Facility Managers Get Creative When Cutting Costs

One big trend is a shift to daytime janitorial services. It also makes sense to scale back on janitorial services. As companies recycle more, there’s simply less trash. So, instead of having janitors dump waste baskets every evening, companies have trash hauled off every other day — or every third day.

Companies also are investing in lower-maintenance landscaping, and shutting down excess office and manufacturing space to reduce utility and maintenance costs.

Some companies are putting more documents online to save on space previously used for library and book storage. One copmany shrunk the footprint of its library from 3,000 square feet to 800 square feet and moved to a smaller, more efficient office space. The consolidated library and other moves toward efficiency result in a savings of more than $100,000 per year.

Other businesses are installing computer systems to monitor and manage electricity usage. Such systems can tie heating and air conditioning, lighting and security systems to one central computer system.

And instead of using outside vendors for specialty tasks, it’s more common for companies to assign tasks to their in-house facilities staff instead. According to experts, people are taking on more responsibilities in-house, which is a reversal of a decades-long trend to outsource.

Read this full article and learn how companies are renegotiating contracts with their vendors to save money and consolidating space.