27.01.2009 - CentrO Oberhausen opts for speedikon® FM solution

The CentrO is Europe’s largest shopping and leisure center with a total shopping area of 70.000m². It contains more than 200 shops which offer anything from clothing, jewelry to furnishing and home decorations.

On the former industrial estate of Thyssen area, national and international architects created a shopping center made of glass, steel and clinker brick. The shopping center opened in 1996 after only 2 years of construction time. They created a building that keeps the equilibrium between functionality and construction whilst being completely integrated into the surrounding industrial area despite its individuality. CentrO offers over 14.000 free parking spaces and is designed in a Mediterranean style, making it a real attraction. Many different business processes that have to be efficiently IT-supported occur at a shopping of this size.

CentrO Management GmbH, the management company in charge of CentrO, decided on the innovative software solution by speedikon Facility Management AG to support their central management processes by information technology.

CentrO Management GmbH clearly defined the necessary processes and tasks in advance of the project. The focus is on controlling and monitoring the technical service providers as well as documenting the technical building management.

The decision for speedikon® FM was based on the easy use and the comfortable handling of the system as well as the technical competence of the respected CAFM supplier from Bensheim. Well liked were the solutions for supporting the mobile maintenance using tablet PCs and the easy integration of existing graphical plans into speedikon® FM. The ability to easily display hierarchical structures of technical installation and the corresponding logic within the module SI Manager were further reasons for the decision. The existence of an interface to the Neutrino GLT building management system by Kieback&Peter was a final convincing reason.

CentrO Management GmbH clearly placed its emphasis on the technical and infrastructural FM. Since the areas of cleaning and security are completely and the technical management is partially sourced-out, mainly the controlling functions remain with the CentrO Management GmbH. Apart from the modules outlined above; the Order management and Budget planning, as well as the document management are in use. In the future an Energy management project will be implemented using another module of speedikon® FM.  

20.11.2008 -COMPUTER AIDED FACILITY MANAGEMENT
„A system that makes life easier“

The Publishing Group Rhein Main (VRM) employs 1.200 staff and publishes 22 daily newspapers with a daily circulation of 225.000. They manage around 60.000m² of building space spread across 22 real estates. The hands on management is well supported by the software speedikon® FM by speedikon FM AG, Bensheim.

The “Allgemeine Zeitung” in Mainz, the “Wiesbadener Kurier” and the “Wiesbadener Tagblatt” are some of the publishing group’s supra-regional newspapers. Further the VRM owns a majority holding with the “Gießener Anzeiger”. The buildings of the publishing group – offices as well as historic and modern production buildings – are mainly owned by the group itself, other spaces are rented. Helmut Kartz heads the small building management team responsible for managing all real estates.
From early on the VRM-Board recognized the importance of professional and cost-effective facilities management; this task has been given top priority to. The cost transparency as well as improvements in the flexibility of fix costs and their respective optimization are the priority of the facility managers. Their daily tasks span from monitoring all technical installations, the in-house wiring, the networks and the telecommunications to the furnishing, the cleaning management and the planning of 40 to 50 moves a year. Gernot Köhler, a FM-Bachelor describes his daily tasks as “to make sure that the foil in the pond is equally OK as the air conditioning and ventilation plants”.
The desire for an FM- and CAFM system came up early since “it makes life easier” says Mr. Kartz. Having had very precise ideas they started looking for a system. “We did not want a system just to have one. We wanted a solution that supports us with our daily tasks. Every employee should be able to find his way around it quickly without having to use extensive manuals”.

Principles for selecting a system
The core idea was that every staff had to know something about everything whilst still making use of their own core competences. Kartz describes the structure and workflows in his department as “being no rigid organization, projects are small measures”. The question concerning cost transparency was always in focus. Where are most resources needed? Which are the cost drivers? These and similar questions have to be answered by reporting. “We have to analyze quickly and make decisions in order to react fast” says the head of FM. After an extensive market analysis, in 2006 VRM decided on the integrated solution by speedikon Facility Management AG from Bensheim. When deciding on the software, its origin was important. “We did not look for a typical CAD-based system, neither did we look for one originating in the maintenance, but rather a solution that supports us with all our facility management tasks”.
Since the beginning of the project in April 2007 more than 600 maintenance orders with a volume of around € 550.000 were placed with the software. This shows that mainly small service orders with external service providers are managed within the software. Before the system was introduced, staff phoned or sent emails detailing facility management tasks sent as fault reports. The responsible caretakers were swamped by the number of incoming requests. Even with all their efforts the employees who had reported faults rarely received a reply in reasonable time.
By using the web-based Helpdesk, the error messages are now channeled and categorized as well as prioritized. According to the facility managers, this has the positive side effect that the staff can concentrate on the core competences and are not constantly busy with dealing with fault reports. Further, the time line indicates how often certain faults occur. In this way fault prone installations which are clear cost drivers can be identified and removed. Kartz states that “the need for digitalization had a positive effect. We can now see which measure have to be carried out every year, the level of transparency has increased and we can act specifically in order to reduce costs. This is especially true for following up on repair jobs and monitoring the costs of the individual technical installation.” His team now has an archive of the maintenance measures which is important for the warranty management. “We can reach high installation usage levels in terms of availability and conservation of value through planned maintenance” says Kartz emphasizing that “all this is done with the least resources possible”. What previously had to be stored in 4 and more folders und countless filing systems is now electronically available to the staff at a single click. All orders are documented in the system. You can quickly see when orders were placed, and the overall question of whether the real costs are within the budget can easily be answered.

Amortization of the system costs
“We gained the best and quickest results with the cleaning management. I can advise every facility manager in large real estates to make use of this immense cost reduction potential. In Germany there is still much room left for optimization.” Further Kartz adds his own experience. „With the introduction of the system we did not only cancel all our contracts but we also changed the ways the building is cleaned. The costs were reduced significantly while the quality improved. We are now able to control more quickly and precisely, especially with regard to the fulfillment of cleaning duties being carried out.” The graphics within the CAFM system are very helpful for the cleaning service provider. The spaces to be cleaned can be colored in order to see the type of cleaning to be carried out. The graphical representation is important and a major step towards transparency in the cleaning management. The software can also be used to simulate cleaning scenarios. The VRM facility manager concludes that “thanks to the knowledge about cleaning spaces, floor types and cleaning cycles they can now control and monitor the important processes and thereby increase the quality and reduce costs. The positive results in the cleaning management alone made up for the investment in the CAFM software.
The web-based module for booking and managing conference rooms turned into a self propelling item at the VRM. Again this module has had a significant impact on the controlling and monitoring of costs. More than 100 users utilize this intuitive and user-friendly tool. They book conference rooms and the necessary equipment. A positive side effect: the tool makes speedikon FM known to staff that are not involved in the facilities management. The users’ reactions are positive, especially the self-explanatory user guidance is complemented on.
The facility managers benefit from the high levels of acceptance. “We are practically not involved in this process any longer, with the exception of maybe a single particular case which may occur every two years or so. The booking of conference rooms is now transparent, standardized and clear”.

Cost relevant side effects
Besides the know effects that occur due to the IT-support in space management, like improved occupancy, the charge back of costs to cost centers or the creation of area based tender documents, the facility managers see further cost relevant effects. VRM facility manager Christoph Kepinski-Palmes explains that “they now have a whole new basis for short- and long-term negotiations with service providers such as the producers of flooring for example.” Since we know which flooring is present and when it is due to be replaced “we have improved grounds for negotiations in terms of buying large quantities leading to significant cost effects”. This of course also applies to the maintenance. Due to the coverage of the facility management solution he can find out “which company generates what annual profit with us allowing for better grounds for negotiations. We are mainly interested in the costs of a project and that we stick to our budgets”.
Kepinski-Palmes mentions an example of positive side effects concerning the graphical representation of the locations of fire extinguishers. The service provider in charge of maintaining the extinguisher only maintained and replaced them when necessary. He never cared for too many fire extinguishers being installed in some places. “Our interventions lead to a significant cost reduction by making it transparent that too many fire-extinguishers were installed in the first place”.
The top priority of the facility management team is the optimal and cost-effective utilization of the building. Current and precise data is needed to carry out this task efficiently. The allocation of compressed information is a vital basis for decisions. It also allows for necessary cost transparency and shows potential for cost reductions.
Further there are possibilities for a valorization of existing buildings by targeted maintenance measure as well as efficient planning when reorganizing buildings. Still the main focus is on quick and simple tasks through the provision of compressed and structure information from the system. Since all employees work with the same and consistent dataset, the information gathering is faster and more reliable.
Time is one of the most valuable and cost intensive resources within any organization. Time saving measures in turn lead to an increased level of quality and more precision and therefore lead to a higher success rate. “There is not THE single determining benefit of using the system but rather it is the sum of many small and medium sized benefits” Kartz concludes.

Further ambitious goals
VRM has ambitious goals and is working on challenging projects for the near future. As reported (Immobilienzeitung 32/08) VRM is building a new printing center in Rüsselsheim together with the Darmstädter Medienhaus Südhessen. From mid 2010 onwards, around 330.000 copies of the newspapers of both publishers are to be printed there every night. During the design process the emphasis was placed on lean production processes, optimized ways of communication and the total operating costs. The latest printing technology available will be used. The facility management of the printing center will be the responsibility of the Kartz-Team.
In terms of the CAFM system, the refinement of the reports the introduction of the energy management module are planned. When replacing the existing locking system over the next few years, the way for an access management system is being paved.
The already started projects for real estate key performance indicators and benchmarking are to be continued. As of today cleaning costs per square meter as well as energy consumption costs per square meter are not only calculated as key performance indicators for individual buildings but are being used as basis for an inter-building benchmarking within the system.

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28.10.2008 -BASF SE Agrarzentrum Limburgerhof

We congratulate our user BASF SE Agrarzentrum Limburgerhof.

The Site Management Team at the Agricultural Center Limburgerhof (Agrarzentrum Limburgerhof) was awarded the user award for sustainable, customer-oriented Facility Management by the magazine “Der Facility Manager”.

The award was conferred during the real estate fair Expo Real in Munich in October.

We congratuale our client, thank for the professional work and wish them lots of success for the future.

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09.05.2008 - speedikon® FM is used by Immobilien Basel-Stadt

For managing their real estates and installations, the real estate organization of the canton Basel-Stadt (SUI) “Immobilien Basel-Stadt” is using solutions created by speedikon FM AG, Bensheim.

You may wish to see the References Federal States, Cities and Municipalities

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01.02.2008 - Foundation of a cunsaltancy company of speedikon Facility Management AG in Austria

On January 02nd, 2008 PREVERA Consulting GmbH has been formed in Villach / Austria with Mr. Thomas Schnabl as managing director.

PREVERA is the consultancy company of speedikon Facility Management AG in Austria, consisting of industrial engineers and construction engineers as well as computer scientists. As our consultancy company in Austria PREVERA offers an integrated service for the life cycle of your Real Estate.

The consulting service of PREVERA focuses on Real Estate and Facility Management topics with a clear focus on strategy, project management, planning oriented Facility Management and Benchmarking.

Because of the increased demand we have realised the importance of being represented in Austria. With Prevera we rely on a strong and competitive partner for consulting in all questions regarding Facility Management and for the implementation of speedikon® FM software solutions.

For further information please visit www.prevera.at.

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21.08.2007 - New Customer Provinzial NordWest Holding AG

After intense market analysis and a successful pilot project Provinzial NordWest Holding AG - a large insurance company - has decided to use the software solutions of speedikon FM AG, Bensheim, to manage their properties and sites.

The speedikon® FM solutions are used in the departments office-organisation (in Kiel) and facility management (in Münster) for the support of the infrastructural processes.

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