Tracking facilities data is a complicated, end-to-end process that takes time and organization to complete. However, collecting information alone doesn't always provide the best results. The key is to maximize the time and effort put into collecting the data. Implementing a business intelligence (BI) strategy can help businesses making more strategic, data-driven decisions to improve operational efficiency, identify opportunities, and gain a competitive edge.
Business intelligence (BI) refers to a set of technologies, processes, tools, and strategies that enable organizations to collect, analyze, and transform data into valuable insights for informed decision-making. Executives and facility maintenance teams can benefit from BI because reliable data leads to decisions that result in measurable ROI and continual savings on capital investments.
When it comes to making data-driven decisions in facilities maintenance, these are the foundational components:
Using business intelligence in facilities maintenance leads to better long-term planning for cost transparency and spend optimization, which allows for stronger budgets and better capital planning. Below are just a few of the trends that are fueling business intelligence in the facilities maintenance industry.
Internet of Things (IoT) is a common example of emerging technology that enhances BI capabilities. By using sensors that communicate, analyze and share data, companies can collect real-time and detailed information about their products, assets and locations. The information IoT devices provide can lead to:
Facility maintenance companies can use the same framework of using sensors to create a log of their own data. However, understanding what data is the most important to track for a backlog can be difficult, which is why data mining is important.
Companies that use BI can increase the value of their organization when they understand more about what is occurring in their facilities. Data mining is the process of analyzing big data and finding new trends within the data. Finding these trends can help BI users understand why certain happenings occur and predict what will happen in the future. In the facility maintenance industry, data helps companies reach goals like reducing, minimizing, and optimizing an asset lifecycle at all phases.
After collecting data with IoT and finding actionable trends to make the best decisions in asset investment planning, network design, procurement, installation and disposal/replacement, facilities can use data to foresee future outcomes. Predictive analytics is the process of comparing historical data to current data for future planning. This process helps implement techniques like:
While documented impacts of BI adoption in the facility maintenance industry are minimal, there is a lot of potential. By implementing BI initiatives in FM programs, companies like yours can experience improved asset utilization, lifecycle management and cost savings. Read more about the best practices of data use and the organization of facilities maintenance data.
A well-functioning maintenance strategy is essential to the success of any modern-day facilities portfolio. To make sure your facilities maintenance strategy is meeting your needs, request a demo to learn more about how our programs can help you.