Local governments may use facilities management software to solve six significant issues.

Local governments offer several essential services, including police and fire departments, municipal courts, and public works. Without a dependable facilities crew to keep things operating properly, issues with these services would arise very rapidly.

Municipal government places a great deal of emphasis on facilities management, therefore there is a great deal of demand on it to perform successfully. However, many facilities departments are experiencing difficulties due to personnel retirement, aging equipment, and shrinking resources.

Here are six issues that local government facilities employees must address, along with the ways in which facilities management software might assist.

The information on my floor layouts and amenities is obsolete.

Many municipal governments are attempting to handle 21st-century challenges using 20th-century methods and concepts. Do you recognize any of these?

There are outdated floor plans on paper, data silos that are dispersed across several locations, and no central repository for all facility information. Instead, basic Word documents and Excel spreadsheets are used to measure metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs).

It is simpler to operate government facilities in a secure, cost-effective, and efficient manner with comprehensive, trustworthy data.

Solution: Online data archive

Imagine if everyone on your team could see all building-related information in a single location. Do you want details on boiler warranties? Done. Do you need to know the frequency of water heater maintenance? No problem. Need to provide another department access to the newest floor plans? This was written for you.

Incredible, right? That is how effective building management software is. It maintains all information about your facilities in a digital format that your staff can easily access.

FM software's most current digital floor layouts are one of its greatest features. While adopting FM software, some software partners, such as CloudApper, will digitize and then update your existing floor plans. Some software partners will additionally gather all of your facilities' data and enter it into the program on your behalf.

I must determine what is in each of my buildings.

Local governments are responsible for several things, including courthouses, park shelters, and wastewater treatment facilities, among others. These structures are distinct and fulfill distinct functions.

It is difficult to keep track of rooms and equipment in several buildings using just your recollection or previous lists. How can you efficiently manage millions of square feet across several buildings if you don't know what's within each?

Solution: Mapping assets according to their location

Some FM software allows for the mapping of assets to digital floor layouts. You may locate any property, including electrical panels, light fixtures, power generators, water fountains, garbage cans, etc.

On your digital floor plan, colorful pins indicate the location of your assets. It is simple to locate and locate your assets in each location. Now, you can:

Plan efficient paths for regular cleaning, maintenance, and inspections. Show a new team member or external contractor where an asset is located.

Test its functionality using the CloudApper Facilities app. (Full disclosure: not all FM software can do this function, so bear this in mind as you evaluate your alternatives.)

I'm locked in a loop of doing reactive maintenance.

There are several facility managers who share your sentiments. Especially if their buildings were old and they had the funds to maintain repairs, which were costly and time-consuming.

They want to be more proactive, but are unable to do so since they must manage asset life cycles, their maintenance histories are inaccurate, and their work order systems are paper-based.

Demands for reactive maintenance might bury your team beneath a pile of costly issues that are difficult to escape.

Solution: improved work management

Starting a preventative maintenance (PM) program will be difficult if everyday maintenance is not under control. FM software provides team members with rapid access to work orders, which saves paper, increases productivity, and maintains a record of all completed activities.

With CloudApper Facilities, you can better manage reactive tasks and allocate more resources to preventative maintenance.

The reporting function of the FM software enables you to keep track of all facility maintenance actions. Ensure that work orders are being completed, and address any issues before they escalate.

It is feasible to automate the scheduling of preventative maintenance chores using FM software. It also offers your experts mobile access to any asset data and PM techniques they may need. Additionally, FM software guarantees that your personnel completes all assigned tasks.

Problem: I have too much manual labor

According to the 2022 State of Local Government Survey, the majority of local governments in the United States lack resources and must do an excessive amount of physical labor.

Too little resources (44%) and an excess of manual labor (34%).

Whether complicated procedures requiring a lot of back-and-forth or outdated paper-based systems, these issues slow you down and make your job less efficient.

By using an FM platform, you may save waste and utilize less resources overall to maintain your facilities.

Making things more accessible and automating them is the answer.

39% of local governments have prioritized technology investments for 2021 in order to automate mundane chores and procedures. This is a significant function of FM software.

By automating labor-intensive operations, such as arranging work orders, inputting asset information, and performing regular inspections, FM software enables your team to do more work in less time with less resources.

For instance, FM software has a function that allows users to request assistance.

Instead of contacting or emailing the department of maintenance, residents may utilize the interactive online application to request assistance.

The program immediately updates the tenant on the status of their request and allows you a few seconds to assess and schedule the work order.

Your maintenance professional is notified automatically when they receive a repair order, and they have access to all pertinent information.

No one has to spend a whole day handling all repair orders, ensuring that technicians complete them, and responding tenants' inquiries regarding the progress of their requests.

Problem: If even one of my techs goes on a short vacation, I'm in danger.

According to the 2022 State of Local Government Survey, enough staffing is one of the most essential challenges.

54% feel they need assistance locating the skills necessary to replace departing employees.

62% of respondents said that if they took a two-week vacation, it would be difficult for someone else to assume their tasks.

What happens to the rest of your team when the most knowledgeable member of your facilities team goes on vacation, changes jobs, or retires? Most likely without a paddle in deep water.

Your more seasoned experts possess a wealth of knowledge that the rest of your team must have access to.

Effective methods to communicate knowledge FM software is a repository for all of your facility's information, such as how to repair a malfunctioning AC unit and where to locate a hard-to-find item. Because everything is digital, all team members may access the necessary information on their mobile devices.

FM software facilitates the coverage of unknown facilities or processes while an employee is absent from the workplace. In fact, they visited the same location less often to inspect the amenities. The facility management staff can better anticipate what they will need prior to departure since they have access to all relevant program information. It is the finest technique to impart knowledge.

Your facility management (FM) software should include all facility-related data, so that work may be completed even while an employee is on vacation. The surviving team members may rapidly fill the job of a departing employee. Using technology such as FM software also makes your maintenance crew more enticing to prospective new employees.

My local government wants greater collaboration and information sharing.

The State of Local Government Survey for 2022 reveals that an increasing number of respondents want agencies to collaborate more effectively. The best approach for departments to collaborate, according to more than half of respondents, is to leverage technology that aggregates data from several sources.

Additionally, there is a demand for improved and more transparent capital planning. Nearly 70% of municipal governments, for instance, want to make their capital planning more strategic, flexible, or collaborative.

Your building data is the key to greater departmental cooperation and more transparent capital planning. If used properly, it may be a formidable instrument.

Transparency through use of information

FM software allows you to monitor, acquire, manage, and exchange accurate and current facility information. It integrates many data streams to provide an overall picture of your situation (maintenance activities, asset conditions, etc.). With this knowledge, you can:

Establish more detailed budgeting for capital expenditures (and show the data you used to come up with your budget)

Show the costs and risks of delaying capital-intensive purchases and projects.

Provide data-supported input to other departments.

Be a trustworthy resource for all amenities.

Utilizing your facility's data with FM software may help your organization become more collaborative and transparent.

Cloud application fails for municipal facilities management

State and municipal governments may use CloudApper Facilities, an all-inclusive facilities management system, to:

Asset management, Maintenance monitoring, Building management Work order management.

Learn how we can assist you with some of the most difficult FM issues. Ask immediately for a demo!