SPECIAL FEATURE
drain TRADER
How to rebuild trust in the FM industry
The construction and FMindustry are crying out for change. Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, productivity in theUK has flatlined - and the construction industry has been one of the worst affected sectors.With the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 and theUK in recession oncemore, the industrywill have to adapt or face the consequences.
The Problemwith Trust
Trust is paramount if companies are going to work together successfully. Construction projects are the backbone of economic growth formany countries. Each year amagnitude of funds is funnelled into infrastructure projects - think HS2 and Crossrail in the UK.
But often because of the sheer scale and complexity of these construction projects (the number of phases and contractual links, and the government involvement), scope for corruption in the industry is high.
According to data fromthe Insolvency Service, the construction sector remains the second- highest ranking sector for insolvencies in 2017. This lack of trust and transparency, is not only detrimental to the future of the industry, but it is costing lives.
It comes as no surprise that the investigation into the Grenfell fire found out that themain contractor behind the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower offered cheaper,more combustible claddingwhilemisrepresenting the savings the switchwould lead to in a bid to “pocket the difference.”
Dealingwith large contractors like Rydon, in particular construction, facilitiesmanagement or housing association organisations can pose big challenges for industry stakeholders.Often, it becomes all about pushing the costs down to the next person in the chain.
Feedback froman anonymous stakeholder working in construction reported how“there’s just no trust there,we have to hide our costs and add in extra costs becausewe knowthey’ll come
upwith any excuse to discount, delay or not pay our invoice.”
Now,with the unprecedented impact of Covid- 19 and the UK in recession, having a solid foundation of trust ismore critical than ever - not only for the survival of the industry, but for the health and safety of ordinary people living in the UK.
ANewWay ForwardwithMarket Networks
Market Networks connect businesseswith their customers and subcontractors. In this respect, they are similar to on-demand smartphone apps such as Uber andDeliveroo that connect their gigworkerswith customers - except that the users ofMarket Networks are not anonymous, nor are they particularly disposable to one another either. In fact,Market Networks are used to improve transparency and build long-termrelationships.
Market Networks are typically createdwithin a specific industry or around a particular area of expertise. Examples ofMarket Networks already operatingwithin the UK include Houzz for home designers, Eventerprise for event planners, and for those in the trade industries - Okappy.
While the use ofMarket Networks is not yet widespreadwithin the Construction industry, there are nevertheless several success stories of companies and individuals implementing Market Network systems already.
ConvertWater Ltd offer an all-round service to their customers, providing all elements of treatment and pumping ofwastewater and sewage. They provide services as installers, subcontractors ormain contractors, offering a total service package. They started using the OkappyMarket Network tomanage their workforce.
Following implementation, ConvertWater Ltd and their customers have a lotmore visibility and control over thework they do. Information
18 drain TRADER | October 2020 |
www.draintraderltd.com
is updated in real-time and instantly available to all stakeholders, resulting in fewer calls from customerswondering about the status of a job and less chasing for information fromtheir technicians. This extra time enabled Convert Water Ltd to focus on the areas of the business that really needed attention, resulting in growing the company approximately 40%year- on-year.
“It frees up our time and allowsme to spend more of it visiting sites and bringing inmore work. Thiswouldn’t have been possiblewithout Okappy!My engineers can add jobs for themselves so, if additionalwork needs to be donewhile on site, they can quickly add it on. Alternatively, if they need to go back to do furtherwork, they can schedule it straight away without having to chaseme.” - Anthony, Director of ConvertWater.
Time for Change
“Covid-19was the tipping point for us going fully digital. If Covid-19 hadn't happened,we would have eventually gone down this route, but probablywould have introduced it on a smaller scalewith one contract at a time.” - EwenMaclean, FacilitiesMaintenanceManager at Lewis Builders Ltd.
Covid-19 is causing us to rethink howwework and restructure industries across the board. If the FMand Construction sectors don’tmake changes now, it could be too late.
HowOkappy CanHelp
Okappy is designed to streamline your communications andworkforcemanagement processes and is one solution that could help reduce disruption to your business.With Okappy you can communicatewith your network, send and receive jobs,manage your workforce remotely, run reports, and raise invoices - all on one platform. You can receive updates to job details as they happen and view all important documents needed for thework in one secure place.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
