Changes in Technical Maintenance Workforces
Delivered July 26, 2019. Contributor: Stephie B.
Goals
To determie how technical-maintenance workforces are changing (in size, skills, and training needs), and further, how the management of these workforces is changing.
Early Findings
- In general, maintenance and engineering managers face a knowledge gap among their technicians, and they acknowledge the gap is growing.
- Managers need to understand the value of a trained workforce — When finances are tight, training programs are often the first to be cut. But top-performing technicians who understand the intricacies of building systems actually can enact, manage and maintain operational strategies that reduce the cost of operations while still meeting performance requirements. If finances are limited, make use of free resources.
- The widespread adoption of cloud technology throughout most industries has also evolved within the role of facilities management. Cloud technology has especially impacted the potential for greater efficiency within the management of building infrastructure and systems.
- At the heart of the technology that’s pushing this evolution are the Internet of Things and machine learning. IoT, for example, optimizes systems that have previously been siloed to integrate them for more effectiveness. These systems include fire safety, power, automation, security systems and others.
- Sustainable energy production and efficiency in energy consumption is an initiative that nearly every industry is pursuing, so it’s understandable that it would be a priority for an industry so affected by energy usage.
- The evolutions in facility management that have been prompted by technological developments have not just changed the industry; they have radically transformed the role of the facility manager.
Proposed next steps:
You need to be the project owner to select a next step.