The Future of Facilities Management Solutions: Service Consolidation

Published on : 4/26/22

Over the last two decades, facility management has evolved dramatically.

The increased economic instability has left executives in the energy industry looking for ways to reduce costs without affecting core operations. Facility management (FM) is one obvious place to consider.

Typically, FM is reactive and performed in-house or through a multitude of providers, bundling services on an operational level. Operational costs are high, service offerings are often redundant and there are limited possibilities for scalability. Furthermore, processes lack standardization, and the multitude of contracts can become a burden for procurement and real estate managers.

How do you navigate change while ensuring stability?

From 90 vendors to 2

Faced with reducing capital and operational expenditures, a global energy company based in California looked at its real estate as a strategic point for savings.

Their ultimate solution was to consolidate their real estate vendors from 90 separate contracts into 2 primary partnerships, awarding Sodexo soft FM services and eventually full IFM capabilities across 100 buildings at 47 sites in the United States.

This resulted in immediate savings for the client, allowing a reduction in company labor expenses, process standardization, supplier safety alignment and optimization of real estate.

Service implementation was an ambitious plan — after 24 months of planning by the client, our team mobilized in 90 days (3 months).

One approach is to opt for consolidating and outsourcing FM services. According to a McKinsey paper, the global market for in-house and outsourced facilities management is estimated to reach 1.9 trillion by 2024, with the outsourced segment accounting for more than half that number. It is not just a trend, it is the future of FM.

Some important benefits of consolidating FM services include:

Cost-saving: Streamlining service delivery reduces operational costs.
Focus on core business: Operation leaders can focus on managing their specialized teams
Improved service levels: Consolidating service providers reduces inefficiencies, redundancies and inconsistent service delivery
Scalability: IFM is a long-term strategic approach that drives standardized processes throughout the organization
Flexibility: IFM services are customized specifically for the needs of the organization

At Sodexo, our Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) services help to manage facilities more efficiently and effectively. Our goal is to improve your competitive advantage by delivering comprehensive service solutions.

Our operational approach is to self-perform and outsource specialized services through alliance relationships across portfolios. Our IFM solutions drive operational efficiencies and provide strategic focus:

One transparent agreement
Reduced overhead expenses
One single management team
Consistency in standards, communication and reporting
Performance-based to mitigate risks
Centralized FM Operations.

In addition to effective change management, making the switch to IFM solutions takes a substantial amount of planning. Identifying and onboarding key stakeholders by building business cases and designing a robust implementation roadmap are key to a successful transition.