Great joy – a new tender has been won and soon the operational day-to-day business will follow. However, this is not simply planned quickly on the side for complex facility management services. Because every operation and every phase of use is different and must be considered individually. This is where the implementation team comes in.

Miriam Gervasi, Head of Implementation and CAFM at Apleona Switzerland since May 2017, tells us more below.

What are the most important success factors for an implementation in facility management?

• Open and honest communication and cooperative collaboration with the customer
• Handing over of all necessary information and documents on the part of the customer  
• Early involvement of the operational team in the implementation process

Where does a successful implementation start and where does it end?
A successful implementation starts with the analysis of the new customer contract and the preparations for the detailed as-is survey on site. As the time for implementation is getting shorter and shorter, it is important to prepare the information from the tender documents to such an extent that an efficient and effective as-is analysis can be carried out on site. 

Implementation is complete when the operational team on site has been introduced and trained in their new tasks and everyone knows exactly what to do. A precise examination of the work processes is also indispensable for us and ensures a qualitatively first-class service provision.

By means of a final discussion with the customer and the operational team, we reflect on our work at the end and gather new insights for next implementations. This is how we ensure the continuous development and improvement of our implementation team.

Which process phase needs special attention?
The most important phase is the as-is survey on site. In this phase we clarify open questions about the current processes, record the building areas and facilities on site and find out the differences to the services put out to tender. In order to provide our team with a quick overview of the current situation, we have developed a questionnaire that is adapted according to the service being tendered. All answers from the customer or the current FM provider are thus recorded and serve as an important basis for the next steps. In this context, open and honest communication between all parties involved is extremely important.

Of course, special attention is also paid to the development and introduction phase, as this is the phase in which the foundations for the operation are laid: Subcontractor contracts are negotiated, equipment is purchased, service levels are revised, contract costs are adjusted accordingly and employees are trained and instructed.

Quality in the provision of our services is always our top priority. An important prerequisite for this is that the interfaces between the implementation team and the operational units function properly. Our employees work hand in hand across all departments. In addition, the implementation team always accompanies the operational start-up so that initial ambiguities can be quickly resolved.

What added value does a professional implementation create for the customer?
By means of a clean implementation the basics for the operational business are worked out. Thanks to professional implementation, there is a controlled takeover of operations, ambiguities are uncovered early and solutions are found.

Which four adjectives describe the Apleona Switzerland implementation team?

• flexible
• dedicated
• persevering
• reliable

Last but not least: Tell us the secret of success of the implementation team of Apleona Switzerland?
We are a well-coordinated team. Due to some long-time employees, the networking within Apleona and the FM sector as well as the know-how in the operational area and in the implementation is very large. Our team is also in constant expansion. New employees bring new knowledge, new ideas and a lot of energy to the team.

In summary, the diversity of our employees makes us special. The combination of experienced employees and graduates makes us an unbeatable team.