Editor's Note: The information supplied by FNBI was so complete and well-written we felt it spoke for itself; so this case study is in the users' own words. As one begins to embark on a CIFM implementation...

There is a strong need to address how important it is to have a “gatekeeper” of the system, someone who is experienced in facility management techniques/processes as well as in the technical arena. The success of our implementation comes down to three things: 1) a focused, dedicated and technically skilled “gatekeeper,” 2) an experienced implementation team to drive and support the necessary steps to build, structure, and baseline the system, and 3) a dedicated internal team and supportive management to drive the schedule, realistically, but aggressively.

A Growing Organization
First National of Nebraska is a multi-state, multi-bank holding company located in the heart of downtown Omaha that has been serving Omahans and surrounding communities for more than 130 years. With more than $8 billion in assets and over 5,400 employees, First National of Nebraska ranks as the tenth largest bank holding company west of the Mississippi. First National of Nebraska serves over 6.6 million customers in all 50 states, with over 50 banking locations in Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, and South Dakota. First National Bank of Omaha is a growing organization.

This growth has driven many changes in the way First National Buildings, Inc. manages corporate facilities and space. The Bank is in the process of transitioning from a majority of leased office spaces to solely owned and managed facilities. This transition began approximately four years ago and, by the end of 2002, The Tower at First National Center, a 40-story skyscraper, will come online. The growth and management of growth as well as our transition from leased to owned property has driven many of the issues which drove us to seek a computer-automated facility management system.

ARCHIBUS is being utilized to gather, manipulate, and manage space, building assets, work orders, preventive maintenance, parking reservations and multiple parking wait lists, as well as project accountability. The greatest benefit of our ARCHIBUS system is gaining access to accurate, consistent, and timely data. Prior to the implementation of ARCHIBUS, our space data was developed manually which left opportunity for inconsistency, inaccuracy, and human error. Additionally, we were dependent on outsourcing much of the manipulation of data and executive reporting. Our Maintenance and Operations system required upgrading as well. Our previous system was not Y2K-compliant and it did not provide flexibility or detail which is becoming increasingly important to us as we add maintenance engineers and space in support of our increased managed square footage.

Reports-The Payoff
Financial Managers receive Space Management reports. We use the Useable, Rentable, and Chargeable square footages to do Cost Center chargebacks for space and furniture. Corporate divisions are just starting to utilize and benefit from space utilization reports for Cost Center validation and 2000 budget allocations. The Help Desk generates Work Request Status by Building and Craftsperson Summaries on a daily basis. Maintenance Engineers restrict Craftsperson Daily Summaries to verify input of an entire day completely and accurately.

OPEN On Demand Work Orders are referenced regularly. Since the Project and Parking applications are custom, all of the reports generated in support of these efforts are customized. We have required some additional custom reports for Maintenance and Operations. Our best experience has been the ability to customize the entire ARCHIBUS program to fit our needs. Our customization includes everything from reports, EIS, the Navigator, and overall add-ons to the original database. The ability to integrate so many of our key functions in one database has been a great asset.

We recognize that each company's implementation is unique, every organization has its own goals and processes-BRG helped us customize ARCHIBUS to fit our needs. We have had BRG on board with us ever since we started. Their experience in the field has been invaluable. They assisted us in bringing online over 1.5 million square feet in less than three months. They have been the backbone of keeping our database customization and enhancements in tune with existing capabilities.

The total managed by ARCHIBUS is currently 1.8 million out of 2.5 million square feet. We have continually been amazed at the flexibility and ability to generate almost any possible query-just by restricting, sorting, breaking, totaling, adding fields, formatting, etc. The reporting flexibility has met our expectations. Additionally, we have been able to cut the report generation time by more than half. We have also been able to see that we now are just validating data rather than always collecting data. The ARCHIBUS database reports allow us to run queries we could only dream of before.

With new questions being asked, we can assure that our data is only becoming and staying more accurate. We use Crystal or Access to accentuate reporting requirements and capabilities. Table structure is fairly easy to follow and pulling from various tables is not too complicated. We have done many exports to Excel as well, when we require stagnant data and just specialized re-sorting and “beautification.” Project Managers and Management do not yet recognize the quantity of information available to them. They are just learning to turn to the new system for data and information. End users are hesitant-driven some by the learning curve, but also because they do not fully understand the power of restrictions and/or views. We continually struggle with getting people on the system to use this information.

The Bottom Line-Savings
As well as being able to generate accurate and timely data, we have been able to generate substantial cost savings. Without a doubt, we estimate a $50,000 to $60,000 a year savings in Space Management alone.

The other modules and custom add-ons replaced processes that were previously done in-house prior to implementing ARCHIBUS (i.e., Parking, Maintenance Work Orders, and Project). The savings in these areas can be felt more indirectly. Our parking implementation includes many facets of managing approximately 2,000 parking spaces in the Omaha area. Our previous Work Order system did not standardize calls, we did not track location and problem types, we were unable to report the work accomplished and time associated with each call, and countless other options.

In support of our Project implementation, we have since captured all forms electronically and are able to slice and dice information that was previously unavailable to us. It is fair to say that we continue to save man-hours (thus money) tracking and reporting information captured and managed in ARCHIBUS. Due to the fact that we capture so many of our daily processes and updates in ARCHIBUS, it has been a requirement that many members of the First National Buildings, Inc. become integrally involved with the selection, needs analysis, and implementation process. The entire implementation process has been a learning experience for members of our internal team. It would be untrue to say that the implementation was quick, seamless, and easy. Users were required to develop procedures, accumulate background data, standardize problem types, and develop categories, types, etc. This has been difficult to support due to work and schedules, but the process has been beneficial to the overall organization.

ARCHIBUS and the Web
We are hopeful that ARCHIBUS Strategic Master Planning will benefit us. I believe that the Strategic Master Planning module will be a great change for us. We have many issues in capturing the status of data at any given period in time, whether it is for Budget, Strategic Planning, or rent rolls. We are constantly being asked “What has changed since...”

Our next big step is going to be the upgrade to ARCHIBUS and growth into sharing FM data over our existing Intranet. We will have many internal challenges by connecting ARCHIBUS to the Intranet. A major effort will focus on training and stimulating cost centers to recognize the importance of accurate, timely data-and helping them to understand the benefits they will gain by “signing on” to our system.

In Conclusion
We made a decision early on, NOT to track people to space in our system. This was of some concern to BRG. We were aware that we would be losing functionality by not going to that detail (for example: standard churn reporting, move management, and true vacancy information). Our main focus and concern for our system has been, and remains, that we must be able to maintain accurate information to guarantee the integrity of the system. Tracking people to locations was not something we were able to “bite off” and were not able to quantify the benefit for the effort during Phase I. We look forward to assessing the possibility in the future.

BRG provided wise advice: “Don't bite off more than you can chew.” That was our philosophy during Phase I Implementation. We look forward to future enhancements which will capitalize on our Phase I system. These enhancements and additions will fix some cumbersome techniques and bring online new capabilities.