In 2003, the company had 200 employees in and around Prague. It now has almost three thousand employees in six CEE countries. What is the story of its growth?

I think that the main contributor to it has been our owner, who bet on expansion to the east from the beginning. This has proven to be the main prerequisite for success. His constant pressure to find new trends is also a powerful driver of our long-term focus. And last but not least, it is the principle of perception of the competition. We have always followed our own path in such a way that the competition looks at us rather than us looking at it. We also maintain the slogan that only satisfied employees are able to guarantee the top quality of provided services. That is why we build long-term relationships with our own people. All of this has resulted in a continuous growth of twenty percent per annum in revenue.

Many companies have trouble finding employees. Have you hit your ceiling?

We certainly have not. The point is, we use smart technologies that help us. For example, it’s not that we have different cleaners than our competitors, but we are able to manage them better. The same goes for technicians. Ours do not screw the screws twenty times faster than others do. But because they have planned exactly what to do, maximum efficiency enters into the maintenance process. We are also able to record each of our services digitally in the long term and in detail, so we know what happened, say, five years ago, for contracts at any of our regional offices. The advantage of such service management is therefore also in the overall comparison of branches amongst themselves.

OKIN FACILITY won the Slovak Business Superbrands 2019 award. What does this mean to you?

I think that this award is proof of the correctness of our focus on modern technology. In recent years, we have been successful in attracting clients in Slovakia with technologies that competitors either do not have or do not work with as much as we do. Therefore, there is simply more interest in us. Another reason is the stability of our people, in particular in managerial positions. For example, I have been working here for ten years and lower and middle management has remained virtually unchanged over the years. We have therefore managed to win the trust of our clients and along with it come awards like this. We have also obtained similar results in Poland.

You said that the owner made the right decision by focusing on the East. Where do you see the advantages of the East over the West?

Our industry is also very sophisticated in the West. But the further you go east, the greater the pioneers you are. In our conception, outsourcing is still coming together with large multinational companies. Therefore, we set the trend, and the competition is once again forced to follow.

How important is digitalization in your industry? Why have you embarked on the development of new tools?

I am a person who wants to have an overview. If you are responsible for six countries and each is a thousand kilometres away, you can rely either on what your employees tell you about their clients’ situation, or on very accurate data – digital, independent and generated by our own software tools we have created for these needs.

Are you talking about the Drive tool?

Drive ensures technical management and maintenance of buildings and technologies. Today we are able to modify it so that we are able to plan any activities of our employees that it comes into contact with. All this including a detailed itinerary for each step of the relevant activity. Therefore, if you come to our client as a brand new employee and you have to repair an air conditioner, for example, simply run Drive on your phone, load the NFC code and you will know what to do point by point. Confirm, do, save, and that’s it. This actually amounts to a schedule. Thanks to this, we will also save the capacity to train employees.

What does the Internet of Things mean to you?

When using IoT technology in facility management, we dare literally identify ourselves as pioneers. At the beginning of everything was the decision not to use customized IoT solutions from external manufacturers. The price of such equipment is so high that we cannot subsequently calculate it in the order for the client; we have to remain competitive. That is why we have built a team of people internally that is able to create our own IoT devices.

How hard was it to build the team and maintain it?

I have already mentioned that the lower and middle management in our company is basically unchangeable and therefore understands the company very well from the inside. So, all we need to do is bring someone into the company who knows the technology and connects it all to a team that creates the desired solution together. In fact, the vast majority of the tools we use are based on our own development. Sometimes, this means development that is time-consuming and human resource-intensive. But we have an owner who is in favour of constant innovation. This gives us a tremendous degree of freedom and the results will always come.

Where do you use IoT devices?

Mainly in the area of cleaning. When you have a large number of branches, you need to clean from 7:30 am to 8:00 am, so you need to know if our employee was there two minutes after 7:30. You find this out in such a way that the manager receives a telephone or computer notification according to where and when the employee used their chip. We also use the IoT for cleaning. We have a lot of cleaning machines, mowers, maintenance tractors and so on. One of our solutions is being able to tell: the tractor moved and stopped at a certain time. Thanks to this data, we know what the exact mileage of these machines is and when they will need regular maintenance, as well as much more information.

With data collection, you promise to prevent breakdowns in buildings. How does the system work?

In order to make a promise to the client, we need to get to know the building first. We will carry out a pre-construction condition survey, upload data to our system, and then we will have an initial state. If I simplify it, we know how long a boiler or air conditioner will last until their repair or replacement, and we will notify the client of this in advance. Based on the volume of data and its continuous collection, we are constantly learning, thereby becoming more accurate.

What are you able to monitor?

For example, the overall condition of equipment, humidity, temperature or the heat of a particular device using thermal imagers. Again, this can predict, for example, bearing frictions or power overload.

Why is your industry growing so much as a whole? Are companies looking for savings?

It is a combination of several factors. On one hand, new equipment is much more sophisticated, and companies can no longer entrust service to just anyone. Another factor is that companies need to produce during a boom, bringing their in-house machines to the company and using them for other tasks, and they often look for outsourcing. Everything is also related to the overall shortage of labour on the market, which paradoxically also helps us.

If you look at the future of your industry, what will it be?

Massive digitization and automation are definitely on the horizon. As there is a lack of a skilled labour force on the market, all workflows will have to be automated. Why, for example, would someone physically check the boiler room when sensors are enough? A person only arrives when something is happening. This will be the same with robots. For example, drones can largely replace security. Then there is the phenomenon of smart buildings. They can de facto manage themselves. Someone who does not have access to data or is not highly qualified will no longer be able to do facility management.

Could it not be a disadvantage for you that companies will buy drones, robots and sensors and will not need you anymore?

I have also thought about this. But look, it is we who mostly push our clients to acquire technology, to save and to optimize. For example, to use sensors to recognize the movement of people in a specific area and only clean there when it is truly necessary. I understand that they don’t yet think this way. They have their core business and they are good at it. If they want to progress, they can’t waste their time and energy on things like building management. That’s what we are here for. Facility management will be about qualified people who will be able to communicate with technology and improve the environment in which people live.

You are also involved in ECS. What is this about?

The European Customer Synergy (ECS) is a joint venture of private facility management companies. Thanks to this grouping we are able to cover any contract in Europe and we offer other partners the possibility to use our regional branches. Incidentally, we have recently seen great success in the context of ECS. We have provided a technology solution in the form of HelpDesk and ServiceDesk to all of our partners. Thereby, together we can use the unified technical maintenance management system we developed at OKIN FACILITY.

UP-TO-DATE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCED OVERVIEW

However, things have changed significantly. Indeed, our OKIN FACILITY has seen a number of interesting projects based on real-life experience from our operators, making use of cloud solutions benefits. Therefore, simple Helpdesks have been replaced by comprehensive interconnected platforms with thoroughly prepared and fully adjusted workflow. The systems are able to manage scheduled as well as unscheduled activities on the order, feature predictive abilities (assessing technical items wear and tear and proposing their replacement), while they also enable using mobile technologies for data processing, picture documentation, service manuals availability, NFC labels registry or augmented reality to support service interventions. Furthermore, connection with IoT (Internet of Things) has also turned out to be highly beneficial as the problem can be very often identified before the customer has suffered from its negative impact, and at the same time we are provided with ongoing information on the up-to-date state. Robust support for data analyses is seen as another advantage: permanent and careful analysis enables us continuous improvements of our systems and of our work. Our FM systems dispose also of the highest level of modularity and can be adapted to customers’ individual needs. Last but not least, all ongoing processes have been fully compatible with relevant national legislation in force.

What made us take this ambitious approach to develop our own FM systems? If I were to sum up all the reasons in a single word, I would definitely say DIGITALIZATION. For me, digitalization is one of key items resulting in continuous improvements in terms of efficient work and ongoing procedures. Digitalization enables a transition from purely offline setting featuring printout notes and checklists, hardcopy files and, in general, high level of excessive paper work, into the world of online management of orders. In the latter case, all can be available in a single mobile device where any piece of information can be immediately found and where all ongoing tasks and activities can be effectively scheduled and projected. Indeed, a high-quality FM system will be able to prepare offline-version data into your device even before you make it to the workplace. This eliminates the risk of bad network coverage preventing you from carrying out the tasks required. Subsequently, completing the necessary administrative steps directly on the spot is for me great added value of the fully digitalized workflow.

Last but not least, any up-to-date facility management system should also present extended analysis options. Indeed, data outputs and their subsequent analysis is truly a key for efficiency, enabling us to assess the order stage by stage as well as its partial steps and to compare it with similar orders or against the technologies themselves. Relevant data processed in this way would show potential room for improvement and indicate areas where systemic errors occur. Furthermore, it helps us provide our clients with more illustrative information about their orders. For example our OKIN Dashboard Project is directly based on the results of data analysis, to be then clearly displayed on the basic screen. Further details are available for the customer via a detailed analytic report.

CONTINUOUS TRAINING IS VITAL

Nevertheless, setting up fully digitalized environment has also some challenges. First of all it is necessary to adopt a new approach to continuous training of personnel. While modern systems feature a wide range of possibilities, regular trainings must be used as much as possible. Indeed, it should be noted that each system is only as efficient as we are able to make use of its potential. Though seemingly not easy at the beginning, it is recommended to follow a simple rule: do not allow for any single constructive idea to be brushed under the carpet. And if you add trendsetters passionate for new technologies while being also experts in their fields, and a professional team, you will have the essential things to succeed. Furthermore, the contents and quality of data in the system can in no way be compromised. In short, consistent verification is simply a must. If we leave room for randomness, to say nothing about inconsistencies, to occur in the “assignment-implementation-data assessment” chain, we will face the risk of a bad-quality outcome, with even the most precise subsequent measurement being just a waste of time.

To prevent this, our team includes also analyst, data analyst, end-user expert and product expert positions. Nevertheless, anything described above would lead nowhere if there was no support provided from our company management and committed passionate people across the company. We succeeded in making up a great team of people who are able to help each other in case of problems, challenges and finding the way to get over them. Nothing can be worse than if companies put huge investments and energy to carry out analyses, select the right solution and launch its implementation, while forgetting that implementation itself is not the final step in the process, right on the contrary, it marks its beginning. In fact, facility management systems, if they are to succeed, are living organisms that must be taken due care of all through their life cycle.

MARTIN POLEPIL, OKIN FACILITY

In 2009, OKIN became member of European Customer Synergy (ECS), international joint-venture of selected private companies with nearly every European country as a member and shareholder. Our Company, originally engaged in technical management, has gradually built the departments of cleaning, security, open space management, reception, etc. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, OKIN FACILITY has gone through a number of changes since its foundation, especially thanks to digitalization, IoT and Industry 4.0. Its evolution is principally based on data collection, evaluation and further use for the purpose of improving the quality of services.

In general, around 67% of European producers consider Industry 4.0 to be great opportunity. While Facility Management does not fall under industry or production area, it can also make good use of it. This is the reason OKIN FACILITY has taken steps in this direction: 83% of producers make their decisions based on data, the same being true of services. By 2020, 20 billion technical devices will be connected to the IoT.

OKIN FACILITY’s digitalization has been based on Drive! System, first pillar developed and made internally. It involves the system for service delivery management and for controlled increase in productivity on orders. There are two parts within the system: System HelpDesk for responsive maintenance, and CAFM operation system (stock-taking, projecting, preventive maintenance), providing thus preventive as well as responsive services on a mobile platform. Both scheduled and unscheduled tasks are connected with an application in the technical workers’ mobile phones. The task is assigned to a worker located at the shortest distance and the time of the task completion is calculated.

The IoT presents the second pillar. OKIN is responsible for 3,500 facilities located in 6 countries as part of both network and local orders. The CAFM System registers 14,500 devices, while a weekly volume of work accounts for 18,000 tasks, be it bulb replacement or boiler room inspection. All data is collected and analyzed, compared between identical types of buildings and facilities, which, as a result, ensures more efficient task completion.

OKIN has been engaged in eight main technologies: some of them on a long-term basis, while some other are just being tested. For more information visit IoT Section at OKIN Facility webpage.

Ing. TOMÁŠ POLÁK, OKIN FACILITY