Driving effective FM at Wodonga TAFE

This article was first published in Facility Perspectives Volume 4, Number 2, June-August 2010

Accurate and effective facilities management is of key importance to Wodonga TAFE and the facilities team. Ensuring Wodonga TAFE remains at the forefront of the facilities world is Damien Crawley, Manager of Shared Services. Damien is currently seeing a ‘Green’ transformation across the TAFE. Water saving strategies, solar panels and a lighting retrofit will see the TAFE save thousands of dollars in costs and emissions.  To utilise the massive roof space, water tanks have been set up across the TAFE to capture water for use in toilets and gardens. Dual flush toilets and limited flush urinals have also been installed to minimize water wastage.

To manage the expanding TAFE’s list of maintenance issues Damien Crawley has overseen the introduction of a software program called WSMenterprise™ (FM-Works) by FM Innovations®. The FM-Works system provides a simple way for staff to log facility requests via the intuitive web portal on the Intranet instead of calling through to maintenance staff mobiles.  Calls to staff mobiles have reduced from over 50 to less than 5 per day; staff now receive automatic updates on their work requests without the need to make phone calls.  Entrenched systems were in place prior to implementation however once FM-Works was installed and staff started interacting with it, they quickly noticed results through streamlined operations and facility turnaround times. Damien welcomes the efficient integration of FM-Works with the TAFE’s various departments, “FM-Works will help with the silos of information we have across the institution.  We need to share information between such as Facilities, IT and Finance. We foresee FM-Works playing a massive role in integrating between departments and systems.”

Wodonga TAFE will also be able to track the effects of all the sustainability measures through WSMenterprise™ Sustainability Management. Damien said, “With this module we will be able to track the effects of all the sustainability measures we are implementing across the TAFE. We will now be able to show senior management solid data and graphs to back our philosophy.” Wodonga TAFE understands that there is a direct correlation between a daily works maintenance management (ad hoc & planned maintenance schedules) with the day to day management of the sustainability impacts of the building.

The evolution of the system within the facilities department under Damien will see the modernizing of processes and reducing data entry through the implementation of bar-coding technology on work orders and assets.  In the future Damien sees the Facilities Department as a central hub working with other departments to create a synergy across the Institution.  Damien said “FM-Works will play a key part in opening up information across departments; there is an opportunity of significant time and costs savings for all departments, not just facilities.”

About Wodonga TAFE

Wodonga Institute of TAFE is located in the twin cities of Albury and Wodonga, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. With one of the fastest-growing economies in regional Australia, Wodonga TAFE is perfectly placed to position itself among the best regional TAFEs in Australia. Founded in 1986, Wodonga Institute has become integral to the growth and sustainability of the regional cities it serves, delivering over 2.5 million student contact hours in training every year. The Institute services local Victorian and New South Wales communities while delivering training initiatives in every mainland state and territory of Australia. Wodonga Institute was judged Australian Large Training Provider of the Year in 2008 due to its commitment to lead practice and excellence in the delivery of vocational education and training to highly diverse groups of learners who are drawn from a wide range of industry and the community.

Wodonga Institute of TAFE provides practical, hands-on training and education from Certificate I level to Advanced Diploma level in a wide range of facilities. It has specialist training facilities including the National Industrial Skills Training Centre (NISTC) which delivers a diverse range of industry-focused courses in driver training and licensing, warehouse and logistics, materials handling, forestry and timber, road transport, civil construction and building, industrial assessment and licensing and motorcycle training and licensing. NISTC also delivers training to the Australian defence forces. Motorsports Training Australia focuses on the high performance racing skills from engine design, aerodynamics and car safety. Other specialist courses include the broadcasting and hospitality courses are provided in state-of-the-art, industry-simulated training facilities.

Another initiative of Wodonga TAFE has seen the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) create a high-tech 'LIRN Space' Level 3 Incident Control Centre (ICC) within the TAFE to ensure rapid escalation of support to fire fighters and information to the community should fires occur.  The CFA / DSE ICC requirements to accommodate 40 incident management staff are easily met by the Institute's premises - with the LIRNSpace also providing high speed IT connectivity conducive to optimal and timely information flow between the fire front and community.

To find out more about FM-Works please click here or to read about its sustainability features please click here.