Why do BMS contractors love using the PEAK Platform?

Alex Shan, our Product Growth Analyst recently sat down with David Sandford, a BMS contractor who actively engages with the PEAK Platform. David is contracted at multiple sites including Adelaide Central Plaza, a 27,000 square metre retail asset in South Australia.

The conversation with David highlights how the PEAK Platform is genuinely empowering property teams to work smarter and more collaboratively, across the entire supply chain. While the core user is typically the Facilities Manager, the platform equally supports the wider operations team including the likes of specialist contractors.

As David’s experience illustrates, some of the key benefits for the day-to-day life of a BMS contractor include:

• Improved workflow - contractors can effortlessly assign Alerts to their Facilities Manager or other contractors. Once assigned, all team members can seamlessly collaborate in real-time to quickly and efficiently resolve issues.
• Finding issues quicker - PEAK removes the guesswork and saves significant time by identifying the true root cause and recommending a solution.
• Full digital record - contractors can manage their whole workflow within the platform, recording all comments, screenshots, photos and documents related to the issue. This can form the basis for communication of work completed, in lieu of tedious report management.
• Critical focus - alerts are only generated once a major anomaly, failure or tuning opportunity is identified - significantly reducing alarm fatigue. The Actions inbox can be assigned by priority ensuring issues are being addressed based on impact.

Q and A with David Sandford

Alex (CIM): Hi David, it’s great to see that you are engaging so meaningfully with the PEAK Platform as a BMS contractor. How do you find using the platform generally?

David: It’s really easy to use. In comparison to the other analytics software that I use, I would say that PEAK is a lot easier to use. And the rules seem a lot better. It’s not making so many nuisance calls. I can use it on the mobile too which is really handy.

Alex: That’s great to hear. I’d like to chat about a specific action that you recently created within the platform in relation to a fire system testing issue. An alert was triggered, and you investigated finding the cause of the issue, before uploading a photo and re-assigning the action. Can you tell me a bit about that workflow?

David: When an issue is identified, the photo and action assignment is a good way to quickly pass on the information to someone else. So that's why I’m using it like that. If it's something mechanical, I can give it to the mechanical guys or something else to the Facilities Manager etc.

Alex: Great. So how did you find out the issue was present?

David: It was reported on the platform that the actuator dampers wern’t operating. So I went in to check it out. I tried to drive it manually but they wouldn’t move. The mechanical contractor had a look as well. We were able to trace the cabling back to the fire relays. When we disconnected it from that, it started working fine. So then I assigned an action within the platform to the Facilities Manager Joe to follow up with the fire technicians, for them to repair the wiring in the fire panels.

Alex: Okay, interesting. And did you find out about the issue via PEAK?

David: Yes it was picked up by the platform.

Alex: Did you create the action soon after you found out about the alert?

David: Yes, straight after. Joe (Facilities Manager) would know where the issue was and what the next action was to get it resolved. There wasn’t much I could do.

Alex: Great. And what about the picture that you shared as part of the action, what was the purpose of that?

David: To add more context. And so he understood how serious it was, rather than me just saying ‘Oh it’s bad’.

Alex: Perfect. So that moved it along to the Facilities Manager to liaise with the fire technician. And then if they need to reach out to you, they can do that.

David: Yep. They don’t really need to get in touch, but of course I can drive and test everything while they’re fixing the wiring.

Alex: That’s a great outcome. Great that you created the action and included the image for some visual context and got it moving much quicker than it would have otherwise - all within the platform. So, if this was to have happened before the PEAK Platform was operational at the site, how would you have done this differently?

David: Well, I hate writing service reports. It’s an hour of my day where I have to prove I’ve done something, otherwise I’m just the guy that sits on the computer up in the plant room. No one knows what I’m doing so I have to write a report. But with the PEAK Platform, I can just put all of my actions and everything in there. That’s probably one of my favourite things about PEAK.

Alex: Do you need to provide anything to the asset owner, other than updating the items in PEAK?

David: No, just updating everything in PEAK. In the meeting, we discuss any outstanding items and go from there. Unless it’s a follow-up, if I come to inspect something and the mechanical guys aren't on-site, I’ll just put it on the platform and assign it to them.

Alex: Is that the same case at your other sites?

David: Yes. We have semi-automatic report-writing but that’s not for action-based (reactive) maintenance, it’s for preventative maintenance - which is just checking the same thing over and over. So it's pretty easy to do reports that way. But when you’re doing reactive maintenance, it’s difficult without a platform like PEAK.

Alex: At Adelaide Central Plaza, do you do any preventative maintenance?

David: When we are here, we go through the actions in PEAK and get them done. I wouldn’t get nearly as much done if it wasn't there. I normally have to go through and find all the issues myself, but the platform makes some really good pickups for me to prioritise. So I just start hammering away at those straight away.

Alex: Good to hear. Are you and the mechanical contractor there on the same day? So you guys can tackle the items together?

David: Yep. And we’re way more productive with the list of actions than we would be otherwise. We seem to achieve a few things everyday. Rather than on some sites where you’re really looking for things but can’t find anything, so you feel like you haven't achieved anything for the day.

Alex: So it’s easy because you have a list of things to tackle and you know which equipment to go to straight away?

David: Yep, I start with the PEAK items. And if I run out, I look for other things. But that rarely happens, as so much is picked up.

Alex: That’s great to hear.

Alex: So, what gives you the most satisfaction throughout a working day? Is it resolving these issues?

David: Basically I don’t like having a day where I feel like I haven't achieved something. So, getting a few things completed, closed out and finished is good.

Alex: Of course. And how do you go about sharing these wins with the client?

David: Through PEAK, all through the PEAK Platform.

Alex: Great. And how would you have done this prior to using the platform?

David: We had a Trello board and reports. So it’s much easier to be able to do everything in the platform now.

Alex: That’s great. Thanks again for your time, David. Your insights have been really helpful.

________________

CIM's PEAK Platform is a best-in-class building analytics SaaS technology, improving efficiency, sustainability, and tenant comfort across property portfolios. Discover more by watching a demo.