If you’re still running your facilities management program on a spreadsheet – or, worse, a growing pile of paper invoices – you already know that it’s time for an upgrade. From scheduling repairs and preventive maintenance to addressing emergency breakdowns and making sure invoices are paid on time, day-to-day FM responsibilities are time-consuming: When all this is carried out manually, it’s Read More

Steve Jobs, the guy who told us to think different, said this about the importance of customer experience: "You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology - not the other way around." Walk into any of the Apple stores around the world and you’ll see this philosophy come to life in every facet of the in-store experience. This is why the successful Read More

Considering brick-and-mortar retail industry’s current, tumultuous state in the midst of digital transformation, retailers big and small are scrambling to reprioritize the importance of their facilities data. Retailers that want to stand out amongst stiff competition need to understand that sourcing, compiling, analyzing, and creating actionable insights around their stores is central to improving Read More

While most would consider winter weather to pose the greatest challenge to facilities managers, the hot summer months can bring their own set of difficulties. Thunderstorms, heavy rains, wildfires, tornadoes, extreme heat, and even hurricanes can put businesses at risk for serious damage – and, if not caught early, this can lead to significant operational downtime. In fact, more than 40% of Read More

Companies have been considering the repair and maintenance of buildings and equipment as just the “cost of doing business” for far too long. The reality, of course, is that for many companies, facilities and facilities management are essential to the core mission of the business. This goes without saying for retail and restaurants, but it’s just as true for banking, healthcare, Read More

ServiceX, our exclusive 3-day conference, is back for another year. We can’t wait for you to join us on September 22nd-24th in Scottsdale, AZ for what is set to be our best learning event yet.  This year’s show has an amazing lineup of sessions designed with a deep understanding of the high-pressure environment and complexities of managing facilities, a profession in the throes of digital Read More

Risk management is not just for risk managers anymore. For multi-site retail, restaurant and convenience store brands, facility management impacts all facets of an organization. With hundreds of locations, thousands of commercial contractors, and millions of customers, there are all kinds of formal and informal touchpoints outsiders have with a company. And there is potential risk inherent Read More

While the Facilities Management industry has long been concerned with efficiency and cutting costs, a recent shift in ideologies has brought another concept to the forefront: customer experience. We are excited to announce that this year’s ServiceX conference will feature industry-leading innovators Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of Shake Shack, and Chef Jeff Read More

As anyone who has purchased a car knows, the upfront cost is one price; the cost of maintaining that vehicle is entirely another. This concept is a simple example of “total cost of ownership” or the total direct and indirect cost of purchasing and maintaining a system over its useful lifetime.  TCO is a well-understood concept in facilities management, especially when it comes to the Read More

Modern technologies have brought substantial benefits to the retail facilities management, FM, sector. From cloud-based enterprise computing and mobile to big data and the emerging Internet of Things, retail brands are realizing significant improvements across their operations. However, while not surprising, much of the attention around FM solutions has been focused around facilities Read More

Contractor Management Challenges Today Facilities management professionals and their teams today are required to manage highly distributed enterprises with locations (stores, restaurants, buildings, outlets, healthcare centers, etc.) all over the country or even all over the world. For repair and maintenance (R&M) of these facilities, FM teams often need to source and manage service Read More

Get ready for ServiceX 2019! Our exclusive 3-day conference is back for another year. Join us on September 22nd-24th in Scottsdale, AZ for what is set to be a bigger and better show than ever before. ServiceX is a must-attend event for anyone focused on making sure their facilities and assets deliver a stellar customer experience. Attendees will have the chance to discover industry trends, Read More

Perhaps no technology trend has had a bigger impact on facilities management than the investment into “smart” building technologies. This already-multi-billion dollar market is growing leaps and bounds, featuring tech that ranges from optimized climate control to smart parking garages and self-cleaning bathrooms, plus many other use cases both known and still to be imagined. A smart Read More

Our top-of-the-head analysis reveals that US companies alone spend upwards of $100 billion a year in the repair and maintenance of facilities and key equipment. There are a number of ways these companies track annual costs accurately for better planning and forecasting purposes. One common method is to calculate your annual maintenance cost expressed as a percentage of your Replacement Asset Value Read More

Since 2015, 68 retailers have filed for bankruptcy and analysts expect nearly 6,000 more store closures in 2019. But new, modern retail is not only surviving, but thriving! Is it an apocalypse, a renaissance or just evolution taking its course? Today, we’re excited to release The State of Brick and Mortar Retail Report, a survey of more than 1,500 shoppers that reveals why customers decide Read More

You’ve probably noticed the term popping up in headlines, blogs, and broadcasts for the past several years, but AI is more than just self-cleaning vacuums and coffee-brewing robots. It’s being integrated into technologies and structures throughout the built environment, shaping and enhancing routine processes in ways that are often barely noticeable. ‘Smart’ buildings, for example, are being Read More

Regular maintenance of buildings, equipment, and technology used in retail operations is essential to keep things running smoothly but also has the potential to disrupt day-to-day aspects of the business. A parade of contractors with bulky equipment may not exactly be the brand image a store wants to portray to customers in the front of the house. The back of the house can run into issues too if Read More

Did you know a typical supermarket's refrigeration system has leakage rates averaging at 25 percent annually? That means 206 million pounds of harmful chemicals are being tossed back into the atmosphere each year, and that’s in the U.S. alone. According to the EPA, if regulations are not enforced, this could account for nearly 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Read More

Building management for multi-facility businesses is a daunting task, one that often takes a team of managers and employees to coordinate and maintain, especially across multiple locations. The use of technology such as Service Automation has made it possible to simplify the process through enhanced visibility, shared analytics, and improved coordination and communications. Emerging Read More

Despite the doom-and-gloom headlines, the brick-and-mortar model is still the foundation of the retail omnichannel strategy. In fact, it may be surprising to learn that brick-and-mortar retailing is substantially larger than e-commerce sales and that the gap may be widening. A contributing factor is that 98 percent of the uber-connected Generation Z still prefer to shop in actual stores, according Read More