Selection

Following extensive evaluation of various CAFM products on the market, FM provider Acuity Management Solutions Limited has implemented Integrated fm's fm facts system for its help desk, asset management, procurement and reporting processes.

Greatly increased efficiencies are expected to provide a payback on the investment of just over two years. The fm facts system is linked to Acuity's supplier and customer intranet so that clients and mobile staff have password-controlled access to data relating to their specific requirements via the internet. 

Rapid growth

Acuity has grown by 300% in the last three years and with increasing client and staffing levels, the inadequacies of its existing CAFM system were becoming very apparent. "As we acquired additional contracts, the inefficiencies of the system were becoming an ever-increasing burden on our staff resources," recalled Acuity Finance/IT Manager Dave Bamford. "At the same time, the increasingly sophisticated strategic requirements of our clients meant we needed to be able to offer greater reporting functionality and this was not possible with the existing software. "Having evaluated several options it quickly became apparent that the Integrated fm offering could address the vast majority of our issues straight out of the box. Furthermore, the company was prepared to work closely with us to develop additional modules to address our client financial reporting requirements. Crucially, there was a good cultural fit between our two organisations, which was important in driving the project forward over a period of time", Dave Bamford continued.

Phased programme

The project was divided into two phases. The first phase focused on replacing existing software with fm facts modules and increasing the efficiency of day-to-day processes. The second phase involves
implementation of the fm facts Contract Management module to organise financial information and link it to individual contracts.
“We have been delighted with the fm facts products and the partnering approach that Integrated fm has brought to the project. We are already making significant financial savings and as the strategic
reporting comes on line we are assured of even further savings moving forward – as well as the ability to provide our clients with a more comprehensive service.”

In phase 1 data was transferred from the old software to the fm facts Helpdesk, Asset Management and Procurement Management modules and Acuity staff were trained to use the system. "Our previous software was very difficult to learn and new administrators would typically need 6-7 weeks to get to grips with it. The step-by-step intuitive structure of fm facts means that operators are up and running in two days," said Dave Bamford.

The new system went live in March 2006 and Acuity began to see significant benefits immediately. These benefits resulted in increased efficiencies in a wide range of processes, including call handling and the control and issuing of planned tasks. Similarly, all of the information relating to jobs can now be accessed much faster.

Second to none searching

"The search option within fm facts is second to none," Dave Bamford commented. "Search options in the previous system were very limited, but with fm facts you can search on any details in the system - such as jobs logged by requester, jobs in progress, jobs cancelled, jobs logged under job type etc. This has delivered huge time savings for support desk administrators."

Financial functions have also been streamlined by the fm facts Procurement Management module. Orders can be raised straight from reactive jobs, or from the Procurement Management  module, and each order generates a sequential order number specific to that client, with no need to cross reference to another system and enter the number manually.

When the fm facts Contract Management module is fully implemented it will further enhance all of this financial information from the Procurement Management module, automatically attaching the appropriate financial data to each contract.