Inside any central commercial building — such as an office tower, hospital, or university campus — operations are not simple. Each day’s work extends far beyond just managing people or tenants. Behind the scenes, the teams also have to manage everything from HVAC maintenance and lighting systems to asset tracking, compliance, and lifecycle planning.
In facilities management, skipping a single maintenance deadline or failing to account for a critical asset can result in crippling downtime or potentially painful regulatory fines. It’s challenging in older buildings or organizations with multiple sites to keep all the plates spinning.
In the past, facility managers relied on:
- Manual records
- Siloed software
…to perform their tasks. Yet, as buildings have expanded and their systems have grown more interconnected, those haphazardly stitched-together practices no longer work so well.
That’s where facility asset management software comes into play—software specifically designed to streamline the entire building management process.
Let’s gain a sense of how the adoption of purpose-built facility asset management software can make a difference in your building management, minimize risk, and reduce operational waste.
What is Facility Asset Management Software & Why Do Buildings Require It
Facility asset management software is a digital tool that enables organizations to monitor, manage, and maintain all physical assets within a building or property portfolio.
This includes:
- HVAC units
- Electrical and lighting systems
- Furniture and fixtures
- Security equipment
- IT infrastructure
The objective is to make every asset work as efficiently as possible with the most extended usable life possible.
Here are a few solutions that have central control panels in which building operators can:
- Schedule preventive maintenance
- Automate compliance tracking
- Track the state and service history of assets
- Assign resources according to live data
Tighter control may be used to prevent any siloing of the larger buildings. That way, precious information doesn’t get locked away in spreadsheets or on a piece of paper and remains visible in a single source accessible to all authorized members of your team.
You’ll want modern software platforms that offer mobile app integration, enabling field-based technicians to view, update, and close out work orders from their mobile devices. This eliminates the delay of paperwork and streamlines mine-site processes.
How Can Facility Asset Management Tools Help?
1. Reduced Operational Gaps
Visibility is one of the most challenging aspects to achieve in facilities management. Managers are making decisions in the dark since they don’t know where key assets are located, when they were last serviced, or how they’re performing.
Centralized software addresses this by generating real-time asset registers. These systems allow teams to:
- Scan barcodes and QR Codes to validate assets on the fly
- Track condition notices and service records
- Identify underused or redundant assets
For example, a hospital overseeing dozens of HVAC units and backup generators benefits from a centralized system that keeps track of everything, helping to ensure that nothing is overlooked. This reduces unscheduled outages and ensures the efficient use of equipment.
Cross-team communication also improves when all that asset data lives in a single system.
2. Automating Maintenance Schedules Improves Efficiency
Reactive maintenance — repairing only assets when they break — is dangerous and costly. A more effective approach is preventative or predictive schedule maintenance, where systems are programmed to be serviced on a routine basis.
Automatic scheduling through facility asset management software is possible based on:
- Use data (e.g., Generator run hours)
- Manufacturer recommendations
- Compliance requirements
Automating their processes makes the building run more smoothly. Maintenance crews no longer have to remember service dates and are no longer limited to responding to breakdowns. The system sends reminders and work orders on cue.
In the long run, this methodology extends the lifespan of vital systems, reduces emergency repair expenses, and contributes to a sustainable building program.
Predictive maintenance models enabled by IoT integrations are also on the rise. These include systems for predicting when equipment is likely to fail based on sensor data, allowing even more proactive service planning.
3. Ensuring Compliance and Risk Management
There are also safety, environmental, and operational standards that a building must meet. From testing the fire system to having your electricals checked, regulations often come with deadlines, documentation and so forth.
Facility asset management software can make this a whole lot easier by:
- Tracking mandatory inspections
- Retention of lists of certificates of compliance and audits
- Preparing reports for regulators as needed
Commercial buildings may be inspected periodically for HVAC on an annual basis or for fire safety inspections. Failure to comply with a deadline may result in fines or downsizing of operations. With the help of software, facility managers can ensure they consistently pass audits.
Centralized report functions also simplify life for insurance audits or corporate governance reviews, saving time and effort.
4. Cutting Down on Operational Waste and Saving Costs
Mismanagement of buildings is an expensive affair. Unemployed assets, overbooked equipment, and unscheduled downtime can be resource leeches.
Contemporary facility management software has incorporated analytics functions to assist in:
- Identifying cost-saving opportunities
- Flagging assets nearing end-of-life status
- Conducting preventive and repair services, and more efficiently scheduling the external workforce
A real-life example: A university responsible for several campus buildings could find, via asset tracking, that specific HVAC units are outdated and guzzling energy compared with their more modern counterparts.
Cost savings are not the end of cost optimization. It also relates to the utilization of labour, the management of spare parts inventory, and reduced insurance premiums in response to improved risk management.
5. Supporting Multi-Site and Remote Operations
For companies that operate in multiple physical locations, such as retail chains, universities, and government offices, managing assets across all these locations can be extremely challenging without the right technology at their disposal.
Cloud-based facility asset management software provides access to multi-site capabilities such as:
- Central management of assets by the region
- Monitoring from an Internet portal or smartphone app
- Coordinated team workflows across locations
This establishes uniform rules, regardless of whether you manage one building or one hundred. It also caters for hybrid workplace arrangements, where some facility teams work remotely.
Moving to the cloud eliminates the need for on-premises infrastructure, and in turn, opens up data to end-users, allowing for more flexibility and scalability.
Final thoughts
It only takes looking back a few decades to realize that new technologies come with significantly greater capabilities. Facility asset management software is a centralized, organized program that addresses all (and then some) of these needs, from preventive maintenance and compliance tracking to cost containment and optimization.
Having a best-in-class management software product means organizations can gain increased oversight of building operations, reduce waste, and achieve more streamlined collaboration among teams.
For property managers, schools, health care facilities and corporate offices alike, it’s no longer just a matter of keeping the lights on. It’s not just operating a lean, responsive, and resilient business, which is possible through intelligent asset management strategies.
Also read: From Chaos to Control: How Parcel Tracking Tech is Changing Everyday Life
