The Search for the Best Facility Software for Higher Ed
Edgewood College Case Study
Edgewood College's Portfolio
Edgewood College is a private, 4-year university located in Madison, Wis. The college has a 55-acre campus surrounded by Lake Wingra and residential neighborhoods. Tim Fargo is the Project Manager for the Facility Operations department and has overseen maintenance and remodels for the past 8 years. Edgewood College has a highly talented facilities team, but they wanted to make it easier and less time consuming to track asset maintenance histories, schedule preventive maintenance and improve their capital planning strategies.
Tim’s team didn’t just want a quick fix—they wanted a solution that they would be able to count on for years to come. After analyzing a number of different solutions, they decided to implement AkitaBox as their software solution of choice. Here are the prime goals they had going into the project:
- Find a software designed for the facility management teams that offers more than a work order system
- Implement a system that makes it easy to document and reference building floor plans and asset histories
- Switch from reacting to asset maintenance needs to anticipating them by developing a preventative maintenance program
- Update facility and campus square footage data to accurately allocate staff and balance their workloads
Implementing the Software with Up-to-Date Data
AkitaBox was implemented at Edgewood College within 90 days by following four steps from collecting the data to training the facilities team on how to utilize the software.
1. Collecting Building Space and Asset Data
A data collection team from AkitaBox walked all campus facilities to verify space allocation and floor plan data and collect and record asset information.
2. Standardizing the Information
Existing floor plans were digitized and updated in Revit, and asset information collected on-site was organized and standardized.
3. Implementing Facility Management Software
Building information was formatted and input into AkitaBox in under 90 days, then shared with the Edgewood College facility management team.
4. Training the Facilities Team
A dedicated AkitaBox Customer Success Manager was assigned to Edgewood College to train staff on how the program would be used in their department.
Impactful Results Powered by Accurate facility Data and the Right Tools
- Faster work order turnarounds, because staff could quickly access digital floor plans and asset histories remotely before responding to a work order
- Successful implementation of a preventative maintenance program to monitor and care for HVAC, plumbing and asset-based systems
- Ability to make more informed capital planning decisions since preventative maintenance data could be used to predict mechanical failures
- Articulate departmental workload challenges by showing college leadership the disparity between completed and unassigned work orders
- Easier training and onboarding for new staff, including those who considered themselves non-tech savvy, with the AkitaBox software
The partnership between Edgewood College and AkitaBox is demonstrative of how far the industry can go in supporting efficiency and technological advancement across facilities teams in order to create safer and more productive spaces for building occupants.
“The AkitaBox software is easy to work your way through. Once you log in, your team can navigate to any building to find information without having to physically be there. AkitaBox has also helped us figure out what work needs to be done to move people from room to room. We can view what’s in a room just by pulling up the floor plans.”
Tim Fargo • Project Manager
Facilities Operations
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