FM newsroom – property management, facility management. The future will see artificial intelligence managing and processing the data collected in smart buildings. Reporting events and recommending what needs to be done in a building will soon be managed also by AI. This explosive change in the area of data collection and analysis will require specialists and facility management companies for sustainable and cost-effective operations.
“Smart homes, smart apartments, smart offices have already appeared. We are surrounded by more and more equipment that can indicate faults, the need for maintenance and the time for replacement. More and more sensors are being installed in buildings. There is already a huge amount of data being generated and it is growing. The future will see artificial intelligence managing and processing the data, even reporting it and recommending what needs to be done. There is explosive change in the area of data collection and analysis. This will require specialists, facility management companies,” – László Vágó, president of the Hungarian National Association of Facilities Management and Building Management Services (LEO) told fmbusiness.hu describing the innovations already shaping the industry.
Sustainable operations, circular economy approach
According to László Vágó, the sustainable operation also requires specialists, FM companies.
“With the rise of the circular economy, I think modular systems in buildings will become increasingly important. Architectural and, even more so, mechanical systems will be built from interchangeable LEGO-type units, replaced by another LEGO-type element for maintenance and repair. Systems that are easy to repair, in line with a circular approach, will also bring about a radical transformation of the profession. Consequently, the role of expertise and specialist companies is becoming increasingly valuable,” – László Vágó, president of LEO.
Outsourcing is not new in the real estate sector, and it is now playing a significant role in the way the industry is changing, the president of LEO believes.
Property management: outsourcing, outstaffing
“Unfortunately, even in professional circles, the terminology is rather vague and many people are not clear about the exact meaning of the terms: outsourcing and outstaffing. Outsourcing is trusting a complex set of tasks to an external specialist company, while outstaffing is the outsourcing of a set of tasks and the staff who perform them. Companies outsource the tasks that support their own business, in this case, real estate services, to companies whose core business is real estate services. The outsourcing partner can better exploit synergies, manage substitution, manage fluctuation”- László Vágó listed the advantages of outsourcing in real estate.
The president of the Association mentioned the outsourcing of hospital operations as a good example. It relieves the burden on hospitals, leaving them more time, energy and money to focus on their core business of treating patients.
„Facilities run by experts with state-of-the-art technology, resources and experience make life easier not only for patients and their relatives but also for hospital staff, reducing the workload of medical staff and improving the professionalism of patient care. Our experience shows that outsourcing can make facility management more cost-effective,” – László Vágó pointed out.
More cost-effective and precise facility management
The Directorate General of Public Procurement and Supply (KEF) took over the management of the hospitals in Budapest on 1 July, which went without any major incidents.
From 1 January, the KEF will also take over the management of rural hospitals in Hungary, providing facility management services (technical management, cleaning, security, park and garden management) for 81 hospitals, covering 3-4 thousand properties and 2 million sqm. According to Attila Pál Bodó, deputy director-general of KEF, outsourcing the management of hospital facilities nationwide will lead to cost efficiency in the long term.
Photo: fmbusiness.hu
