Commoditisation vs Service Solution – which is the future of FM?
The question mark symbolises the FM industry all too well. There has always been plenty of confusion about what FM actually is and what it does – and worse still – what the benefits really are. Many outside the industry (and even some within) stll don’t understand it fully. If you are an in-house FM, this could include your directors; if you are a service provider, it could be your clients or potential clients. What is FM and how should it be delivered? There are so many service models out there to choose from. Irrespective of the delivery model – from single-service, through bundled and integrated to TFM – recession has driven customers to focus on cost as never before. Margins, already slim, have been pared away still further. The result is frequently a bare-bones service with little management value-add. The industry is moving rapidly down the path to commoditisation where services are bought largely ‘off the shelf’ on the basis of cost. Is this the best strategy for customers? Does
