Getting Results with Archibus

Space Inventory

A list of areas and their locations on the floor plan is the basis of any space management system. A listing of your employee offices, conference rooms, training rooms, kitchens, labs, reception areas, and so forth -- along with the service areas and vertical penetrations in which you cannot house personnel -- provides a wealth of information to space managers telecom, maintenance, Human Resources, and planning personnel. Additionally, knowing a floor's common areas and unclaimed area (remaining area) ensures space efficiency.

With the Space Inventory application, facility managers will develop basic underlying facility information in the Web environment and then have CAD specialists use the Archibus CAD environment to develop floor plan drawings and outline each floor's gross areas, vertical penetration areas, service areas, and departmental areas (at various levels of detail). With this information developed in the floor plan drawings and written to the database, Web users can then update the non-polyline data as necessary and fill in other details. They can also access a variety or reports and analyses -- some of which include floor plan drawings -- to assess how space is used at their site.

Once a basic room inventory is developed, it must be maintained as employees move between departments, new employees are hired, and companies expand and take on more space. Space managers can take advantage of the workspace transaction features to document how space usage changes over time and to request space.

Additionally, if your site has implemented the Archibus Space Book mobile app or the Archibus Space & Occupancy Survey mobile app, facilities staff can access key building data and floor plan drawings on their mobile devices and smart phones, which is handy in meetings, when you are off-site, and when you are away from your corporate network. Likewise, your site can elect to run periodic space audits in which space surveyors in the field use their smart phones to compare inventory to real-life space use and record the discrepancies.

Space Inventory

Location

Archibus non-SaaS offering

  • Space / Space Inventory

Business Result

An accurate accounting of all space usage.

Department accountability for ownership and use of space.

A space inventory that follows a common corporate standard.

A history of space usage.

A smaller space footprint.

Used By

Business Process Owners

Service Desk Managers

CAD Specialists

Space Managers

Space Planners

Department Managers

Reasons for Automating

To generate and maintain accurate space information in alphanumeric and CAD format that is stored in a central repository and can be accessed by key stakeholders over a corporate Intranet or network.

To generate industry-accepted values for the IFMA-defined Usable/Rentable ratio and Rentable/Usable ratio.

To analyze building performance and efficiency.

To identify major cost-saving opportunities and recover unused space.

To provide users with access to self-service request forms for submitting department claims and releases of space, individual moves, and group moves.

To ensure that space is allocated according to an established policy and corporate strategy, which is enforced by a Web-based workflow.

To control and manage space allocation requests.

To track space usage over time.

To plan for future organizational needs and to support constantly changing demands for space.

To manage team space.

Prerequisite Applications

None

Results/Reports

Vertical Penetration reports

Service Area reports

Vertical Penetration and Service Area CAD plans linked to the Archibus database

Building Performance Analysis report (provides rentable area, usable area, Usable/Rentable ratio, Rentable/Usable ratio)

Room Lists

Room and group CAD plans linked to the Archibus database

Room and group plans highlighted by department and standard

Rooms by Category, Type, Standard, and Department reports

Departmental Stack Plan

Department analysis reports and charts

Remaining Area report

Allocation, Trends, and Benchmark reports

Space and Occupancy Analysis reports

Key Metrics by Location

Space Dashboard

Space Planner Console

Space Manager Console

Applications Using the Results of this Application

Space Chargeback

Occupancy

Space Planning

Space Book mobile app

Space & Occupancy Survey mobile app

An accurate space inventory, particularly developed to the room level, is the backbone on an automated facility management system and is a prerequisite for many of the Archibus applications. For example, the Corrective Maintenance, Reservations, Service Desk, and Condition Assessment applications all require an accurate room inventory.

The following users typically work with a space inventory:

User

Tasks

Business Process Owner

Define background data about the facility (the location and organization data).

Define application parameters that determine how space is assigned as employees move throughout the facility.

Service Desk Manager Configure processes (also known as Service Level Agreements or SLAs) that manage the workflow for space-related requests and rules governing how workspace is allocated when employees occupy and vacate rooms.
CAD Specialist Develop floor plan drawings with gross area, vertical penetration, service, group, open plan, room, and/or workstation areas. This is the first step in getting started with a space inventory.

Space Manager

Maintain a space inventory developed by a CAD Specialist.

Manage and fulfill space requests from users throughout the organization.

Track and modify all pending workspace transactions.

Track changes in space assignment over time.

Space Planner

Plan for future space needs and support constantly changing demands for space.

Use the analysis reports and trending reports to support critical space and portfolio decisions, such as identifying opportunities for consolidation, re-organization, and reconfiguration.

Implement alternative workplace strategies, such as hoteling, team rooms, and work-from-home arrangements.

Department Manager

Understand the space allocated to their department, and how this changes over time.

Use self-service request forms to request individual moves and group moves.

Use self-service request forms to claim and release space.

See Also

Space Inventory application overview