Hazel Bedson, marketing director at Service Works Global, was featured in Facilitate Magazine to discuss whether or not sensor investment is maximised in the FM industry.
The potential around sensors, data capture and automation remains sizeable. Even when assets come equipped with built-in sensors, they are not always being fully maximised.
Whilst integrations such as BMS and CAFM software are relatively commonplace, in many cases FMs are still leaning into PPM (planned preventative maintenance) rather than DDM (data-driven, or predictive maintenance).
A DDM strategy can drive substantial savings and more consistently reliable building services. Being able to predict issues and resolve them before deterioration is also central to sustainability commitments, which of course is rocketing up the agenda for FM.
However, I think the industry’s ‘wait and see’ period is slowly coming to an end, as case studies are starting to become more available, demonstrating the measurable cost and energy savings that can be delivered from sensor usage.
The maximisation of sensor investment is often hinged upon the initial investment of time, which is often more scarce than budget. FMs are less inclined to part with time for sensors when their sites are generally running well, but slowly they are seeing use cases and how they their teams can save time in the long run.
From my perspective, as a technology vendor, when it comes to those pioneers who are investing in stand-alone sensors, for example for to monitor occupation or environmental conditions, they tend to reap dividends because of the planning that’s gone on before they approached us. A business case has been created to show the end goal, what the expected benefit is, and what data they need to achieve it. We’ll work with them to expand the project – we recommend starting small, reviewing the results and then adding more sensors or functionality in stages until the objective has been achieved. This gradual approach seems less daunting than tackling a building full of assets all in one go – and we have seen proven successes – in very different sectors – for maximising sensor investment when a phased rollout is implemented.