A View from the Boiler Room
By Jim Ricker
Probably the least glamorous of the various corporate real estate functions, Facilities Management has long been viewed as the stepsister of the sexier disciplines – such as Transaction Management, Project Management, and Site Selection. Or as one of my friends once asked, “Aren’t they the folks who empty the trash and stop the leaks?” True – but there’s more to the story.
Having been involved at some point in my career with the entire spectrum of corporate real estate services, I developed a strong appreciation for the critical role of a Facilities Management team when I managed the headquarters site for the former Digital Equipment Corporation, now part of HP. So how did that change my perspective?
The Site
Digital’s headquarters was a former woolen mill constructed on the shores of the Assabet River in Maynard, MA. Built between 1833 and 1910, the 1.1 million square feet site consisted of 23 buildings connected by bridges and tunnels. It had been painstakingly converted from manufacturing wool blankets for the Union army (and the Confederate army according to folklore) into a high-tech facility containing manufacturing lines, board shops, model shops, offices, labs, and the executive suite and boardroom. It even had its own hydro plant creating 1.5% of the site’s electricity as the water flowed from the mill pond back to the river.
The Customers
Housing about 2,500 employees, the site was home to several critical business lines, 35 vice presidents, and the executive committee. All of these constituencies had strong opinions of how the site should be run in order for them to be successful. Along with the inevitable politics of a major corporation, we were forced to juggle the often conflicting demands of the constituents while focusing on our asset management goals of improving services, reducing costs, and developing a long-range capital plan.
The Services
In addition to contending with the physical and political complexities noted above, our team delivered the following services: HVAC, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, engineering, design, project management, energy conservation, environmental health and safety (including groundwater remediation), security, cafeteria, mail, copiers, supplies, grounds, custodial, recycling, space planning, audio-visual, and customer tours. It’s easier, however, to appreciate the breadth and depth of the services when looking at just one in greater detail; e.g. electrical. One of our key measurements was the prevention of business interruption due to infrastructure failures – especially electricity. To insure uninterruptible power without the benefit of UPS and generators, we conducted an annual 3-day shutdown for high voltage testing. And as one of the major power users on the metropolitan Boston grid, we were networked to the utility in the event they needed us to reduce consumption during brownouts – an interesting proposition when trying to be good citizens without affecting the manufacturing and engineering activities – but our engineers developed a satisfactory solution for all.
The Conclusion
Facilities Management may still be considered the stepsister, but it is nevertheless a valuable member of the corporate real estate family. A Corporate Real Estate group, often with responsibility for 25 to 35% of its company’s assets, cannot succeed without valuing the contributions of the Facilities Management teams – the deliverers of essential services and the maintainers of critical infrastructure.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Facilities Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.