It all starts with facility maintenance software.

We might be biased at MasterLibrary, but to us it all starts with facility maintenance software. Your team must move from paper notes or personal recall to a digital platform to automate your routine tasks, document your team’s work on an asset and plan for your future budgets. The right solution should support you throughout a building’s lifecycle – from planning, to building and ultimately managing the building’s assets. Your software can become a master record for all your assets in this case; allowing your team to reference information based on the full history of the asset and make smarter decisions based on that context.

Benefits

Putting aside the work it takes to get your assets on a school facilities management software platform (and we’ll address that in a bit), the benefits once they are digital are many. Here are just a few of the benefits a school district realizes once they start taking action on their assets in a software solution.

• Equipment Reliability and Longevity. By conducting regular inspections, servicing, and proactive repairs, preventive maintenance ensures that equipment and assets function optimally. This approach minimizes unexpected breakdowns, reduces wear and tear, and extends the lifespan of machinery and systems. Consequently, it reduces the need for costly emergency repairs or premature replacements.
• Cost Savings. Preventive maintenance often leads to substantial cost savings in the long run. Regular upkeep prevents major malfunctions, reducing the likelihood of expensive repairs or replacements. It also helps in controlling operational costs by improving energy efficiency and reducing resource wastage. This, in turn, helps take surprises out of your annual budget, smoothing over your expenses from year to year.
• Improved Safety and Compliance. Regular maintenance checks ensure that equipment meets safety standards and regulatory requirements. This contributes to a safer working environment for employees and students. Compliance with safety regulations also minimizes the risk of accidents and potential legal liabilities.
• Better Planning and Resource Allocation. A structured preventive maintenance program enables better planning for both short-term and long-term facility needs. With scheduled maintenance tasks, managers can allocate resources, such as manpower, materials, and budget, more effectively. Predictable maintenance schedules allow for improved budget forecasting and resource management.

Key Actions

There are some simple core actions that you can start proactively taking with your assets in a facilities maintenance platform that go beyond a ticket system for work orders when an asset is failing. Here are a few:

• PMs. One of the features of a facility management platform that has the most impact on both admins and staff is the preventive maintenance module. At the admin level, it’s for peace of mind that important maintenance routines are being performed consistently to get the most out of the equipment. Using a PM & Procedure template ensures that maintenance checks are being performed on time and with repeatable steps so that nothing gets missed and assets are checked consistently, regardless of the resource that is performing it.
  From a tactical standpoint, PM’s logged in a FM platform ensure that there is a forever- audit trail. It holds documentation showing when and by whom an inspection was performed, all while keeping the documentation easily accessible from the system. This is valuable both for longevity of assets but also liability purposes. Being able to prove that a safety inspection was performed with the proper steps can save lots of headache in the event that something happens.
• Warranty Documentation. Never miss out on another warranty opportunity. Sometimes warranty claims are not submitted due to lack of documentation. When they can prove that maintenance was performed at the suggested intervals it’s easier to submit the claim on a big ticket item. Additionally, having the warranty documents linked to the assets allows for easy recall and reference to the dates of coverage. A digital platform seeks to replace your binders and folders that contain this information today and move them to the cloud where they become searchable and tied directly to the assets in your system. This saves a considerable amount of time manually searching for your warranty information.

Getting Started

Assuming you have a facility management platform in place, the next step is actually the hardest step- getting started. We recommend a crawl-walk-run approach when it comes to getting a PM program in place. Pick a small subset of assets to start – whatever will have the highest return on value for you and your district. Some starting points to think about:

• High maintenance assets. Assets that have to be maintained on a quarterly or monthly basis.
• Assets you can self perform. You won’t get as much value if you chose assets that you outsource maintenance on. Typically those assets will have documentation from the vendor. Choose assets that your team owns.
• Assets that are expensive when they fail. Examples include rooftop units, large boilers, building wide circulation systems
  Assets with serviceable parts like filters, belts and bearings

To take it a step further, we’ve created our top ten list of assets to start with that have the highest value add. Start with one, a few or all of these to begin building your PM program.

• Drinking fountains. Drinking fountains are an easy asset to start with because every building has them and they require regular lead tests and filter changes.
• Fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers are another easy asset to start documenting digitally. Most districts require monthly inspections, annual replacements and re-certifications. They are easy to set up PMs for because they have multiple recurring schedules. It is also very valuable to have a more robust audit trail of inspections and checks in your system.
• AEDs. More attention recently has put on AEDs inside of school buildings. This is another critical life safety asset, like fire extinguishers, that makes sense to start building a robust audit trail of inspection and checks. Most AED units require annual battery replacements. AEDs are also critical to document from a locational awareness standpoint.
  • Tip. Having a digital floor plan where AEDs are clearly marked can make all the difference in times of emergency.

To see the rest of the top ten list and read more, download our complete guide: From Assets to Actions: A Practical Guide to Building a Digital Preventive Maintenance Program.