Purpose: To help facility managers decide what key performance metrics should be tracked for their facility.

Highlights:

• What key performance metrics do top facility managers consider keeping track of for their buildings?

• What tracked metrics save buildings the most money?

• What are the benefits of these metrics, and how do they affect a property in the long run?

Facilities run smoothly by making use of hundreds of smaller parts and resources. As a facility manager, one of your top priorities should be measuring, quantifying, and examining the metrics of your building. By doing this, you’ll see what areas are performing best and others that may need some extra attention.

From documented work orders to planned maintenance to energy efficiency, there are many ways to assess the productivity of your space. Keep reading for the top metrics that your facility should pay attention to.

Work Orders

Work Order Response Time

When it comes to work orders, fast response time equals higher maintenance productivity, a safer building, and happier building occupants. So, it’s important that work orders have a calculated response window. Work orders that are not fulfilled in a timely matter can cause frustration and hinder the work environment.

Response time is calculated by documenting the time a work order was submitted and how much time it took to respond to the work order. Keep in mind, the length of time it took to respond to the work order will not necessarily be the same as the length it takes to resolve the issue.

Once this performance metric has been measured by your facility, set goals! There’s always room for improvement, and ultimately a faster response time will lead to a more efficient facility.

Backlog of deferred work orders

As a facility manager, you’ll want to document non-critical work orders in a backlog. Critical work orders must be tended to immediately, and if these orders find themselves in the backlog, that could be a sign of other issues in the facility (like lack of funds or proper employment).

Although a backlog should be kept, make sure that it doesn’t become too overwhelming. Items that aren’t repaired may break entirely, which negatively impacts the efficiency, safety, and budget of the facility.

Planned Maintenance

To avoid repairs transforming into replacements, facility managers can record planned maintenance and reactive maintenance. Planned maintenance can be scheduled ahead of time in an attempt to avoid emergency downtime and maintenance-related costs like overtime or emergency parts.

The cost of unplanned maintenance can range from 3–9 times more than planned maintenance. Keep up on facility efficiency and save funds by making sure that at least 50% of your maintenance is planned.

Equipment

Equipment Repair Costs

The best facility managers will keep an inventory of their property. By determining which pieces of equipment cost the most to run, you’ll be able to decide a plan of action to reduce these expenditures.

To understand what is costing your facility the most, begin by tracking the cost of maintenance for each resource. When calculating a maintenance cost, you’ll have to factor in labor hours, hourly wages, and any other costs (such as parts) that were needed to fix that piece of equipment.

Equipment Inventory

Keeping an equipment record is also beneficial to aid in the maintenance process and keep things consistent. You can record the exact item, price, and supplier for each part needed within the facility, which will lead to a faster and more organized response.

Energy

There are general energy metrics to consider when determining the energy efficiency of your building which include

• Total energy used per unit of production

• Total on-site created energy

• Total purchased energy per month

If it’s your aim to have a sustainable production process, these numbers should be as low as possible, while still ensuring that the facility is running properly.

What do you think is the most important metric for a facility to measure — and how can this metric be tracked?

In Conclusion

As a facility manager, it’s important to assess the efficiency of work order completion, planned maintenance, equipment performance, and energy efficiency. Not only should you be tracking these metrics, but it’s also important to set goals for improvement.