TOFM signs an exclusive partnership with Trackplan for Saudi Arabia. Trackplan is an award winning Computer-aided Facility Management software (solution) to help you manage, schedule and control your reactive, planned preventative and assets management activities.
TOFM had participated in the World Facility Management Day that was sponsored by the Saudi Contractors Authority and the Saudi Facilities Management Association, which had a workshop of (What do you mean by sustainability)?
In order to achieve the highly considered goals of sustainability were explained in a balanced and safe manner, namely:
Environmental goal
Economic goal
Social (Community) goal
Furthermore, the seven directions of sustainability are considered:
Finally, the carbon footprint and the way to preserve the environment.
Hoosted by Mr. Khalid AL Shabana
First impressions matter. The cleanliness of your environment has a paramount effect on the perception of your organization. Cleanliness is also linked to safety; it helps reduce long-term costs and increases the utility of the property.
A report compiled by ServiceChannel states 64% of shoppers surveyed said they had walked out of a store due to poor physical appearance and disorganization.
TOFM recognizes the impact of cleanliness and hygiene and adheres to the BICSc way when it comes to cleaning science. The British Institute of Cleaning Science is the largest independent, educational and professional body within the cleaning industry with over 20,000 individual and corporate members. With a stated mission to raise the standards of education and build awareness of the cleaning industry through professional standards and accredited training, BICSc is considered worldwide as the benchmark for cleaning techniques and general safety knowledge.
At TOFM we leave no stone unturned when it comes to quality and safety, which is why the BICSc methodology is the core of our operating procedure. Along with other mandates, we ensure the competence of the cleaning operatives by following the BICSc Color code. The color codes ensure a coherent system and seamless execution, preventing cross-contamination and health hazards.
Red – General washrooms, including bathrooms, washrooms, showers, toilets, basins, and bathroom floors.
Red/white – Any derivation of red and white for higher-risk sanitary appliances and washroom floors.
Blue – General low-risk areas, including wards, departments, and offices.
Green – General food and bar use, excluding commercial food preparation areas.
Yellow -Clinical areas.
White – Site-specific/ specialist elements.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way hygiene is perceived. Now health and hygiene are concurrent with each other.
MEFMA states that “Cleaning, sanitization and disinfection services witnessed highest demand during COVID- 19 with 95% respondents affirming they are a paramount requirement to prevent the risk of spread.”
COVID-19 has highlighted the need for resilience within business operations to a degree that was almost inconceivable before. Traditional operating models have been tested to their limits and were unable to respond effectively to the unforeseen requirements of a global pandemic. This is where our certified professionals come to your assistance.
In addition to the impact on your customers, improved hygiene standards and the deep sanitization of hard surfaces are critical in protecting against the spread of the virus and in ensuring workers feel safe about returning to the workplace. High-performance cleaning has become crucial to businesses which is why market leaders have turned to cleaning professionals to get the job done. Hiring professional cleaners to get your organization immaculate is an investment that will keep customers coming back to your facility, and generate positive word of mouth.
TOFM believes that a cleaner place is a safer place and is cognizant of the importance of hygiene, especially during these trying times. Our distinct cleaning standards have set us apart from others.
Our BICSc trained staff is well-informed of the best practices including infection control, risk assessment, hazard labels, and manual handling. With a clear understanding of the COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) requirements such as action in case of spillage and first aid measures, our staff is fully equipped to cater to your needs and requirements.
Our In-house trainer and assessor ensures that our employee skills are regularly updated to keep up with the industry best practices. Continuous evaluation and training ensures that there are no gaps in knowledge. The BICSc code of conduct is implemented to perfection leaving no scope for error.
“FM is the practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization. It integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioral and engineering sciences.”- IFMA
Facility management involves management methods and techniques necessary to ensure that the physical environment supports the organization’s needs and core functions. This system integrates services and streamlines processes for an organization and works towards the overall conformity of the work environment.
In the modern-day, facility management has become more challenging than it once was. Today, managers are expected to do more than just manage a workspace. Their responsibilities go beyond integrating efficiencies across asset utilization, physical and cyber security, employee well-being, resource consumption, and risk management. It’s crucial that businesses focus on a more lean organizational structure to refine processes, reduce waste and deliver value to customers. The pressure placed on facility managers has increased significantly, which is why computer-aided facility management (CAFM) has become imperative to the industry.
TOFM continues to be the best by doing things both efficiently and effectively. As a facility management company focused on excellence and customer satisfaction, we strive to deliver the best outcome with minimal costs. In order to achieve this, we implement a streamlined and linear approach which is made easier by using CAFM.
Computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) is the use of information technology to effectively manage physical facilities in different ways. It is designed to help plan everything for a building or facility, including almost every aspect of day-to-day operations. CAFM enables the managers to oversee the various processes happening within the company in real-time, enabling them to identify patterns, and hence make better organizational decisions, both on-site and remotely.
The Saudi Arabia facility management market is projected to grow from $22.87 billion in 2021 to $34.86 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 6.2% in the forecast period
By digitally streamlining the business processes in the organization, CAFM plays a pivotal role in connecting the building and its associated facilities with the operations and occupants of the organization. By tracking assets in real-time, CAFM software enables companies to see trends like how much energy is being consumed, identify critical workflows, schedule maintenance, recognize unforeseen defects and remain agile in the face of crisis. Unanticipated costs are minimized with the aid of these capabilities.
CAFM is an indispensable part of a well-run facility management company due to these key features.
CAFM is used to track the critical assets inside a facility and report back maintenance needs. They can track everything from equipment and inventory to the on-premises energy consumption of appliances and more. By doing this synchronously, companies can view in real-time how much energy is consumed and optimize spending by automating tasks and scheduling repairs as and when required.
Multi-tasking several monotonous issues will leave facility managers with little to no time for strategy formulation. Dealing with vendors, documentation, monitoring the workforce, tracking the execution of various service requests, and reporting to clients needs to be done on a daily basis in a timely manner.
Suffice to say optimum time utilization is of crucial importance to a facility manager. The CAFM software ensures optimal time management and helps in prioritizing work. By automating processes, CAFM leaves the facility manager with ample time to strategize tasks.
Computer-aided facility management technology helps automate maintenance tasks by assisting facility managers in juggling the workload of several departments; maintaining customer service, and monitoring compliances and performance levels. This is one of the key features of the CAFM software. By automating the planning and implementation processes at a site, CAFM systems can optimize time and money.
CAFM enables users to customize widgets, visualize data, prepare inventory statistics, etc which gives a better insight into the various functionings of the organization; helping them make informed decisions. With the help of real-time data, managers can view information related to building operations via various dashboards.
With the CAFM Software, companies can plan for unforeseen conditions and make comprehensive emergency plans. CAFM tools allow managers to tackle quick repairs and facilitate communications with everyone involved within the organization.
All of these help in the smooth running of an organization. Among the various CAFM software available in the market, choosing the best fit for an organization can make all the difference.
Selecting the right CAFM software according to the needs and requirements is a crucial factor in determining the success of the organization, which is why, TOFM, has chosen the award-winning software solution, trackplan. A fully cloud-based facility management software, it helps in managing maintenance, sites, assets, and resources to improve the overall quality of the organization.
One of the pioneers in the industry, Trackplan helps to design electronic forms, inspections, checklists, risk assessments, and health & safety surveys. Track plan creates budgets for each job, and designs forms by period, and job specification, which makes managing the annual repairs budget hassle-free.
With an array of features such as planned preventative maintenance, asset management, unlimited user licenses, etc, Trackplan enables our staff to fulfill a more strategic role by eliminating the day – to day redundant tasks resulting in a better managed and efficiently run organization.
We are pleased to announce to you that our client list is growing, for that the “ Saudi Arabia Ministry of Communications and Information Technology “ and “ Riyad Real Estate Income Co.“ are our latest clients in TOFM, and we will continue on providing our services in the best way to meet our customers’ satisfaction.
Where the MCIT Bulding is located in the AlMorasalat District in Riyadh, the contract includes hard and Facility managements services. With care to provide a staff that provides a sense of hospitable and deals with the Saudi foundations of facilities management.
Also, for the buildings of the Riyadh Real Estate Income Company is located on the eastern coast in the city of Dammam, include administrative offices and shops and the services provided to them include facilities management services, property management services, and tenant management to ensure an integrated sequential work.
What distinguishes our clients is that we consider each client special, we want to make their experiences unique, as we inspect our work, and adjust our methodology to suit their needs. Our facility management teams are tailored to meet our client’s and businesses’ expectations all while maintaining the highest standards, One of our secrets is our keenness to work with trusted regional suppliers, from manufacturing to technology, to raise the level of our service delivery.
With the support of our Kingdom’s great leadership, we strive to apply the best international and local practices with the highest degree of standards in the facility management sector, to achieve the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life within those facilities and to aid in the development of the Kingdom’s infrastructure. In this article, we delve deeper into the subject of best facility management practices.
Harnessing technology in facility management
Technology has always had an added value when it is accurately integrated with the business’ operations, and when it comes to facility management, the following points are of great importance:
The careful personification of facilities
The concept of facility management is focused not only on the building itself but also on creating a distinctive user experience and adding a sensible human touch to the facilities. This is usually done by understanding the needs and requirements of the owner, the user, and those in charge of the facilities to deliver a vision that ensures the enhanced quality of life, and the returned benefit of customer satisfaction.
Integrative services
The harmony created from the establishment of interconnected services in facilities management reduces the time and effort required for facility maintenance and extends the life cycle of equipment and systems. All of that and more is achieved by hiring the right company that will expertly manage your facilities and comprehensively fulfill all your needs by executing proactive and preventative approaches for periodic maintenance to ensure the efficiency of devices, equipment, and systems before any problem occurs, God forbid.
Feel free to read more about in our blog integrative services in facility management.
Environmentally friendly buildings
Ensuring the use of environmentally friendly cleaning supplied with a low impact on human health and the environment is one of the most important pillars of the environmentally friendly building strategy, but it isn’t the only one. Reducing the carbon footprint in facilities can most definitely enhance the health of tenants, this can be achieved by monitoring energy consumption regularly and the utilization of
alternative energy sources. This isn’t only important for the facilities alone, but it’s also a step in the right direction for the environment of the region as a whole.
Read more on environmentally friendly buildings visit our blog for Sustainable Facilities.
Starting right
Some believe that the work of facilities management companies begins after the completion of construction and the start of facility operations, on the contrary, the work on facility management begins from the first stages of design and construction to ensure that every element is well established and integrated into the building from the beginning. Making sure the aforementioned integration is done in a manner that suits the operational needs and greatly reduces the crushing and maintenance operations and, of course, increases the productivity of the team that is going to be involved from the start.
Facilities management is a modern science
Facilities management is modern science requiring constant and continuous consumption of knowledge on the new and evergrowing technologies in the sector, the Kingdom’s rapid growth within it, and comprehensive employee training in facilities management companies, each within their specialization.
Creating jobs and localization opportunities
The productive collaboration between facility management establishments and facility owners, greatly contributes to the creation of a large number of jobs for citizens in the facility management sector, as facilities management companies deliberately hire citizens to ensure that they are completely familiar with the details of users’ needs and state laws without the need to ask about them such as the infrastructure of each region and the required hospitality and needs.
As Takamul AlOula, we guarantee that all these practices are applied with the utmost professionalism and care. You can always reach out for services or consultations with our team through contact form.
Based on the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which pays special attention to three areas: water, energy, human health, and comfort, subsequently, in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing, the Mstadam program (English: Sustainable) has been developed to handle the classification of green buildings based on local and international standards.
Before we get to how these buildings are made green and sustainable, let’s get to know the terminology first. The term green or sustainable buildings is used to refer to modern and environmentally friendly buildings, where resources are used appropriately for thoughtful consumption without any extravagance or exaggeration, especially concerning energy.
This article focuses on the most important practices that you should pay attention to in building sustainable green buildings, whether you are the owner of the building, a construction company, or a facilities management company. Let’s collaborate for a better environment across generations!
Key practices for building a green and sustainable building:
Improving energy efficiency
Many methods reduce energy consumption inside buildings and facilities and thus, reduce the electricity bill and preserve the environment at the same time. One of the most important methods is attention to thermal insulation. Thermal insulation reduces extreme hot and cold temperature changes inside the building that are caused by outdoor weather and seasonal changes, which contributes to reducing the frequency of need for climate control equipment.
Another key factor in improving energy efficiency is the use of renewable energy such as solar energy, which is widely available in the Kingdom, as well as the energy of wind and bioenergy. Renewable energies when used on a large scale, end up reducing the carbon footprint of these buildings.
We cannot underestimate the effect of our choice of electrical appliances on improving efficiency. For example, when using an A +++ rated air conditioner instead of an A-rated air conditioner, you save at least 40% of energy. Air conditioners consume more than
half of the electricity produced in the Kingdom, and a good choice of electrical appliances with adequate consumption can make a big difference!
In addition, it is of high importance to shed light on using lighting sensors in large homes, offices, and other large facilities to ensure that the lighting is not left on when it is not needed. Furthermore, replacing regular lighting with longer-lasting LED lighting, and taking advantage of natural sunlight as much as possible is one of many methods used to appropriately reduce cost and promote more sustainable use of resources.
Utilizing environmentally friendly cleaning products
Many people associate environmentally friendly cleaning supplies with misconceptions about their efficiency, believing that it’s lower than commercial cleaning tools and that their price is much higher. Yet, as the world is trying to control and reduce the sources of pollution, it is also working diligently on improving quality.
It is important to ensure that the facility management company employs these products in all of its operations as it reflects on its commitment to environmental safety and of course, preserving the general health of the facilities’ users.
Practice recycling
The application of recycling or as it is commonly known as recycling of waste is a very important factor in environmental sustainability, which is practiced in the facilities by providing divided containers for everything that can be recycled such as containers for paper, plastics, metals, and other recyclable materials. Following that, the facility management company collects and recycles the materials through recycling companies. These containers should be located in places easily accessible to all users.
This process can also be extended through the facility’s use of recyclable products such as cleaning tools, garbage bags, and the like.
Improving indoor air quality
Due to the harsh and hot weather in most regions of the Kingdom during most of the year, residents resort to being in closed and air-conditioned spaces much more than in open spaces, which makes the task of improving the air quality indoors an important requirement. You can improve air quality, which is measured by how clean the air is,
with some simple practices that each and every facility management company should take care of periodically and continuously:
Reducing water consumption
Rationalizing water consumption does not only help out the environment, it is also one of the most important recommendations of our true Islamic religion.
Green spaces are the largest source of water consumption in establishments, so to save water consumption, the facility management company must be keen to examine the soil before planting anything, choosing trees and crops suitable for the area and soil, and finally utilizing modern irrigation methods such as:
As for the facility itself, water consumption can be rationalized in several simple ways, such as choosing electronic devices that use water with high accuracies, such as getting a washing machine that uses water according to the number of clothes or a dishwasher that includes a light wash option. Sensors can also be installed in the sinks to regulate the flow of water during use.
Finally, it is imperative to build not only sustainable buildings but a sustainable society, and that with every decision, our goal is to strive for a decent life for future generations.
In Takamul Al-Oula, we are committed to all that is mentioned in this article for a better life for the owners, the users of the facilities. At the end of the day, it is ultimately a part of our social responsibility.
With the accelerated technological growth, the complexities and requirements of systems have increased, and supervision of buildings and facilities requires very careful observation. As the complexities of modern buildings increased in lots of different aspects, maintenance requirements have doubled, safety and operational technologies became more sophisticated, and new state regulations were introduced, thus increasing the expectations of those who frequent the buildings. All the while, building owners are unable to understand and fulfill the ever-changing requirements.
Hence, the concept of integrated facility management was introduced, which is a harmonious smooth management model with a core objective of coordinating between the buildings, personnel, and infrastructure, as well as providing energy, water and drainage services, all while paying attention to cleaning, afforestation, periodic and corrective maintenance, asset management, and security and safety services. Which aims to extend the longevity of the facility and preserve assets, which is often accomplished by a multidisciplinary and diverse team of experts, who manage the building through intelligent systems that seek to achieve harmony.
The relationship between integrated facility management companies and their clients is based on conveying the true value of managing buildings and facilities. Through the competitive advantage which is the ability to seamlessly fulfill the needs of the facility owners, while ensuring employee and customer satisfaction.
Facility management officials should not be bothered with contacting landscapers every time they need the garden taken care of, or renew the cleaning company’s expiring contract, or organizing between the security personnel and the maintenance crew during maintenance hours. With integrated facility management, operations will become smoother, with a great team of professionals to guarantee your organizational efficiency.
Through the process of integration, you, as an employer, will establish many essential features that are not commonly available when looking for companies to manage your facilities, which include but are not limited to the following:
We made it easy, here is a complete and detailed list of services provided.
Security and safety services are among the building’s most essential features, which include the installation of advanced surveillance camera systems, and modern fire detection systems that contribute to automatically extinguishing fires without the need for human intervention. This service extends to include the periodic maintenance of these systems to ensure their efficiency over time. Besides providing excellent security staff based on the needs of your facilities.
This service consists of general maintenance, urgent repairs, and periodic checkups on facilities such as the sewage system, heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation systems, as well as waste disposal with modern and environmentally friendly systems.
In addition to maintenance, this also includes the operation of the buildings, such as parking services in commercial buildings, and the management of operations such as registering new tenants or receiving potential customers.
This service is not limited to plants maintenance, but rather includes a dedicated process of studying the type of soil and its readiness for afforestation, and choosing the type of plants best suited for the surrounding environment. As well as providing landscaping maintenance services and pest control.
To solve any problem your customers come across, the facility management company should provide 24/7 customer service. Accidents don’t make appointments, so you shouldn’t make the customer wait until the morning to resolve them.
Cleaning services form an integral part of facility management services, and their integration with other services makes a tangible difference. This includes but is not limited to the following:
And our advice is to ensure the use of environmentally friendly cleaning supplies.
Whether you are considering hiring a service provider for a condominium or your own company’s offices, a facility management service provider can coordinate and arrange important logistics and hospitality events all based on the type of event and the number of attendees.
The service provider must be fully capable of installing energy-efficient systems that ensure the distribution of energy in an appropriate manner that prevents excessive energy consumption thus reducing cost. At the same time, it prevents interruptions in the power supply and provides reliable alternatives for backup.
Finally, we suggest that you visit one of the facilities operated by the Integrated Facility Management Company before signing the contract to see for yourself! Come along and witness how the work is being done and the extent of our professionalism, you can also verify the degree of the company’s classification in the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in the Kingdom or the companies approved by the Monsha’at Initiative or the General Authority for Contractors.
At Takamul AlOula Facility Management, we guarantee you a smooth and thoughtful system of operation according to the needs of your facilities, and we offer you different services centered on one goal, which is to extend the longevity of your assets.
