December 2001 Newsletter

The IFMA Austin News
December 2001

December Party

Date: December 10th from 6:30 to 9:00 PM

Dress: Holiday Attire -
Ladies, this means anything from cocktail to business dress
Gentlemen - coat, no tie if you like!

Event: Murder Mystery Dinner Comedy with a Holiday Theme

Place: Callame's Canyonside Dining 3593 South RR 620
           Directions: Just 3/4 mi. N of Hwy. 71 on 620 South

Cost: $20.00 per member, spouse or guest
         $40.00 non-member*

We'll be seated in the large dining room overlooking the Balcones Preserve, and served their 'American cuisine with a "Texas" twist'. The actual theater event starts promptly at 7:00 PM, so PLEASE arrive by 6:30!! One drink ticket will be provided per person, and a cash bar will be open.

Your IFMA Austin chapter is covering the additional cost for what is normally a $40 charge per person, PLUS providing the one free drink ticket! This will be a really fun and festive evening! Please plan to reserve yourself a seat and join us!

DEADLINE FOR RESERVATIONS is 12/06/01 - Email Linda Delmas @ lindad@fmgi.com

President's Message

November has been an outstanding month for our educational "Step Program" with a new class segment starting in January due to such a great response. A special thanks to J.R. Howard, Earnie Leake, and David Mascorro for leading our class. The new segment will pick up in January with new class attendees going to the existing classes until the end and then picking up the three first classes after that. The cost will be $185.00 for non-members and $150.00 for members.

We just received word today that the University of Texas and IFMA International are co-sponsoring an emergency preparedness class on April 22, 2002. The cost will be $299.00 per person with maintenance points offered for CFM's. We will follow-up with specific details and times in January.

Get excited about our Christmas party next week! I look forward to seeing you there!

Jusy Roessner President IFMA Austin Chapter

Custodial Work

Here are some notes on cleaning services.

Custodial training should include more than just OJT (On the Job Training)
You should determine standard times. Find out who is the best, watch, pass the skills on. Here are three standards: 26 minutes to clean a 7-fixture latrine. A day’s work is 360 fixtures, another days work is dusting and vacuuming 10,000 sq ft of office areas.

Evaluate the work. Don’t get into a reactionary mode. Find the problems before your customer does.

I’ve found that the material and labor cost of toliet paper for a two-roll dispenser is about the same as a jumbo roll.

If you are picking carpet colors, choose a pattern that doesn’t show coffee. I’ve had a bad experience with a beige carpet a free coffee in the area. Carpet tiles are nice because if you can’t get that spot out, swap the tile.

The advantages of contracting out janitorial services:
    · Cost reductions (reduced pay and benefits)
    · Avoidance of hazards to own workers
    · Avoid capital investment of equipment

The disadvantages might be:
    · Quality goes down (lower wages, higher turnover, less loyalty)
    · Disparity of objectives (contractor profit vs. a “clean” objective)
    · Some loss of control (another layer of management, divided loyalties)
    · Lack of proprietary attitude by contract employees
    · Less security
    · Loss of flexibility (anything outside the contract is extra)

There are several contract types, but I like Cost Plus Fixed Fee. The contractor doesn’t have to cut corners or inflate prices. It should be for 2-5 years, contain a 30-60 day cancellation clause, provide close inspections, and contain penalties for failure to perform

Custodial Supplies:

Who collects and spends sanitary napkin quarters?

Even if you have a good contract, compare prices occasionally

Equipment and materials cost a small part of the housekeeping dollar. Get good stuff.

If equipment & supplies are not kept clean & neat then you had better lower your expectations.

Soap comparison:
     260 washes/ pound - Powdered toilet soap (use when abrasive cleaning is required)
     390 washes/ pound – cake soap chips
     595 washes /gallon- liquid soap
   1950 washes / gallon – liquid lather (I like this option)

Various levels of bacteria control

Sanitation – kill 50% - good where starting numbers are low (glass ware)

Disinfection – kill 99,999 out of 100,000 under controlled conditions, 2-minute contact
                        (don’t expect these results at home)

Sterilization - kills 100%, but you have to use autoclave, steam, ethylene dioxide, radiation

By J. Robert Howard
FACServices, INC

November Meeting

Judy Roessner opening the meeting with a few announcements and introductions: Sharon Henson has stepped up to be the Vice President. Charles Carpenter has volunteered to be the new secretary. Julie Sheaffer will take over as programs chair. Between Julie and Sharon, we have a program laid out for the next 9 months.

Nancy Baroody has had great success with selling ads in our new directory that our chapter will support half the cost of the December Christmas Party

Earnie Leake spoke about the Step Program. The third step toward certification will be taught on 19 November and the subject is Operations and Maintenance. There are 6 steps for $125 or you may take anyone of them for $30. These courses aren't just for members going for certification, but excellent information for all.

Earnie introduced Tony Franciotti, VP of Operations for Urfer Engineering, who spoke on Total Maintenance Solutions. He provided the big picture view of maintenance. You must have a strategic plan. You should have a good work order system that records history data. You need a vision to get out of the reactionary mode. Use life cycle planning and focus your effort on certain systems. Do an external assessment to see how you meet OSHA, EPA, and other regulatory requirements. Do an internal assessment to see how you service your facility customers.

Your basic goal is to increase the bottom line by minimizing operations and production costs. Reducing maintenance cost and not paying attention to safety may increase production costs. There are some optimization tools: auditing, setting maintenance goals, Downtime Improvement Cycle, Criticality Coding, Benchmarking. Get out of the office and inspect.

The management cycle can be applied to your operation. establish attainable goals and expectations, measure performance, audit, follow-up (repeat). If you don't have a feedback loop then you will not be optimized.

You should determine the critical failure modes so you can spend the money and time at the best points. Run to failure may be the best option but what about the good will. Look at your annual maintenance cost. Check the stock level for your parts, the delivery time, and the cost of not having a part. Check for repeated failures and productivity.

Most everyone does preventive maintenance and usually it is based on time. Predictive maintenance typically means doing PM based on thermal test, non-destructive testing, oil analysis, vibration analysis, or even a sample thing like a visual check of the HVAC filters.

Always do a life cycle cost when you need to purchase something. It simply means looking at the initial cost, sustaining cost, and maybe the disposal costs. It usually means you don't go cheap. How's your building automation system? Is it fully integreated with your fire alarm, security, and lighting systems. One example of a recent installition was a 4.5 month payback for a 40 unit system. If you couldn't take enough notes, Tony Franciotti will send you the slides.
Judy wrapped up the meeting by recognizing the certified facilities managers: Mike Leach, Earnie Leake, Shanron Henson, Norm Erlandson, and J. R. Howard. She invited all to attend the Step Program meetings and learn alot. She asked Cindy Stewart to stand up and mention membership. Cindy has a mentor program for those who would like to help new members and guest get acquainted. She asked if anyone would like to share a best practice. Norm said he recently reduced has kilowatt consumption by 16% by tracking and correcting problems.
by J. Robert Howard
FACServices, INC.

. . . it's not easy being green by the Spencer Design Group Team

The approach a facility manager takes in tackling environmental concerns can affect a company’s bottom line. In some cases, these concerns are regulated by government agencies while others come as pressure from employees in the form of complaints or potential lawsuits. The costs for compliance with environmental regulations can include the proper disposal of hazardous waste like electronic lighting ballasts containing mercury, cleaning up PCP from leaking electrical transformers, or obtaining a permit for a printing press in the print shop for an office.
U.S. companies spent $1.15 billion in 1990 complying with environmental regulations, according to the EPA. The cost of non-compliance can include stiff fines and penalties by local, state, and federal regulators or lawsuits in the event a property is found to contain environmental hazards. In 1990, $40 million in fines were levied to US corporations for violating environmental regulations. It is usually a lot cheaper if the facility manager corrects a violation early, rather than having the government get involved and dictating how to do it and adding their cost of overseeing the correction.
A proactive stance toward non-regulated environmental concerns can save corporations money. The EPA encourages voluntary initiatives in which companies can make capital improvements on their own. One such initiative is Green Lights, a program designed to help companies upgrade old, inefficient lighting fixtures, replacing them with newer, more efficient models. Since the program began in 1992 many corporate giants such as American Express, Mobile, Westin Hotels and Resorts have upgrades their facilities with energy efficient lighting fixtures saving approximately $12 million dollar annually.
Other EPA programs that benefit facility managers in lowering operating costs include Energy Star Buildings, which provides incentives to upgrade HVAC equipment with energy efficient equipment. Electrical Utility Companies have strongly supported this program offering substantial rebates and in many cases complete subsidization to participants.
Another potential opportunity for saving money is in solid waste management. WasteWise is a free, voluntary, EPA program through which organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. WasteWise is a flexible program that allows companies to design their own solid waste reduction programs tailored to their needs. Large and small businesses from any industry sector are welcome to participate.
The WasteWise program targets the reduction of municipal solid waste; waste that would otherwise end up in an organization's (or its customers') trash, such as corrugated containers, office paper, yard trimmings, packaging, and wood pallets.
An owner of several properties in Canada reported reducing paper use at 110 tenant lease buildings by replacing paper towel dispensers with hand dryers. A savings of $80,000 resulted in reduced paper supplies and another $29,000 savings in carting fees and reduced janitorial labor in one year’s time.
Currently, in the United States, 28 percent of all solid waste is recovered and recycled or composted, 15 percent is burned at combustion facilities, and the remaining 57 percent is disposed of in landfills.
As professionals within the facility and design community it is our professional and social responsibility to do our part in helping conserve natural resources. Taking a proactive stand will not only help our environment but our workplace as well.

Debbi

Landscape Cost

Last month I was curious about the cost of landscape care. I called 44 facility managers and surprisingly several people answered their phone. A good comparison was hard to come by. A price per acre per year was anywhere from $700 to $4400. Two or three thousand seems fair for a full service, nice looking, environment. Since most people don't have the number of trees with beds, square feet of turf mowed, square feet of bedding plants and the like, I asked the last two people I called how many square feet of office space did they have. The price per square feet of office space was .25 per month for two offices of 185,000 and 720,000 square feet.
One company had stopped watering, and hadn't done any other care since September either. If you are interested in getting the best price for your landscape, find several places that have similar landscape and it's being maintained to your standards. Then find out how much of the facility manager's time is spent watching the landscape contractor and how well they are liked. In general, I've found that I have to spend a lot more time watching the low bid contractor.

by J. Robert Howard
FACServices Inc.

Tex and the Taliban

A large group of Taliban soldiers are moving down a road when they hear a voice call from behind a sand-dune.
"One Texas soldier is better than ten taliban".

The Taliban commander quickly sends 10 of his best soldiers over the dune whereupon a gun-battle breaks out and continues for a few minutes, then silence.
The voice then calls out "One Texan is better than one hundred taliban".

Furious, the taliban commander sends his next best 100 troops over the dune and instantly a huge gunfight commences. After 10 minutes of battle, again silence.
The Texan voice calls out again "One Texan is better than one thousand taliban".

The enraged Taliban Commander musters one thousand fighters and sends them across the dune. Cannon, rocket and machine gun fire ring out as a huge battle is fought. Then silence. Eventually one wounded taliban fighter crawls back over the dune and with his dying words tells his commander, "Don't send any more men, its a trap. There's actually two of them."