The Global Research
Facilities Operations and Management
Manish. K Tiwari
2012
The Global Research
Report on Facilities Operations and Management
3. Feb.2012
Report Structure
1. Cover 2. Title Page 3. Contents page. 4. Acknowledgement (optional) 5. Abstract/Executive Summary 6. Main Body (Tasks) 7. Conclusion. 8. References (including weblioreferencing) 9. Bibliography (including webliography) 10. Appendices
INTRODUCTION
Aloft Hotels is a branded hotel which is a child of hotels Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide even it is referred to as "a vision of W Hotels". First hotel had been developed at the Trudeau International Airport in Montreal in 2008. By passing the time it has been spread across North America and around the world as well. It is mostly found at or near major airports. Features of this Hotel are as follows: a) It is well known for its brand and its brand depends on the style, how they provide service to their customer. It offers most of the facility which is unique in hotel industry. b) It is famous for designing urban facilities in its service and provide very social atmosphere. Technical aspects aspect which is different than other has been used by it. c) Another important characteristic is that it used different name than basic hotel amenities. For instance, in general way term splash is used for swimming pool but staff of aloft use Aloha for the same lingo. About Aloft Hotel Guest rooms Guest rooms are very furnished in a very contemporary style. Height unique colors and geometries included into the decor. Room consists two beds along a padded wall, and in front of the bed, there are two windows. LCD television had hung between them. Rooms are also incorporated with technological aspects apart from the TV. It provides a "Jack Pack" station for charging phones, laptops, or other kind of devices which customer may have with him. Design of Bathrooms is unique with a contemporary sink and a "spa-style" shower. Most common facilities which have been offered by modern hotel also offered by Aloft to their customer like internet access, linens, towels, and bathroom amenities. For dancing and enjoy they have remix Lounge where customer can enjoy.
Task 1
A. Discuss the impact of good facilities management on the operations of Aloft Hotel Facility management It is an interdisciplinary area which is devoted to the co-ordination of all business activity services in proper manner. Generally it is used a maintenance function in buildings but In reality it consist all kinds of business supporting activity like the care of offices, hotels. Integration activities to perform the organization work properly come under Facility management. It facilitate co-ordination among the core activity of the organization to achieve organization goal.(Pitt & Tucker, "Performance Measurement in FM", Property Management Vol. 26 No. 4, 2008 pp. 241-254). FM is the set of activity to integrate people, place, processes and technology to develop organizational environment in a way so that organizational goal can be achieved in proper manner the resources to develop organizational environment (International Facility Management Association).
Role of Facility manager
The control of facility management and the role of facility managers generally operated at two levels: strategic-tactical and operational. Role of the facility manager is to provide support of all the core activity. To ensure the safety and security of the organization is the main task of the facility manager. Some core tasks of the facility manager are as follows; Health and safetyHealth of the employees and customer is an essential task of the facility manager, testing of hygienic factor is also a part of the facility manager, he also responsible for occupational facility to the employees.
Fire safety- Many facility of safety have been provided in hotel, fire safety is one of them in aloft hotel, It is not usual facility, it has been used at emergency situation. To control the fire in emergency, this facility has been used. SecurityUnder the security system, CTC cameras and security guard to secure the sources of the hotel have been used. All the Exit and Entrance of the hotel having CTC cameras which record all the action and it properly maintain by the facility manager as an evidence of any miss happening. These all are the some important functions which have been performed by facility manager of Aloft hotel.
Impact of Facility management on operationWe have discussed the concept of Facility management in above paragraph, here we will discuss, how facility management affect the operation in aloft hotel. Main objective of hotel industry is to provide best services to their customer and it is impossible without facility management because it support all the core activity of hotel. All the activity of the hotel industry is interrelated to the facility management activity. Operation of the hotel industry is to provide better services in terms of food, room services, cleanness in bathroom, order delivery on time and other operations which partially depend on Facility Management. If the facility management of Aloft hotel will not perform their task proper manner, it will affect the position of the hotel in the market and sometimes can be a cause of big problem. So we can say that facility management of Aloft hotel affect all the core operation. A. Discuss your responsibilities as a facilities manager at Aloft Hotel in respect to the Following aspects: I. The overall operation of the hotel; II. The customers As we have discuss in above question the role of the facility manager. Here we will discuss in detail. As we already Role of Facilities Management: The role of facilities manager is to check that all the task is performing in a proper manner or not
and also maintenance of all the hotel activity on the whole. Facility management can be applied in all kinds of hotel whether it is small or large or even on an international level as well. Facilities manager is responsible for performing strategic planning and day-to-day operations of hotel industry. Set of the facility management role and responsibility consist: Procurement, Designing and contract management, Managing and Maintaining Buildings and lawn of the hotel, all catering and vending activity to provide proper services to the customer Cleaning Services, Health and safety and Security Services. Emergency situation also been handled by the Facility management.
FM Responsibilities: Arrangement of all important inspections, approvals and licenses and paying all associated fees and costs are the basic responsibility of the Facility management. Securing and managing resources of the organization. Managing all the activity and environment of the organization is a part of the facility manager responsibility. Administering all the policies related to the facility should be prepared maintain and reporting the records to the Director of the Aloft Hotel. All the responsibility related to the locker rooms are on the soldier of facility manager. Evaluation of the staff performance that they are giving expected services to the organization for which they are designated. And there are some other responsibilities which have to be performed facility manager.
Task 2
Write a report to the General Manager and explain in details your concerns on the following. Make your recommendations on the initiatives that you think would help the hotel to achieve a competitive edge and clearly stating the dangers and costs to the hotel if nothing is done. Base your report on the different areas of the hotel with recommendations for each. i. Health, Security and Safety ii. Energy wastage iii. Waste management
iv. Fire safety Ans.
(i) Health, Security and Safety
Aloft rooms at Aloft Bangkok - Sukhumvit 11 are equally carefree and bold. Nine-foot ceilings and extra-large windows create a bright, airy environment full of natural light. Youll face the windowsnot the wallsas you drift to sleep in our ultra-comfortable platform bed topped with plush bedding. Choose between one big, plush king bed or the flexibility of two equally plush queen beds in either our Chic or Urban Rooms.
Business or pleasure, work or play, each loft-like space keeps you connected. Your alwaysavailable in-room office includes an ergonomic workspace, plus fast + free wired and wireless High Speed Internet Access. You have your own entertainment center thanks to plug & play, our one-stop connectivity station. Its got plenty of plugs to juice up all your electronicslaptop, cell phone, MP3 player, and moreand connect them to a 42 flat-screen TV. A flip of the switch gives you high-def screening of your favorite flicks (or tomorrows presentation).
In the sleek and stylish bathroom, details are designed to stimulate your senses. Natural light illuminates the walk-in shower through a full-length frosted glass panel, which faces the guest room for a free flow of light with plenty of privacy. Every Aloft room is attuned to you: whether youre settling in or zipping out the door, youll find a host of helpful standard amenities to customize your experience.
Portable Fire Extinguisher Fire Hydrant Systems Sprinkler Systems Fire Alarm Systems Safety Equipments Hydrant Accessories
Energy Wastage- Now a day Aloft hotel is becoming a zero-waste hotel but it does not mean the removal of all by-products. It simply means, the optimal use of energy resources with full of efficiently. Renewable resources are the main focus of this hotel. As we have already said that by product cannot be completely eliminated but these by-products can be use as the raw material for other processes. The biological by-products can be used to be safely assimilated by using bacterial processes in soil or water. So it has been converted into technical "nutrients" and reuse. You can find more information on this "cradle-to cradle" approach, from one of the pioneers of zero-waste chemistry.
Que.2 In addition to the above Discuss the various statutory regulations regarding health and safety and environmental issues and the documentation required for compliance with the law in the UK The Health and Safety Documents consist wide range of efficiently drafted and simple to edit document templates to facilitate the management and control of Health & Safety issues in the Workplace. The Health and Safety Document Templates include risk assessment forms, and Health and Safety Statements and Policies
Task 3
Que.1 What are the modern information technologies are used for processing information and maintaining communication at Aloft hotel? As we know information system of any industry plays an important role to process information from one department to another. First and foremost we will discuss about the need of information technology in Hotel industry. In 2003, Hilton instituted a corporate wide common IT solution Need of IT in hotel industry. (Paul, 2003).It has been described that how IT can help in hotel industry to manage inventory and purchasing (Purchasing Systems Solutions 2004). Information technology is used for process the available information in the department, where it is required. Main advantage of information system is to use the customer data to personalize the services for the guests those are stay in the hotel. When personalization took place in Hotel, it delighted the customer and they feel special and perception of their mind has been changed towards the hotel and they come back again to visit. As we have discussed in previous task and in introduction part of the report that they use
Wi-fi facility to process their information. All data has been updated and detail can be shown anywhere. Information system is not only useful for hotel management but customer as well. Customer can booked the room and other offering by contacting them by using the means of the information system.
II. Discuss the information and communication technology systems needed at Aloft Hotel London ExCel to enable the Facilities management team to manage the building effectively?
III. Discuss how the facilities Manager in Aloft hotel plan for future developments in Information technology?
Task 4
Que1. Using examples to illustrate your answer, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of introducing quality standards at the Aloft Hotel. Advantage of quality standard in hotel industry1. Increased marketability- It increase marketability. Degree of faith of the customer increases with the quality standard. Benefits of the quality standard is not only to retain customer but also increased the profitability and sensitive ability to enter into new markets; 2. Reduced operational expenses- Improvement in efficiency reflect the saving in terms of time and money as well. It saves the cost which incur due to scrap, rework, returns, and the employee time cost which has been spent to troubleshoot the employee problem. 3. Better management control- As we know that if quality will be properly managed it will tighten the control over the employees of the hotel to increase their efficiency. 4. Improved customer service Aim of the hotel is to provide better services to delight their customer so that they can get expected satisfaction from the offering. Certification
of quality standard improves product quality or services, such efforts often bring about higher levels of customer satisfaction.
5. Attractiveness to investors- Quality standard helps to attract investor in hotel industry and
increase the competition in the market which forces the service provider to offer better services to the customer.
Disadvantage of quality standard in aloft hotel1. Heavy emphasis on documentation- Certification process requires heavy documentation or other formalities and its increases with time. Cost of certification is not affordable for small hotel.
2. Length of the process- Process of quality standard certification is very long and requires lot of time to accomplish. IF we talk about ISO 9000 registration process business man know very well about the process and it takes many months to complete. Survey has been conducted in 1996 to update Quality Systems that indicated that it took businesses an average of 15 months to move from the early stages of the process to passage of the final audit, and that processes of 18-20 months or even longer were not that uncommon.
II. What will be the procedure to analyze quality and its effectiveness in the management of Aloft Hotel facilities?
Reference
1. Kaiser, Harvey H., Ph.D., The Facilities Managers Reference, R.S. Means & Co., Inc., Construction Consultants and Publishers, Kingston, MA, 1989. Location: The University of Texas at Austin Engineering Library. ( NOTE: This is an excellent reference
pertaining to facilities management. Highly recommend checking out this book as part of research and scoping on a facilities management audit.)
2. Tompkins, James A. and White, John A., Facilities Planning, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1984. Location: The University of Texas at Austin Engineering Library.
3. Rondeau, E., Brown, R., and Lapides, P., Facility Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1995. Location: University of Texas at Austin Perry Castenada Library (main library). (Texas) General Services Commission, State Leased Property, Commission Rules, Section 115.31-.40. Rules for leasing state property. Location: Methodology resource files. 4. Cuneo, E., C. (2003, May 26) Hiltons $50 Million Answer. Retrieved February 6, 2007, from http://www.informationweek.com. 5. Customer Relationship Management Solutions. (2005, March 16). Retrieved February 6, 2007, from http://www.microsoft.com/industry/hospitality/solutions/crm.mspx. 6. Gose, J. (2006, July 17). Pleasing Guests, Cutting Costs. National Real Estate Investor. Retrieved February 6, 2007. 7. Hilton, C. (1994). Be My Guest (1st ed.). New York: Fireside A Division of Simon & Schuster Hilton, Conrad. (2007). Encyclopdia Britannica.. Retrieved February 10, 2007, from Encyclopdia Britannica Online Library Edition:
http://library.eb.com/eb/article- 9040487.
