In the contracting processes in the field of Facility Management, a good way to obtain good results in the administration of the properties is to work hand in hand with the suppliers. Such a relationship should not be a headache, but a bet for success.
By Santiago Jaramillo Hincapié
A survey conducted by the consulting firm "Business Services Growth" concludes that suppliers in the Facility Management industry are failing to maintain an adequate relationship with their customers and that trust in suppliers in the Facility Management sector is the lowest of any sector.
The survey asked eighty Facilities Managers to assess their relationship with outsourced service providers. Only 6% of the customers surveyed classify their suppliers as "trusted collaborators", compared to 25% on average in the rest of the sectors.
Another fact that the survey highlights is the fact that Facilities Managers indicate that more than 50% of suppliers would have difficulty renewing their contract if they do not improve relationships with their customers.
This survey gives rise to the Facility Management industry in the Latin American region to make a self-assessment in terms of the relationship with its customers and, at the same time, how to improve the contracting processes with its suppliers in order to provide a better and more efficient service.
In summary, the idea of this article is to expose what Facitlity Managers should take into account when hiring their suppliers in different service segments such as cleaning, security, maintenance, repair, purchasing, among others.
In large companies such as colombia of the Argos Group there is a manual for contracting suppliers that contemplates in detail all the details for contracting, and that largely serves as a guide for negotiations of this type in all areas of the company, and especially for the Facility Management section.
Similarly, it should be noted that this manual is complemented by a Contracting Committee, which is made up of the Vice Presidents of Corporate Affairs, Human And Organizational Management, Corporate Finance and Regional Colombia and is responsible for resolving situations not contemplated in the manual, as well as authorizing exceptions to its procedures and rules.
On the other hand, it should be noted that Facility Management companies and Facitlity Managers directly linked must be aware that in some way they form a key to success with their suppliers, because they are the face closest to the day to day with the buildings or spaces managed and that they are, at the same time, the plus of service / effectiveness in a specific task.
Jordi Cochs, Managing Director of IFS at ISS Facility Services recently highlighted that "outsourcing services independently involves having multiple suppliers, as many as services are provided. Although the individual specialization of each provider is maintained, this business strategy entails some additional workloads, such as complex communication (with an interlocutor for each service), individual execution and quality controls and an absence of synergies or savings due to synchronization and / or coordination between the different services. In this way, no professional profile specialized in the management and provision of the same in an integrated way is established, which is what, in short, brings competitive advantages to companies in terms of savings and excellence".
Keys in hiring
Milton Campo Murillo, Director of Property of Terranum Administración (Terranum Group), a platform for investment, development and corporate and institutional real estate services in Colombia, affirms that "in Terranum Administración we take care of the Process of Facility Managers of the group's properties and other properties in general and we start the process of selecting suppliers identifying the needs of each of our buildings, and then, through a process that we identify as "framework contracts", select the suppliers that will provide us with their services".
It also warns that "inventories are drawn up in each of the buildings and on that inventory, a specification is made to determine who offers the best conditions. Identifying in the supplier some essential points for its performance such as that a long-term contract can be generated, that technical accompaniment is carried out, that leads to make decisions permanently and finally establish the rates that would be delivered to us as a group of properties. Highlighting that the invoicing process is carried out directly to our properties, identifying ourselves as a "Marco" supplier of Terranum Administration, "he highlights.
Milton Campo emphasizes that terranum Administration establishes the terms of reference for a proposal (RFP, for its acronym in English), where the companies that could provide this service are preselected and the one that offers the best conditions is generated a Framework contract. Subsequently, requests for services are issued for each of the properties, where the services provided to the property are invoiced to each property.
The Director of Property of Terranum Administration points out, in the same way, five key factors of selection in terms of contracting with suppliers:
1. Supplier experience.
2. Service. That in the referencing that we make the comments are positive.
3. Advice. That it is a company that is always at the top of technology and permanent innovation, to in turn renew our services and equipment.
4. Solid companies. It is established that it is a long-term company, in order not to think about one-year contracts, but about contracts that last over time.
5. That offers savings to each of the properties. Generating benefits for our clients and thus delivering added value as an administrator.
In the same way, he warns that "this process is one of the many benefits that a property would have when managed by an administration company such as Terranum. The difference of having us as Facility Managers in terms of the consolidation of Macro processes for many properties and not for just one. At the time of not having T. Administration, the building will lose all the benefits mentioned in the contracting process ("Framework contracts"), including the savings generated in our process. There is our differentiation in the real estate market, where the big beneficiaries are our clients and their properties."
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