !

The art is to capture from many sources of information in a manner whereby there is one source used by many.

Our industry is about understanding People, Places and Things and how they are all linked and working together to support science activities.

Many have complicated Finance systems , with HR, maintenance systems, operational systems such as move management, CAFM systems, FM helpdesks, asset tracking systems and many others that are all aimed at trying to understand what it is we have and are working with. Plus many others still use the failsafe excel sheets !

Help! We are all sunk with Information Overload !! Or should we start to see that there is a smart way to make business decisions?

The smart approach is to take what you have now and to use current systems and processes to produce a centralised online information source that provides transparent , accurate updated information in a mobile format – PDAs, IPhones or intranets – that key decision makers can use to support decision processes.

The Solution!

Creation of a central web portal that brings in all sources of information in a controlled and measured manner is possible – even using excel sheets. It offers many advantages to supporters of R&D real estate in managing and operating their facilities as well as design and planning tool for the Science FM.

Workplace Strategy

Understanding what you have and where supports the workplace strategy by the provision of:

• Site standards of measurement
• Analysis of space utilisation and efficiency
• Analysis of space through planning modularity and adjacency
• Performance measurement against best practices
• Accurate updated headcount statistices
• Benchmarking spatial and other metrics for comparison against best in industry.

Asset/Property Delivery

Understanding what you have and where supports Asset  & Property Delivery by the provision of:

• Programming and tracking delivery of new capital assets
• Co-ordination of IT and other disciplines
• Identification of assets in a transparent manner
• Information management of assets
• Business Rates calculation
• Lease management
• Capital asset replacement values and Insurance.

Operational Support

Understanding what you have and where supports operational activities  by the provision of information to:

• Provide consistency in service level agreements and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Performance Manage suppliers
• Review outsourcing and service delivery opportunities
• Promote Best practice
• Build relationships with key service providers and develop value added opportunities
• Support contract tender submissions

Benefits

• The benefits of a central web portal tool are largely intangible but potentially significant.
• The provision of accurate, consistent information pertaining to fundamental cost drivers supports strategic and tactical decisons.
• Understanding what you have will enable reduction of the real cost of services and thereby improving the efficient operation of facilities
• Comprehensive query and report functionality enables multiple matrix analysis of costs by function, geography, activities, people, places and things.

Cost Benefits

Measurement of cost benefits is often difficult when assessing Information systems but it is possible to provide quantitative and qualitative data.

For more information check out http://www.sciencegen.com/informationmanag.html

Or contact us : Liz.halliday@sciencegen.com

• Supporting the changing cultures of business and science – mission orientated and team orientated.
• Adaptation to a volatile business and scientific environment
• Accommodate alternative futures and to be able to change rapidly.
• Operating and collaborating Globally
• R&D production line mentality
• Imperatives to change scientific working style and overcome impediments to change
• Find repeatable solutions without the ‘reinvent the wheel’ mentality
• ROIC and shareholder value re high costs of capital investments

Within the external business environment there are a number of critical business trends:

• Knowledge economy driving towards 24 hour working
• E-Business is offering opportunities for outsourcing of none-core activities
• Growing skill shortage within facilities management for individuals with knowledge of scientific procedures and specialised operations to support an R&D environment and offer a ‘total solution’.
• Modularity and speed are two drivers that are driving the direction of R&D facilities.
• Automation of scientific practices.

Change is a constant presence and as such requires imaginative thinking in that the facilities themselves have to be more flexible, innovative and become areas that work  to stimulate creativity and offer opportunities for people to mix together within project teams and across different disciplines.

In the competitive environment that R&D companies operate there are two significant key success factors ‘people productivity’ and the ability to respond to ‘change opportunities’. Facilities need to be planned and delivered to achieve both these factors.

Robots are ever present in varying forms but do not need to have the same highly serviced environment as those deemed as ‘people space’. Robots do not need daylight!

Labs today need to be built to last no longer than 5 years and should be based around fully adaptable services, plug-in, quick connections to fixed and flexible ductwork i.e. production line labs.

Lab workers are becoming a limited resource and processes are being developed that focus on enabling lab staff to become more productive. There us a large shift in science to more IT based activities with less ‘hands-on’ approach and lab staff now spend more than 50% of their time in the write-up areas with automated equipment operating on what was once the traditional lab bench for lab staff.

New ‘low serviced ‘ labs are developing that meet the needs of ‘in silica’ research.

Tomorrows needs for R&D facilities are becoming increasingly more demanding with requirements for :

To meet and address these needs a new type of Facility Manager is evolving who are experienced scientists, often with many years experience working in laboratory environments, who are challenging the norms and ways of working that the traditional FM industry has provided.

The ‘ScienceFM‘ has the background knowledge and understanding to deliver the science, but are able to transfer their skills in a manner that allows them to interact and add value in the design and operation of facilities required to support the delivery of science and future R&D research.

The ‘Science FM‘ acts as a link bridge between the scientific environment and the engineering/maintenance communities by creating and developing the ‘intelligent client role’.

The ‘Science FM‘ interfaces across other linked functions within the Company by the provision of a service that manages creation and delivery of a ‘World Class’ working environment.

The ‘Science FM‘ adds value to an R&D company by:

• Reviewing and learning from emerging science technologies.
• Identifying and responding to operational risk as a design criteria
• Attempting to create environments where science is accommodated as a team sport that challenge project needs.
• Working to accommodate the regulatory swing from research to development within the same facility
• Bringing together different disciplines in complimentary facilities.
• Working to develop facilities for the future to attract and retain innovative scientists to deliver leading edge concepts for tomorrow.
• The development of adaptable and extendable laboratories which can be modified in days rather than weeks.
• The development of fit for purpose ‘low serviced laboratories. for data handling rather than ‘office type’ environments.
• Rapid integration of wirelss technology into the science environments.
• The ability to fully exploit latest software developments and knowledge based systems
• Providing sophisticated maintenance systems to adapt to the needs of science
• The exploitation of e-commerce to deliver system and science support

Today’s R&D companies are receiving added value by encouragement and recruitment of ‘Science FMs’ to develop and deliver their capital assets working alongside and linked in with the Company’s R&D strategic direction and programmes.

Facilities become the critical element to support long term goals and delivery of innovative research in the future.

If you would like to more about a ScienceFM activities please check out: http://www.sciencegen.com

Many thanks The Science FM

Buildings are often designed by Architects and many facility managers have an engineering background. To be fair to these they do a very good job as most have many years of experience in design and operation of buildings of R&D buildings.

Increasingly there is a new FM on the market place, working within R&D companies  and other sectors associated with research, who do not have an engineering background but who are scientists from many different aspects of science who for many reasons chose to leave the lab bench to now design, operate and maintain the lab bench.

They bring with them different skills and perspectives having worked at the ‘coal face’ for a Laboratory and can offer wide expertise into what works well and what doesn’t when buildings are created, upgraded and  maintained to support the Research & Development scientists discover the new innovations for tomottow.

I have seen many instances where buildings become blockers to science and inhibit innovation and creativity by poor design, inappropriate use of lab furniture that block access to equipment or are inflexible to meet the changing needs of science.

This Blog is the thoughts of an ex scientist who has many years experience of working in Facilities Management and would like to build links with others with a similar background for us to share best practice, issues and concerns and together to promote the new concept of The ScienceFM.