July 19, 2004
The asset approach | In an effort to lengthen customer relationships, Ames A/E expands into facilities and asset management
By Sara Donnelly
Brian Ames says he's in the business of architectural design for the long haul. He calls it his "10-year approach." The problem is, relationships with design clients tend to be relatively short-term ˆ when their building is done, they no longer need the services of his Bangor-based firm, Ames A/E Architects and Engineers.
One of the company's strengths, Ames says, is designing and then overseeing the construction of buildings, from wood-frame homes to steel-frame commercial complexes. With 34 employees, Ames' company is considered medium-sized among architectural design firms. So when he began looking for additional services to offer existing clients, it was important that they not require a slew of additional staff. It seemed a logical next step to move into facilities and asset management ˆ essentially, helping owners maintain buildings and building systems using sophisticated software that requires minimal staff time.
The 30-year-old firm moved into facilities and asset management in 1997, when Ames added a software-based management division that largely served education clients. Two years later, the division earned its own name, Ames AM Asset Management Solutions. And in April of this year, the division opened its own office in Portsmouth, N.H. The newly relocated division is using new software, expanding its reach in seacoast New Hampshire and southern Maine and, Ames hopes, ultimately drumming up new architectural design business for the parent company. "This marks our entrance into a larger market," he says. "We're really looking at a New England market ˆ not a Bangor market, not a Maine market."
Ames' multidisciplinary approach is not new to the architectural design industry, according to Cara Battaglini, media relations specialist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C.. During the booming 1990s, diversification, especially among medium-sized companies like Ames A/E, was all the rage. Firms began adding non-architectural design services like interior design, space planning and construction management. Asset and facilities management was especially popular because it was "a way to extend the [client] relationship for the entire life cycle of the building," according to Battaglini.
But when the economic boom began to quiet down in 2000, many of the medium-sized firms withered away to nothing or were absorbed into the larger firms. In the current David and Goliath market, the Davids (firms employing fewer than 25 people) primarily offer basic architectural services, while the Goliaths (employing 50-plus) are more likely to have the staff and capital to offer extras like asset and facilities management. A 2003 AIA survey reports that more than one quarter of all large firms in the country offer facilities or asset management services, while roughly 10% of smaller firms offer the same services.
Here in Maine, industry experts say few architecture and engineering firms have diversified into asset management. According to Dean Bingham, president of AIA's Maine chapter and an independent architect based in Portland, most of Maine's architecture firms tend to be small ˆ employing four people or fewer ˆ and medium-sized firms like Ames A/E are, in fact, large by Maine standards. Small or large, Bingham says many of Maine's architectural design firms are diversifying and expanding to markets beyond the state. But, in his experience, few of them are turning to asset management; instead, they've tended to expand into LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), otherwise known as "green building." "It's the natural course of trying to expand your base of work so you're not dependent on solely one type of project," says Bingham.
Getting out of the boiler room
At the heart of Ames AM is an asset management software program called PlannExpert, which among other services can track the maintenance and repair of assets on the client's property. Clients buy a limited license for the program ˆ ranging from $995 up to millions of dollars, depending on the extent of the client's needs ˆ then Ames AM installs it and trains employees in its operation. A skeleton crew of one full-time employee and a handful of on-call tech staff in the Portsmouth office update clients' training and programming as needed. "This program gives us everything we ever hoped we would get ˆ flexibility, ease of use, affordability," says Ames. "We see it as an expansion of our services and one I feel is needed in this area."
According to Terry Wireman, an expert on computerized maintenance management systems, asset and facilities management software first surfaced in 1978. In the early years of the software's development, only a few large companies had the means to produce it. But these days Wireman, who is affiliated with the Cincinnati-based Association for Facilities Engineering, says at least 200 vendors nationwide are selling asset management software, from big names like Oracle and PeopleSoft to small mom-and-pop software companies. "Almost everybody has something they're using," he adds. "But less than five percent [of companies] realize the full capacity of the software."
Depending on the program, asset management software can do anything from keeping an updated list of assets and repair schedules to alerting the client when something goes wrong and automatically ordering parts, repairs and maintenance. Assets can be anything of interest to the client ˆ from sprinkler and air conditioning systems to military weaponry and medical patients. Some clients, like hospitals, use asset management programs to track patient care, monitor medications and solicit payment. The uses, explains Wireman, are endless.
Dave de Sousa, vice president of the Ames AM division, claims Ames is the only Maine company to use asset and facilities management software. His competition, he says, is not other architecture firms but facilities and asset management software providers across New England.
Ames AM's software is made by the Montreal-based software company PlannSoft. According to de Sousa, who's running the Portsmouth office, the software is able to maintain detailed accounts of repairs and replacement needs, which in turn allows the client to run a more efficient business. "They come to us because they don't have a system for directing their workforce," says de Sousa. "A lot of times people need that information to find out if they're getting the full utilization of their workforce and their equipment."
Before acquiring its first software program (the now outdated ACT 1000) in 1999, de Sousa says Ames AE would keep facilities management records on file, requiring much more manpower and many more working hours to organize and monitor. With PlannExpert, Ames AM hopes to monitor 300 to 400 clients ˆ health care providers, fleet owners, property managers, facilities management companies and manufacturers throughout New England ˆ over the next five years with a full-time staff of just six or seven people. Ames AM signed a contract for the use of the PlannExpert software about two months ago and has not yet worked with any clients using the new program.
Ames hopes his new asset management division in Portsmouth will distinguish itself in a northern New England market he believes needs this service. In his view, Ames AM represents both a forward-thinking mindset for his company and also for his clients.
"You plan your maintenance program, it's scheduled, planned, tracked, delegated and reported to management," he says. "This information is available [to the client]. It's not just held in the head of the maintenance guy who's down in the boiler room and who you can't really get a hold of. Management can now find out what the heck's going on."
One of the company's strengths, Ames says, is designing and then overseeing the construction of buildings, from wood-frame homes to steel-frame commercial complexes. With 34 employees, Ames' company is considered medium-sized among architectural design firms. So when he began looking for additional services to offer existing clients, it was important that they not require a slew of additional staff. It seemed a logical next step to move into facilities and asset management ˆ essentially, helping owners maintain buildings and building systems using sophisticated software that requires minimal staff time.
The 30-year-old firm moved into facilities and asset management in 1997, when Ames added a software-based management division that largely served education clients. Two years later, the division earned its own name, Ames AM Asset Management Solutions. And in April of this year, the division opened its own office in Portsmouth, N.H. The newly relocated division is using new software, expanding its reach in seacoast New Hampshire and southern Maine and, Ames hopes, ultimately drumming up new architectural design business for the parent company. "This marks our entrance into a larger market," he says. "We're really looking at a New England market ˆ not a Bangor market, not a Maine market."
Ames' multidisciplinary approach is not new to the architectural design industry, according to Cara Battaglini, media relations specialist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C.. During the booming 1990s, diversification, especially among medium-sized companies like Ames A/E, was all the rage. Firms began adding non-architectural design services like interior design, space planning and construction management. Asset and facilities management was especially popular because it was "a way to extend the [client] relationship for the entire life cycle of the building," according to Battaglini.
But when the economic boom began to quiet down in 2000, many of the medium-sized firms withered away to nothing or were absorbed into the larger firms. In the current David and Goliath market, the Davids (firms employing fewer than 25 people) primarily offer basic architectural services, while the Goliaths (employing 50-plus) are more likely to have the staff and capital to offer extras like asset and facilities management. A 2003 AIA survey reports that more than one quarter of all large firms in the country offer facilities or asset management services, while roughly 10% of smaller firms offer the same services.
Here in Maine, industry experts say few architecture and engineering firms have diversified into asset management. According to Dean Bingham, president of AIA's Maine chapter and an independent architect based in Portland, most of Maine's architecture firms tend to be small ˆ employing four people or fewer ˆ and medium-sized firms like Ames A/E are, in fact, large by Maine standards. Small or large, Bingham says many of Maine's architectural design firms are diversifying and expanding to markets beyond the state. But, in his experience, few of them are turning to asset management; instead, they've tended to expand into LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), otherwise known as "green building." "It's the natural course of trying to expand your base of work so you're not dependent on solely one type of project," says Bingham.
Getting out of the boiler room
At the heart of Ames AM is an asset management software program called PlannExpert, which among other services can track the maintenance and repair of assets on the client's property. Clients buy a limited license for the program ˆ ranging from $995 up to millions of dollars, depending on the extent of the client's needs ˆ then Ames AM installs it and trains employees in its operation. A skeleton crew of one full-time employee and a handful of on-call tech staff in the Portsmouth office update clients' training and programming as needed. "This program gives us everything we ever hoped we would get ˆ flexibility, ease of use, affordability," says Ames. "We see it as an expansion of our services and one I feel is needed in this area."
According to Terry Wireman, an expert on computerized maintenance management systems, asset and facilities management software first surfaced in 1978. In the early years of the software's development, only a few large companies had the means to produce it. But these days Wireman, who is affiliated with the Cincinnati-based Association for Facilities Engineering, says at least 200 vendors nationwide are selling asset management software, from big names like Oracle and PeopleSoft to small mom-and-pop software companies. "Almost everybody has something they're using," he adds. "But less than five percent [of companies] realize the full capacity of the software."
Depending on the program, asset management software can do anything from keeping an updated list of assets and repair schedules to alerting the client when something goes wrong and automatically ordering parts, repairs and maintenance. Assets can be anything of interest to the client ˆ from sprinkler and air conditioning systems to military weaponry and medical patients. Some clients, like hospitals, use asset management programs to track patient care, monitor medications and solicit payment. The uses, explains Wireman, are endless.
Dave de Sousa, vice president of the Ames AM division, claims Ames is the only Maine company to use asset and facilities management software. His competition, he says, is not other architecture firms but facilities and asset management software providers across New England.
Ames AM's software is made by the Montreal-based software company PlannSoft. According to de Sousa, who's running the Portsmouth office, the software is able to maintain detailed accounts of repairs and replacement needs, which in turn allows the client to run a more efficient business. "They come to us because they don't have a system for directing their workforce," says de Sousa. "A lot of times people need that information to find out if they're getting the full utilization of their workforce and their equipment."
Before acquiring its first software program (the now outdated ACT 1000) in 1999, de Sousa says Ames AE would keep facilities management records on file, requiring much more manpower and many more working hours to organize and monitor. With PlannExpert, Ames AM hopes to monitor 300 to 400 clients ˆ health care providers, fleet owners, property managers, facilities management companies and manufacturers throughout New England ˆ over the next five years with a full-time staff of just six or seven people. Ames AM signed a contract for the use of the PlannExpert software about two months ago and has not yet worked with any clients using the new program.
Ames hopes his new asset management division in Portsmouth will distinguish itself in a northern New England market he believes needs this service. In his view, Ames AM represents both a forward-thinking mindset for his company and also for his clients.
"You plan your maintenance program, it's scheduled, planned, tracked, delegated and reported to management," he says. "This information is available [to the client]. It's not just held in the head of the maintenance guy who's down in the boiler room and who you can't really get a hold of. Management can now find out what the heck's going on."
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