Macro Brainwaves
If you’re like most businesses today, you’re on a never-ending course to optimise your operations and enhance your profitability. It’s likely you’ve already made significant gains along the journey…but what if we told you there might be a path as yet unexplored?
Your existing facilities management solution could be hiding up to 30% in potential savings. Just by taking a fresh look at the processes and systems that underpin your service solution, you can find ways to rationalise, streamline and integrate new technologies to the benefit of substantial cost efficiencies.
Better yet, you don’t need to sacrifice anything in order to realise these savings. Not only is it possible to maintain your existing service quality and delivery, you can actually improve on it. By ensuring your FM is fully aligned to your needs, you can create a better experience for your people and achieve peak facilities performance.
Here are 8 ways to unlock powerful cost efficiencies from your existing FM:
Through robust review of facilities management team structure and shift patterns, you can rightsize spaces and standardise service delivery across your portfolio. Robust data and reporting will give you the confidence to partition and close down spaces that are no longer needed.
Potential savings: 5-50%
For a European media and technology client, we achieved 70% savings with a reshaped post-Covid office portfolio, based on occupancy data.
Following the pandemic, the business sought to identify the best use of its property assets. Using data gathered from across its sites, including lease times, portfolio usage, and risk of closing locations, Macro developed a strategy to reshape both its portfolio and its facilities management solution to suit its new reality. In the process, we supported the business to drive improvements toward efficiency and energy targets.
Too many suppliers can be both unwieldy and costly. A robust analysis of existing suppliers and the creation of clear benchmarking can increase accountability and unlock substantial cost efficiencies through renegotiation, consolidation and replacement.
Potential savings: 5-20%
Macro helped a Middle Eastern higher education client with 300+ schools achieve a 22% reduction in annual contract spend by optimising procurement and service delivery.
Achieved via a thorough analysis and consolidation of the existing supply chain, including 2,200 subcontractors across multiple services, we helped the client to drive greater accountability and better alignment with objectives. This, in turn, led to improved response times, service quality and overall performance.
Recruiting the right people, identifying competency gaps, and developing the FM team maximises the quality of delivery and drives continuous improvement. Leveraging training across the supply chain further improves output and reduces costly turnover.
Potential savings: 5-10%
Macro achieved cost efficiencies for a global energy company client by implementing a shared management structure across its commercial office and management sites.
By eliminating the need for separate teams at each location, we maintained a high level oversight and operational continuity while reducing management costs. These savings, in combination with 5% saved through optimisation of services and retaining OEM relationships, another 5% in reactive savings by enhancing response times and efficiency, and 6-8% savings in carefully reduced cleaning staffing levels,have helped to achieve extensive efficiencies while maintaining or elevating service quality and experience.
Technology, including IoT sensors, robotics, and AI, can replace processes and systems that don’t add value to service delivery objectives. Furthermore, they can increase efficiency, ensure compliance to reduce risk, and improve performance by providing the data necessary to plan service and prevent costly problems.
Potential savings: 5 - 10%
For our North American retail client, the introduction of cleaning robots saved 23% in cleaning costs and 1,200 annual cleaning hours, all while maintaining quality.
Originally trialled at two UK locations, the cobotics achieved an ROI on the capital expenditure of 7 months and 2 years, respectively, and savings of up to of £30K over three years. Daily cleaning time was reduced by up to 75% per shift, even with a rigorous set of tasks, including removing window smudges at high levels, mopping in hard-to-reach areas, and dealing with unplanned cleaning needs, like attending to spills.
The same type and level of service isn’t needed at all times or in all places. Forecasting and planning service delivery to meet the requirements and occupancy levels of your facilities at any given time reduces service consumption costs and improves quality. Outsourcing additional activities can further reduce headcount, equipment costs and administration costs.
Potential cost savings: 10 - 15%
In the Middle East, Macro helped a commercial tower to reduce its annual utility costs by 31%, due in part to adjustment of BMS settings that ensured the HVAC system automatically shut down when spaces weren’t occupied.
Other crucial activities were similarly aligned to the building’s use and performance, to drive savings without compromise. For example, the installation of water aerators on all taps across common areas minimised use while still meeting user need. Replacement of conventional lights with energy-efficient LED and implementation of Solar PV panels cut monthly electricity bills, thereby meeting the sustainability goals of the client while maintaining a consistent quality of experience.
Full transparency of costs via detailed financial reporting and monthly cost breakdown helps you understand the true cost of service delivery, including fixed vs. variable costs. From there, you can administer tighter controls and better leverage spend across the supply chain to drive better value, improve accountability, and identify improvements, innovations, and savings opportunities.
Potential cost savings: 10%
By increasing financial transparency of facilities for a global network and IT services client, Macro reduced head count and FM service budget by 20% in the first year.
Through the introduction of better financial reporting, we were able to lower costs through greater accountability and provide better-value suppliers at no extra cost to the client. Across five sites, we leveraged the supply chain to drive efficiency with no loss in quality of service.
Reducing carbon footprint is a moral imperative for many organisations, and has the potential to generate significant cost savings. By monitoring your usage and identifying energy-saving opportunities, you can reduce costs, while measuring your achievements against your ambitions.
Potential cost savings: 5-15%
For a global financial services client in North America, Macro has achieved a 33% reduction in energy and 43% reduction in water across their portfolio over the lifetime of our contract.
To achieve these figures, we have proposed and implemented a wide range of sustainability initiatives, ranging from more efficient cleaning supplies to a rationalised printing system. Recently, we introduced solar canopies and roof-mounted solar panels across the business’ locations: These solutions have an ROI of just over 3 years and projected savings over the lifetime of the technology of over £2m.
A review of contract terms and conditions across service providers ensures they are appropriate and consistent. Not only that, but by strengthening contract terms, you can also align suppliers with rewards for desirable behaviours, like driving value and reducing costs.
Potential savings: 5-10%
Macro worked with a global retail client to reduce its existing supply chain by more than 75%, following a widespread analysis of existing vendor contracts.
We undertook a large-scale data collection process, which was often challenging as in many places vendor information was difficult to find or no contract existed at all. By strengthening contract terms, rationalising and removing 70 suppliers, we reduced invoicing from 1,000 annually to under 100, and 5% savings were made on planned maintenance and 25% projected on reactive maintenance. Macro has since entered a Principal Contractor model contract, from which we have continued to drive savings.
We’d like to offer you a free, no-obligation workshop with Macro’s senior leaders to discuss how you might be able to unlock potential costs from your own FM solution. Please get in touch to arrange a time.