Facility Management Technology

The past few years have seen the emergence of a number of powerful new technologies specifically designed to help facility managers do their jobs. Unfortunately, a number of political, technical, and procedural impediments have resulted in the majority of computer-aided facility management (CAFM) systems ending up as "shelfware" sitting on the shelves of well-intentioned users. Written by two leading international experts in the field of applying information technology to facility management, this book provides facility managers with the detailed, hands-on guidance required for successfully supporting CAFM systems. Technical and procedural topics focused on within the book include strategic technology planning, cost/benefit analysis, CAFM system functionality, implementation planning, and technology trends. In Part I of "Facility Management Technology", the authors draw on their experiences as information system consultants to identify major issues and successful strategies associated with planning, implementing, and managing facility management technology. Issues addressed deal not only with CAFM itself, but also with the processes and procedures required for minimizing the risks of technology and successfully implementing systems in the shortest possible time frame. Part 2 is devoted entirely to real-life case histories from a number of North American and Japanese corporations and government organizations, including SONY, Aetna, Siemens, the Bank of Boston, Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Pioneer Hi-Bred, Florida Hospital, and the City of Toronto. Selected for their relevance to specific aspects of CAFM, each study describes how a particular organization dealt with one or more crucial problems associated with the successful deployment of CAFM technology - addressing both day-to-day operations and, importantly, the larger organizational context. "Facility Management Technology" is the only truly comprehensive text on the subject. With the wealth of practical advice from Teicholz and Ikeda and its case-study orientation, this book will be an important resource for facility and real estate managers, IS professionals, facility management and design consultants, and students. This is the only totally practical, case-study based guide to using automation in facility management. "Facility Management Technology" features lessons from the U.S. and Japan. From performing strategic facility technology planning to a cost/benefit analysis, from selecting and managing CAFM systems for your organization to integrating CAFM systems with other types of corporate computing systems, this book offers detailed, hands-on guidance to virtually every aspect of facility management technology. Written by two leading international experts in the field, it analyzes and contrasts how facility management technology is now being used in North America and Japan and describes successful strategies companies have evolved for incorporating CAFM into their day-to-day operations. "I strongly believe that the clear analysis of facility management technologies and the unique lessons to be learned from each case study in the book will help facility managers establish their own total systems concept". (Yoshiro Koyama Facility Manager SONY). "The authors have provided a contemporary, accurate, and insightful view of the application of CAFM into the American and Japanese corporate environment. The 'icing on the cake' is the generic and real world case studies that provide much needed realism to CAFM. Readers should come away enthused by their increased understanding and feeling secure that others have blazed the trail ahead of them". (John A. Paccione, AIA Director of Design Florida Hospital). "The authors' insights into past, present, and future facility management trends, as well as the clear and practical examples shown in this book, will surely contribute to the development of facility management and CAFM in both the U.S. and Japan". (Dr. Shigeyuki Yamaguchi Department of Architecture and Design Kyoto Institute of Technology).

ERIC TEICHOLZ is President of Graphic Systems, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts firm specializing in facility management consulting, and management and systems integration. Teicholz is the editor of NACORE Technology Quarterly and the author of eight other books, including the award-winning CAD/CAM Handbook and Computer-Aided Facility Management. He lectures extensively and has current consulting projects in North America, Asia, Europe, and South America. Teicholz is an architect educated at Harvard University. He remained at Harvard's Graduate School of Design for a number of years as an Associate Professor in Architecture and the Associate Director of Harvard's Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis. While at Harvard, Teicholz designed and helped to develop the first commercial architectural CAD system. TAKEHIKO IKEDA, PhD, is Managing Director of the Okamura Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. Ikeda has extensive experience in systems design and development in the CAD and CAFM arena and, under his leadership, Okamura has earned a number of awards for its advanced computer systems. Ikeda's current interests lie in the area of knowledge-based productivity systems and multimedia. Dr. Ikeda's most recent book is Office Impact of Multimedia. He is the author of two other books on office automation and facility management in Japan, one of which he coauthored with Teicholz. Dr. Ikeda earned his MS degree in applied mechanics from Caltech and his PhD in management science from Northwestern University.