Problems of Facilities Management in Corporate Organizations

Problems of Facilities Management in Corporate Organizations

Chapter One

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research is to examine the role of the facilities manager and to highlight the problems that constrain effective facilities management as well as providing solution to the identified problems.

The objectives of the research include the following:

To give a comprehensive insight into the field of facilitiesmanagement, its functions, scope and
To establish the professional inputs of facilities management team and its role in corporate
To determine the problems which militate against efficient and effective facilities management in corporate organizations.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

THE ORIGIN AND CONCEPT OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

The early set of people who came in contact with what is now referred to as facilities management restricted their view of the discipline to space management as against the other aspects. This was because departments or sections of organizations are often charged by management for space which they occupy and therefore they are becoming more aware of the cost of space and are demanding more effective quality and performance in their accommodation, as a result of factors of supply and demand in the market for buildings (Spedding, 1994).

In recent years, the area of space management has excited great interest on the part of real estate groups and facilities engineering departments of major corporations as well as institutions, government and environmental design disciplines. Recent developments and research into the discipline particularly since the late nineteen eighties (1980’s), have shown or revealed a wider and more embracing scope (Odiete, 1999).

Facilities management has been promoted as the solution to most problems encountered by building occupants, owners, managers as well as architectural designers (Hamer, 1988). It combines all property management systems, occupancy consulting, planning, procurement, implementation and controlling service for space management, commercial management and technical management (Odiete, 1999).

Facilities management is a relatively new field. Its origin is in the United States where it has been in practice for over 20 years (Umezurike, 1998).

In 1989, the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), a professional body of facilities managers was formed with membership strength of over 12,000 professionals from the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Germany. It is interesting to note that in Japan in particular, the facilities management function has been promoted through government agencies, whereas elsewhere the onus has tended to be on individuals and independent professional associations to develop facilities management . The view point of facilities management tends to be coloured in many countries by the existence or otherwise of strong professional bodies in the property management and architectural fields (Spedding, 1992).

A Nigerian chapter of the IFMA has been formed with the purpose of:

Associating facilities management and affiliating it into anorganized professional body.
Assistingmembers in acquiring knowledge and
Advancingstandards of facilities management
Fosteringa professional code of
Introducingand presiding over certification

THE OBJECTIVES OF IFMA ARE:

To provide opportunities for professional
To sponsor educational programs in facilities managementrelated
To provide a forum through seminars, conferences and workshops for the exchange of ideas and experiences.
To establish a scholarship program for the advancement offacilities management as a

Recently, the field has gained prominence amongst real estate groups, Engineers, major corporations, institutions, government agencies and industrial organizations with more and more professionals from related fields taking up membership in the association (Ojo, 1997).

THE MEANING OF FACILITY

Lewis and Marrow (1965) defined facility as a single piece of equipment or any number of pieces of equipment or machinery. This definition is however, somewhat over–simplified. Facility can be seen as including all land, real estate, building structures, process machinery and support equipment both movable and stationary.

Marrow (1971) in his view describes facility as warehouses, laboratories service area and auxiliaries like corporations, waste disposal etc. excluding all production and non-production equipment.

This view looks at facility as equipment not directly related to core production operations, which serve only as service/auxiliary equipment to enhance the performance of the major production lines.

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

RESTATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Facilities management in Nigeria is still in an early learning cycle when compared with the situation in Europe, USA etc where the practice has been on since the 1980’s.some corporate organizations are increasingly bracing the need for efficient facilities management. Like any new venture, facilities management practice in Nigeria is expected to also have its commencement problems. It is these problems of facilities management that this study intends to find out.

RESEARCH DESIGN

This study adopted the survey research design using some six selected food and beverage, textile and pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations as case study. They include Emzor pharmaceuticals, Doyin pharmaceuticals, Consolidated Foods limited, Chi limited, Nichemtex and OK Foods limited.These organizations used provided data for the study.

POPULATION OF STUDY

The population of this study will include the staff of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Doyin pharmaceuticals, Consolidated Foods Limited, Chi Limited, Nichemtex, Ok Foods Limited. The total population of study was 600 distributed among the groups indicated in table 3.1 below.

CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

Data were statistically analysed and presented in this chapter based on the research questions and hypothesis that guided the study.

ANALYSIS OF THE DISTRIBUTION AND RETURN OF QUESTIONNAIRES

A total of 240 questionnaires were administered, out of this number, 200 were correctly filled, returned and analysed. This represents 83.3% of the number distributed. The returned questionnaires formed the basis for the analysis.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Having presented and analyzed the data extracted from the questionnaires, interviews and personal observations, some principal findings, conclusion and recommendations could be made.

The facilities compliment their functions at a very low extent. The facilities used for production are either sub – standard or performing under capacity thereby reducing the quantity and quality of products, which is one of the reasons consumers, opt for foreign commodities. The basic facilities provided are either out of use or performing poorly, these include the air – conditioners, telephones, generators/plants etc.

Though there is an above average affirmation of facilities management in the selected manufacturing industries, but a further probe into the effectiveness of management showed a very high degree of poor facilities management. Further enquires made during the oral interviews revealed that effective facilities management depends on the overall maintenance policy of each manufacturing industry. Besides, there is poor or lack of good maintenance culture in Nigeria, organizations are reactive instead of proactive .

Some other interviewees mentioned inadequate finance, Lack of modern automation and skilled personnel as reasons for poor facilities management.

Data analysis confirmed that resources allocated for facilities management are inadequate. This data was used to test hypothesis I, which proved the inadequacy of resources allocated for facilities management. Due to lack of adequate funding, machineries and resources for routine and miscellaneous duties are often over looked and the quality level of products and services provided suffers.

Facilities users (production staff/machineries operators, distributors and consumers) requirements are not satisfied. Most requests are not met and bureaucracy often stands on the way of facilities users requirement satisfaction efforts. It also has a direct effect on attitude to work and level of production.

Most of the manufacturing industries sampled affirmed that their facilities are not fully modern automated. modern technology is not being used in all production stages. There is still a high degree of manual operation. Interviews conducted revealed that some of these manufacturing industries sometimes import sophisticated machines to improve production but due to Lack of competent professionals to operate them they pack up and are abandoned.

Oral interviews revealed that most organizations that have facilities management in place make use of in-house maintenance which is handled by technicians. Further enquires showed that they opted for in – house maintenance because they felt it is cheaper and would minimize cost in the long run. Those who make use of in-house/outsource said they use the latter when the former fails or when complex maintenance works that needs special professionals need to be carried out.

Management personnel interviewed mentioned poor funding/maintenance , bureaucracy, unavailability of skilled/right professionals, safety/health, difficulty in materials procurement, modern automation, environmental effects and inflation as facilities management problems which were constrains to efficient facilities management .Based on this data, hypothesis II was tested and the result shows that facilities management problems have significant effect on efficient productivity in an organization.

CONCLUSION

Facilities management as a discipline has stood its test and gained ground in the developed western world and is most likely to succeed in our economy. It is most required now to correct our present poor maintenance culture. An effective facilities management policy is indicated by the extent to which the requirements of the users, staff and owners are met. These are reflected on the physical, aesthetic condition of the facility, its functionality in performing its basic services and the ability of facilities maintenance or management team to overcome challenges that constrain them. Facilities management need to be proactive, flexible, adapting to changes in a continuous changing world. There is need for all the various professionals relevant in facilities management to work together to handle the enormous task ahead of them instead of engaging in inter – disciplinary wars for who is the right profession to handle facilities management.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Having concluded that problems of facilities management constitute constrains to effective facilities management in manufacturing industries the following remedies are recommended.

ADEQUATE BUDGETARY PROVISIONS

An organizations management should have clear goals and objectives and must plan to operate within its budgetary limits. In order to ensure that maintenance operations are not held up by shortage of funds, budgets must be made with due consideration given to contingencies for unforeseen problems.

This goes a long way in reducing down – time effects. In replacement of outdated and dysfunctional facilities and equipment, funds must be expended prudently. There should be no room for corruption and sharp practices. This helps to ensure that budgetary provisions are sufficient.

SKILLED PERSONNEL

The staff strength of the maintenance crew and engineering departments should be strengthened to enable them cope with the work of keeping the facilities in good shape.

This should be backed up with engaging services of special facilities management consultants when the need arises to handle special or complex facilities. Management should invest in staff training and sponsoring programs, which will contribute to competence in executing tasks. All the maintenance staff must be proficient and professionals in their different fields.

MATERIAL PROCUREMENT

The procurement of materials for facilities maintenance might entail importation of components from abroad. The facilities and equipments might also be so out-modeled and obsolete that it would be impossible to get spare parts of the components. In designing facilities all these should be taken into consideration.

Alternative equipment with readily available spare parts and components should be installed so that maintainability is enhanced. Design and maintainability should be the watch word right from inception.

LEVEL OF AUTOMATION

Investment should be made in computers and software packages that are relevant to space and data management. This will enhance management performance and introduce modern technology in tackling facilities management problems. Automation aids the evaluation of performance and monitoring of control operations. It will hasten response to facilities problems and save labour – hours thereby reducing operation costs.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

Studies can be carried out on the evaluation of facilities life cycle in order to be able to make needed preparations for renewal or replacement of components. Studies can also be carried out on the need to be flexible in adapting to the changing needs of user and to keep ahead of competition especially in the area of information technology.

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