Facilities management: the ins and outs

Keeping tabs on what is happening within the building/facilities management arena can be frustrating for management teams. Facilities Management Expo offers a quick way for stakeholders to find out about current trends, challenges, and solutions.

“Facilities Management Expo is increasingly being seen as the ultimate platform for providers of technology and services to the facilities management sector. The diverse variety of solutions available at the expo take the drudgery out of finding suitable answers to pressing questions facilities and building managers may have,” says Mark Anderson, portfolio director at Specialised Exhibitions — a division of Montgomery Group. “Furthermore, the interactive nature of the event means that visitors can see the solutions in action before making a purchasing decision. Networking opportunities with peers in the industry provide further impetus for visitors to attend the expo.”

Co-located with Securex South Africa, A-OSH Expo, and Firexpo, Facilities Management Expo 2024 will take place at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand from 28 to 30 May 2024.

Learning about facilities management trends and solutions

Another drawcard for facilities/building/risk managers is the Facilities Management Seminar Theatre. The 2023 event hosted 20 seminar sessions and the Broll Vantage Awards. Some of the sessions included:

• Roger Hislop, energy management systems executive at CBI-electric, who spoke about ins and outs, technologies, and the way forward in demand side management. “There is a new ‘Five Stages of Grief’ … the Five Stages of Energy Maturity. Just over a year ago, businesses worried about reducing energy costs. Then it was about sweating their embedded generation asset. Then Stage 6 loadshedding became the norm – and demand management to keep the right lights on,” said Hislop. “Now, demand curtailment to protect the genset and inverter is the number one priority. Looking forward, it’s the looming possibility of grid collapse and being weeks without utility. And all these stages need automated, smart demand side management.”
• Mel Barends, managing director of property services at Bayete Capital, discussed “ESG and its importance for facilities management”. He said: “Data analytics can play a key role in helping facilities managers meet ESG standards. By collecting, analysing, and interpreting data, facilities managers can gain insights into the performance of their facilities and identify areas that need improvement. This data can then be used to create reports that outline the facility’s ESG performance and highlight any areas that need attention. Additionally, data analytics can be used to assess the potential impact of new initiatives, such as energy efficiency projects or waste management initiatives, and ensure that they meet ESG standards.”
• Chris Coetzee, director and owner of OHSS Consulting, tackled “Why we are not satisfied with minimum”, noting: “Current trends and benchmarking have identified a practical approach to sustainable compliance through robust management systems that are based on best practice and continual improvement, rather than simply achieving a minimum standard. Cost benefit analysis is a defined methodology for valuing costs and benefits that enables broad comparisons to be made between different investment options. All costs and benefits are quantified in cash terms and the benefit-cost-ratio of each option can be calculated and compared, thus enabling informed decisions to be made on the basis of a consistent, transparent process.”

Anderson says that exhibitors at Facilities Management Expo benefit greatly from the co-location with Securex South Africa, A-OSH Expo, and Firexpo, as people naturally wander from one section to another. “We have also found that people attending the Securex Seminar Theatre, the Saiosh Seminar Theatre, and the Working at Height and Safety Seminar Theatre, are attracted into the Facilities Management Expo section, thereby further increasing footfall,” he adds.