Big Swings At Budget Time!
Crane’s tongue-in-cheek perspective explains
how to maintain facilities and lower budget costs
at the same time.
By Jeff Crane, PE
We’re often reminded that, after staff salaries
and benefits, corporate America typically considers
facilities as its single largest operating expense.
As health insurance and energy rate increases continue
to outpace
inflation, HR and facilities managers face enormous
pressure to reduce and contain costs. To improve profits
or simply to survive, many companies have been downsizing,
rightsizing, outsourcing, outtasking, over working,
and overwhelming staff since the dot-com bubble burst.
A few autumns ago [“It’s A Special Season!”
by Jeff Crane, October 2002, page 14; also available
online at www.TodaysFacilityManager.com], this column
analyzed the various stages of budget season and compared
them to football season. Since summer is officially
over and that special time of year is again upon us,
I want to express my support and fellowship with all
the facilities professionals working hard to develop
excellent 2006 budgets. If your company tackles this
responsibility early in the year and you are already
finished with budget work, you’ll probably feel
the need to save this column for next year.
Folks, budgets are a very serious responsibility
and as such, I would like to offer some very serious
suggestions for saving some very serious money. You
must remember: big dollars require big ideas. Are
you with me? Let’s cut to the chase and focus
on three of the biggest line items anyone of use has
to deal with.
Utilities
The dirty little universal but unspoken facilities
secret about electricity, water, and gas is that we
know we don’t need them. We only buy them from
the same supplier month after month because we like
our account reps. Many of my articles in TFM have
focused on incremental improvements in the control
and cost of utilities. But let’s face it—that
was the product of an engineer’s typically small
minded, logical thinking. Let’s swing for the
fence people—let’s go long! We want creative
solutions and we want to change facilities paradigms—now.
We won’t be happy shaving a couple hundred KW
here or saving a few thousand KWH there. We want to
eliminate annoying utilities expenses from our P&L
statements. Rate hikes, fuel surcharges, and curtailment
options—none for me, thanks!
Most of you have windows in your buildings. Most
of your employees don’t get to work until after
the sun rises and they go home before the sun sets,
so what’s the big deal? If people want light,
they can bring battery powered lanterns or wear miners’
hats with lamps on them. Think of the incredible teamwork
fostered as cubemates adapt to their new reality—what
a nice bi-product of efficiency.
Imagine all the money we could save for our stockholders
without utilities. No more re-lamping projects or
mercury concerns. Without heat and HVAC, people would
finally dress according to the weather and in layers.
We could eliminate the cost and worry associated with
gas leaks, water fountains, toilet clogs, cold calls,
tripped breakers, elevator entrapments, microwave
hit and runs, and equipment maintenance contracts.
At last, no more nasty e-mails and threats about space
heaters.
Cleaning
Take it to zero. This could easily be handled by
the staff as another “team building” project.
This would make another huge dent in operating costs.
Again I say swing for the fence. People would learn
to clean up after themselves or they would come to
a utopian socialist agreement on a certain level of
filth in the work areas. Without water (see utilities
note above), we could convert the rest rooms to maximize
the square footage and install desks around the decorative
water fountains in the men’s room. Then everyone
could walk outside to enjoy the fresh air while taking
advantage of the natural facilities. Non-smokers would
finally get to see what it’s like outside during
the work day.
Landscaping
Here is another unnecessary expense for many companies—do
you sense the opportunity? Get rid of it. How many
of us actually bush-hog paths in order for staff to
reach the building? Let the grass grow or even better,
pave over turf and let the wildflowers bloom through
the cracks. Think about how easy it would be to maintain.
No more expenses for pesticides, fertilizers, or chemicals.
No more screaming two-cycle engines futilely trimming
weeds only to return the following week and repeat
the ritual of cutting them down again.
Our facilities could be at one with nature. Ants,
roaches, and a variety of rodents would be welcomed
to help with the natural removal and digestion of
trash (see cleaning note above). We could save a LOT
of money while issuing press releases about our commitment
to the environment. The stockholders would love it.
It’s win/win/win!
What about employee satisfaction? Hey, stop thinking
about HR issues—we’re talking about the
facilities budget. Maybe if enough people leave the
new “workplace au natural,” HR can finally
satisfy its budget objectives.
What about computers and phones, you ask? Hey, that’s
the IT manager’s problem—we’re talking
about facilities. Speaking of IT, they had better
get ready. They’re about to become the second
largest operating expense.
Feedback about this article? E-mail
your comments to bkraemer@groupc.com.
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