Surviving the Labor Shortage Using Technology

Quotes

“It’s made our lives a lot easier. I think the challenge though, in FM, is there’s really a disconnect with the field people versus the office people.” – David Trask, (4:56)

“I think one of the big misconceptions with mobile technology is that everything has to be all encompassing in one…and everyone is looking for this magic bullet that does everything.” – David Trask, (10:12)

“Where people get hung up is thinking I’ve gotta do this here and I’ve gotta have this all encompassed. No. Every technology company is not the best at everything and if you want that and you’re expecting that, you’re going to pay a premium for that.” David Trask, (11:50)

“I’ve got several clients who were hit with ransomware attacks…but the stuff that was in the cloud wasn’t because you have redundancy. Your stuff is not residing in one spot where if they attack you with some kind of malware, they hold you hostage…it gives you security that you don’t have locally.” David Trask, (20:02)

Surviving the Labor Shortage Using Technology

On this episode of FM Evolution, host Shawn Black was joined by David Trask, National Director of Facilities and Emergency Solutions at ARC Technology Solutions as well as a keynote speaker and thought leader. With over ten years at ARC, David has worked extensively on helping organizations better manage their facilities and emergency information while identifying gaps in current processes. Throughout the episode, Shawn and David discussed the labor shortage, artificial intelligence, and how companies can leverage technology to accomplish their goals.

Artificial Intelligence in Facility Management

“It’s made our lives a lot easier. I think the challenge though, in FM, is there’s really a disconnect with the field people versus the office people.” – David Trask, (4:56)

One of the biggest disconnects in FM is between the people in the field responding to calls and the people who are answering the calls. However, the biggest improvement that AI has provided in the FM industry is providing access to information in the field. Rarely do those who work in the field also find themselves tied to a desk. So, they’re not running from the field, then back to the desk to report all the information they are collecting. Therefore, mobile AI allows people in the field to relay the information being collected to people at the desks in real time. AI provides access to the field even when you are not actively working in the field.

In the next ten years, AI is going to be able to anticipate the information we are going to need. This will help there not be a backlog of preventive maintenance piling up because AI will provide FMs with the information they need before they even realize they need it. In the future, artificial intelligence will allow FMs to be more predictive instead of reactive. Furthermore, since AI has the capability to learn and analyze, it will help solve the labor shortage because FMs aren’t going to have to train people on the trends that AI is already recognizing and it will save time for the laborers that are having to complete more and more tasks.

How Mobile Technology is Changing FM

“I think one of the big misconceptions with mobile technology is that everything has to be all encompassing in one…and everyone is looking for this magic bullet that does everything.” – David Trask, (10:12)

When it comes to mobile technology, where people and organizations make the biggest mistake is thinking about how mobile technology can solve the problems they are going to have tomorrow instead of improving the gaps in the system they are having today. The challenge is getting everyone to have the same capabilities, which means technology companies have to stay competitive and be able to integrate with all different types of platforms. There will never be one platform that does it all, but the big winners will be the ones who figure out how to make all the different platforms function together. There are some concerns that eventually technology will be relied upon too much, however, there is no better way than technology to streamline the flow of information between a variety of different parties or entities.

The Benefits of Digital Storage

“I’ve got several clients who were hit with ransomware attacks…but the stuff that was in the cloud wasn’t because you have redundancy. Your stuff is not residing in one spot where if they attack you with some kind of malware, they hold you hostage…it gives you security that you don’t have locally.” David Trask, (20:02)

The biggest benefit to digital storage is that it gives you access to everything no matter where you are and it provides you with a redundant backup. Having assets and information stored in a cloud gives you an extra layer of security because both computer and paper files can easily be destroyed. The difference between having your information stored on a cloud somewhere versus on your laptop or tablet is that files stored on cloud services are way less likely to be hacked than if those files were saved on a physical device. It’s important to understand the security measures of the cloud service being used. Typically, their servers are located in a warehouse that most workers don’t have access to, and secondly, the files stored on the cloud service are encrypted. This limits your exposure and this redundancy makes sure that wherever your stuff is housed, it’s easily accessible.