< Previous30 Business Link www.blmforum.net FACILITIES MANAGEMENT Safe buildings and facilities are some of the unsung heroes of what supports a thriving business. From office spaces to manufacturing plants, warehouses, data centres and beyond, every workplace must be secure, so employees feel the same while doing their best work. I t’ll come as no surprise that safety and maintenance are two of the most important factors in enabling tasks and processes in any field. Keeping tech and machinery at its best while assuring employee wellbeing helps them all work well together, with as few delays and setbacks as possible. Facilities management (FM) professionals come in to play a critical role in ensuring a safe and healthy work environment. They oversee compliance and implement safety measures to protect employees, visitors and assets. They’re also responsible for security systems, accessing control measures, and surveillance to protect employees and valuable equipment. But this all begins with conducting risk assessments, where an FM’s job becomes even more complex. Identifying where risks may lie first means clearly defining the objectives of the risk assessment itself. Asking what you’re trying to achieve for which kind of workspace defines the goals for assessment, allowing precise and purposeful investigations. From there, a Unsung heroes www.blmforum.net Business Link 31 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT team of experts can identify a wide range of risks that could affect the business in question, categorise them into groups (such as financial, operational, strategic, and compliance) then assess their potential impacts. Between preparation for risk assessment, prioritisation of hazard defence, information gathering and documentation, you can start to appreciate the intricacies of facilities management from the earliest stages. But thankfully safety is a team effort involving all employees. As an FM professional, it’s worth taking it upon yourself to build a culture of safety consciousness in any workplace you’re responsible for, as providing training and awareness programs to employees will teach them how to identify and respond to risks effectively. You will then have an expanded safety team to make your job lighter, as all workers will know how to spot any danger signs and, crucially, remember best procedure in an emergency. Emergency preparedness alone is worth scheduling in regular reviews and training for. A few life-saving steps to consider include developing and regularly updating emergency response plans, including evacuation procedures, fire drills and first-aid stations. Ensure that all employees are familiar with these plans, and remind them to report safety concerns or incidents promptly. Establishing a system that allows for anonymous reporting if necessary will help everyone feel comfortable being responsible for their workplace. 32 Á THINK b© stock.adobe.com/32 Business Link www.blmforum.net FACILITIES MANAGEMENT The next stage for expansion from here is to start up a safety committee or team comprising employees from different departments. With eyes across all areas, it becomes easier to address safety concerns, make recommendations and monitor safety initiatives. Establishing a safety committee within an organisation is also a proactive step towards ensuring regular inspections and compliance with safety regulations and standards. Acting as a central point of coordination for safety-related activities, your trusted group can ensure that inspections and safety checks are conducted on a routine and consistent basis collaborating to prevent oversight and ensuring that no safety aspect is neglected. A committee can also have shared power to monitor and advise on changes in safety regulations and standards. By staying informed about evolving safety requirements, it can promptly update inspection protocols and compliance measures to align with new regulations, in a proactive approach that helps a business stay compliant and avoid potential penalties or legal issues. With your team keeping on top of day- to-day safety and compliance awareness, FM duties are freed up for selecting and installing security measures. Starting with access control—a crucial measure for restricting entry to only authorised individuals—you can employ technologies such as electronic keycards, biometrics or smart locks alongside clearly defined access policies for who has access to each area of a facility. Conducting regular audits will ensure that the correct individuals have appropriate access, but if necessary, employ security personnel or guards to oversee and manage entry, especially during non-business hours or in any high- security areas. Surveillance systems are the last line of defence in deterring security threats and monitoring incidents, or capturing damage, theft or other unwanted entries in a worst-case scenario. To manage surveillance effectively as an FM, install surveillance cameras and alarms strategically in key areas, such as entrances, car parks and sensitive © stock.adobe.com/uv_groupwww.blmforum.net Business Link 33 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT workspaces, and ensure that cameras cover blind spots and critical access points. An efficient visitor management system will do the rest of the preparedness work, maintaining a clear procedure for identity verification and visitor information, the details of which could prove invaluable in the event of an incident. Here once again the cycle of maintenance and reporting is endlessly important and must be carried out on a continuous basis. Regularly inspect, maintain and test surveillance equipment to ensure that it functions correctly when needed, and replace or upgrade outdated equipment as required. During a regular workday, monitoring staff or a 24/7 automated system should be in place to observe surveillance, in case of any failures or errors in the tech or image feed. But in readiness for an incident, a clear response plan is essential for effectively managing security breaches. When managing incident response ahead of need, create a comprehensive incident response plan that outlines roles and responsibilities, communication procedures, and step-by-step actions to take during different security incidents. Response plans can be tested through tabletop exercises with safety and security teams, simulating emergencies so that each person understands what their role would be in most eventualities. Clear lines of communication with law enforcement, emergency responders and other external parties will cover where it’s unsafe for employees to step in. If the worst should happen and a security incident occurs, conducting a thorough review of what went well or where improvements could be made will help prevent dangers in future. This is where facilities management can be its most emotionally and mentally challenging. The sheer levels of detail analysis for the sake of health and safety can make tensions run high in this unlikely behind-the-scenes area. But the facilities management umbrella covers interlinked responsibilities that support each other, and the same spirit of teamwork goes for FM experts and the employees they keep safe. © stock.adobe.com/Artinun34 Business Link www.blmforum.net WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION The importance of optimisation Warehouses and distribution centres face many challenges in balance, but perhaps the most important of these is taking efficiency in hand when facing high consumer demand. www.blmforum.net Business Link 35 WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION T here’s often an abundance of the latter thanks to e-commerce and its around-the-clock reliance on logistics. The bad news is that this often leads to shipping delays and storage backlogs while seeing to a queue of customers just like in any store. But the good news is that there are solutions, and ones which don’t always require paying for extra space, vehicles or workers. Let’s start with some of the best ways for warehousing and distribution centres to refine their efficiency. Optimising layout to the best of your ability is a great place to start, potentially creating space while organising products in storage to show which items need to be shipped out soonest. A simple yet effective slotting system can be worked in to place fast-moving items closer to the shipping area for quicker access. Two rules of thumb to keep in mind are organising stock to make movement as smooth and speedy as possible for workers and equipment, and to utilise vertical space by installing taller racks and shelves to maximize storage capacity. As an extra bonus, you might also consider implementing a cross- docking strategy, reducing the time products spend in storage by transferring them directly from inbound to outbound shipments. Outside of your own team, it’s endlessly beneficial to call in support where you can. Work closely with your suppliers and logistics partners to make everyone aware of crucial details, including demand needs and required schedules for distributing stock. This will help streamline the entire supply chain and reduce those all-important lead times. Introducing new technology can be its own heavy expense and demand on © stock.adobe.com/Malika 36 Á36 Business Link WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION personnel training. However, if you can afford to automate some of your processes, it’s a handy boost to speed up supply, loading and inventory tracking without sacrificing accuracy. Conveyor systems, robotics, automated picking systems and RFID or barcode scanning can all help to prevent potentially costly mistakes, or reduce labour needs altogether. Investing in an advanced inventory management system helps improve flow by tracking stock levels in real-time, reducing overstocking and further ensuring accurate orders. Any logistics professional knows that efficiency management is a constant concern and needs attention at all times when storing or moving products. But you’re also likely to be aware that while thinking where business is now, you also have to be planning for changes to come. During spikes in demand, having an effective inventory management system will prevent delays between manufacturing, warehousing and distribution. But incorporating strategies for understanding trends to come will allow for better preparation from beginning to end. When learning customer behaviour, some patterns can be predicted with common sense. Buying habits for certain items such as clothing change reliably by the quarter, with influxes of seasonal purchases around Christmas and Easter. But keep track of how often you are restocking certain items and try to identify any trends or patterns—there may be other outside factors that affect your product flow. Note the periods when customers are ordering more, and when they are ordering less. Having a solid handle on how your customers behave allows you to stay ahead of the dry spells and mad rushes, so you maintain the right inventory balance. For more detailed foresight however, there’s no replacing big data for analysing gradual shifts in choice and preference. Bringing in analytics software is a complex process of assessing your storage or distribution needs, selecting the right software for your metrics and performance indicators, and customising it for your objectives. But the work of identifying your goals and connecting your software with every necessary data source—including warehouse management systems, inventory databases and supply chain management tools—is the most labour-intensive part. After that, its just a matter of transferring data to a suitable format, inputting the values to track, and testing for accuracy before you let it run. With the tricky part out of the way, your new analytical software can begin to predict demand patterns, fine-tune and adjust inventory levels accordingly. It doesn’t end with external monitoring either, as improving demand forecasting accuracy ensures that you stock the right items in the right quantities, feeding back into storage space and efficient organisation year-round. Key performance indicators can also be identified and analysed through data, providing valuable insight on areas for improvement in product flow. To make sure your software is always examining these areas accurately, just remember to monitor the software’s performance and the quality of the data it produces. Continuously refine your analytics processes to extract more valuable insights, and train your staff to use it so any appropriate personnel can access and interpret the data to make informed decisions. Tailoring your distribution processes to meet customer preferences and expectations, including fast shipping options and easy returns, will help your business become more customer focused in its work ethic. It’s a cliché, but the endpoint of a satisfied customer is still of utmost importance to proving the worth of your service, sustaining demand well into the future by building loyalty. Developing your brand along with your processes can pay unexpected dividends in efficiency too. Accepting that reputation is everything to any business, creating a positive image of your company will ensure that you maintain a passive flow of demand while your focus is better spent on making product flow as expedient as possible. Once you’ve reorganised your warehouses, for instance, you can optimise your stock www.blmforum.net Business Link 37 WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION replenishment by creating a system that keeps availability ahead of demand. Food retailers in particular often use just-in-time strategies to restock each day according to sales and forecasts. But for general use, inventory can have a set-level policy for ideal amounts, so operatives know when items should be restocked. Between big moves like installing supportive technology, and the finer details of tidying your warehouse system, the only prescribed approach to efficiency is openness to change. Shifting market conditions, customer demands and technology advancements mean the need to make adjustments is inevitable. But there’s a fulfilling challenge to being in a field that requires staying ahead of the game, and plenty of tools to help you stay there. © stock.adobe.com/Chlorophylle © stock.adobe.com/tongpatong38 Business Link www.blmforum.net LEGAL SERVICES An indispensable asset An indispensable asset In a tightly regulated business environment, legal services are indispensable when safeguarding your company’s interests and securing its success. www.blmforum.net Business Link 39 LEGAL SERVICES © stock.adobe.com/Wicitr W hether ensuring compliance with the law, mitigating risks or managing contracts, seeking out the right expertise for your concerns can make all the difference. Many successful businesses will find themselves needing specialised lawyers or firms to navigate the intricacies of legislation, and often in several areas. Before you begin your search, you should identify your specific legal needs. Different aspects of your business may require expertise in various legal domains. For instance, if you’re dealing with trademark issues, you’ll need an intellectual property lawyer. If you’re facing a contract dispute however, a lawyer with expertise in contract law will be best approached instead. Start by pinpointing the exact challenges or opportunities you’re dealing with, and you’ll be better equipped to search for people with expertise in those areas. As you begin your search, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with competing law firms all marketing for your attention. One of the most effective ways to find a specialised lawyer, or at least narrow your list down, is through personal recommendations. Reach out to your network of business contacts, mentors or industry associations for referrals. They may have firsthand experience working with professionals in your area of need, providing valuable insights into their capabilities and reputation. Once you have a shortlist of potential lawyers or law firms, it’ll be easier to conduct thorough research into that handful of choices. Visit their websites and read their bios to make sure they have the right credentials. Pay close attention to their track record, client testimonials and case studies, which will display all the details you need to verify that they are licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction. It’s also a smart move to make sure they have the necessary certifications, or memberships in relevant legal associations. Just as you would showcase your business successes to prove customers can trust you, a reputable and trustworthy law firm should do the same. By this point, you should have a manageable number of firms or individuals to arrange consultations with. These meetings are excellent opportunities to assess whether a lawyer is the right fit for your business, but it’s also important 40 ÁNext >