Spain. The International Congress of Facility Managers - CIFMers - to be held on September 24 and 25, 2015 in Madrid, will count among its speakers Irimar Palombo, maintenance and infrastructure coordinator at SESC (Serviço Social do Comércio) in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, who will talk about energy, sustainability and LEED certification.
In an interview published by the organizers of CIFMers, Irimar shares some of his insights into the world of Facility Management. First of all, the interviewee shared how she came to this profession. "I am a civil engineer and graduated in 1995. From then until 2001 I worked in a construction company in the area of budget monitoring and construction. In 2001 I started working at SESC in a building in the state of São Paulo," he explains.
And he adds that "today I am in charge of the Facility Management area. I manage 36 buildings that make up the SESC portfolio in the state of São Paulo with the collaboration of the Maintenance and Infrastructure Unit team."
In addition, explains Palombo, when she started in this area in 2001, the concept of Facility Management was beginning to be known in the Brazilian market and, as she came from the world of construction, she had to update herself on the discipline, began to investigate the operation and maintenance of buildings and discovered that Facility Management is not only concerned with the care of such buildings, but also the integration of people, spaces and technologies through the interrelation of these systems with the corporate objective of the institution.
Currently this professional has an MBA with specialization in Facilities Management and her thesis deals with the topic of the analysis that organizations have to carry out before implementing a CAFM tool (Computer-aided facility management).
Precisely, on the main points that a company has to take into consideration when considering implementing this type of tool Palombo explains that "right now I am going through this process in my company and I think the most important consideration that should be discussed at a time like this is to recognize that the proper functioning of the Facility Management area helps the company to carry out its mission. From this point it is possible to know the expectations and the necessary resources."
He added that "the quality management expected of this area in the organization, how much energy (physical, financial and mental) that the company is willing to invest to achieve its objectives and the competitive advantages that this implementation entails are the three main ideas to consider."
Finally, the interview shared his thoughts on current trends in the FM industry. "The trend is for FM departments to become more visible, because the solutions are more complex and people demand to be in an environment that meets their needs, so the triangle "people, space and technology" requires special attention, more professional attention. In that sense, I believe that the actions that favor the saving of time will be those that set the trend."
