In the commercial real estate world, the process of management is very important, to increase its effectiveness. There are many available CAFM (Computer Aided Facilities Management) solutions on the market. Their main purpose is to support the management of human, physical and financial resources. All parties involved in the processes of operating, managing and using the property have access to the CAFM platform, which has a communicative value and free flow of information and may be directed to any user or any chosen group. One of the real estate types, where CAFM solutions can be used are shopping centers. At times, where social distancing is absolutely essential in maintaining health safety, CAFM systems can support processes that will increase the safety of visitors in commercial real estate including shopping malls. The everyday work of building services consists of many tasks such as malfunctions, scheduled inspections, and check-ups, as well as incidents related to the safety of the center. CAFM systems can significantly improve the handling of these processes.
Discover basic possibilities for CAFM system usage in shopping centers and see for yourself why such solutions are necessary.
1. Handling of Unplanned Events
Shopping centers as locations, that are visited every day by thousands of people require constant support from technical companies so that in case of malfunction action is immediately taken. Thanks to using CAFM systems, services such as Security and Cleaning can use the CAFM system, straight away after noticing the malfunction (systems are also available on mobile devices), to report the malfunction, which is sent to the technical department directly.
Handling service notifications using the platform makes the whole process transparent to all participants. Access to this knowledge allows minimizing losses resulting from the malfunction or fault that occurred in the building. CAFM system can also be a huge database about the malfunction of a device or premises. This allows a more precise analysis and setting a strategy, that will minimize costs connected with current affairs.
2. Inspections and Rounds
One of the main CAFM system usages is using it to control the technical state of the real estate. The possibility to plan check-ups, technical rounds, or security are further examples of using computer systems in caring about the technical state of the real estate. Using the application on a mobile device, technical workers can do rounds or check-ups without the need for paper, having a mobile screen for their use. A prepared list of tasks in the application can replace the protocol and automatically be attached to the review order in the application.
The planning module can be also used by cleaning services, which, especially now, are obliged to make more frequent visits to the sanitary premises and disinfect the most frequently touched surfaces (e.g. doorknobs). It’s worth adding that CAFM systems are very often integrated with loT devices, which allow greater verification of the way rounds are done or rooms controlled.
3. Incident Documentation by Security
Security service is one of the basic services carried out in shopping centers. They monitor and care about the security not only of customers but also tenants. CAFM systems can be also used by the security Agency as a place to record any incidents that have occurred in the shopping center of the parking area. Documentation of a particular incident can be completed with various comments, notes, photos, or protocols, which allows a wide description of the case.
4. Work Tenants’ Notification
Tenants’ work that requires acceptance or permission from the center’s director is connected with the manual filing of paper documents, which have to be delivered to the director’s office later and you have to wait for the decision. This process can be fully mirrored in CAFM systems. This will allow not only to reduce paper use (ecological issue) but also limit physical contact, which during the coronavirus pandemic has a great significance.
The form completed by hand on paper by the tenant can be input in the system in electronic version, which, in the application, will be directly sent to people, who can decide in those matters. A reply can also be sent to the applicant in electronic form. CAFM systems use automatic notifications to communicate with the users so that the most important information is received not only directly in the application, but also as an automatically sent e-mail.
5. Communication with Tenants Improved
At a time of constant change and uncertain regulations concerning places, where there’s human interaction every day, it’s worth having a tool, which will allow quick communication with all tenants of the shopping center. CAFM systems are here to help, as they offer a dedicated news module that can be used to send group messages to all users of the CAFM application.
Thanks to those tools you can send all kinds of announcements relating to changing legislation, as well as current information about shopping center operations. These announcements can also be completed with all kinds of files that will get to tenants as attachments in e-mails or text messages, depending on the solution you are using. This communication is easy and covers the whole center, both tenants and the employees of the center’s services.
In Conclusion
CAFM solutions for commercial real estate integrated with IoT sensors such as Singu FM are tools, which facilitate the development of the real estate ecosystem, information flow, knowledge sharing, and building management surveillance. They are a very convenient tool for managing both the technical and financial spheres of the building.
Thanks to it you can:
- Manage maintenance of processes such as fault repairs, scheduled maintenance, and work notification by tenants
- Monitor work and building services quality
- Communicate easily, both with all users at the same time and directly with a chosen group or individual user
- Account for the additional work performed
The advantages of the CAFM system mentioned above illustrate why the owners or managers of shopping centers are increasingly choosing information systems supporting building services work. Discover full possibilities of the Singu FM system – a system for management and technical maintenance for your real estate. Contact us to find out how your shopping center can be improved with the CAFM type system. Contact us and start your free trial.
