Freely translated from an article published on IFMA Italia website.
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(English Version)
This is a personal translation of the article published by the webpage of IFMA Italia
http://www.ifma.it/index.php, all credits go to the author.
THE OFFER:
The Facility Management market in Italy can essentially be traced back to three types of operators:
Single and multi-service suppliers:
the most widespread category in our economic panorama; they have matured over time an expertise in the provision of the service, of which they provide exclusively the operational part, developing a relationship with the customer based on individual performance. These realities have their specificity both in the provision of services with a high labour content, such as cleaning, and in those linked to a high technological content, such as maintenance. Most performance suppliers operate locally for small companies, while others have become privileged interlocutors of larger operators (thus acquiring the role of sub-supplier). In addition, there are processes of growth, mergers and acquisitions, applied by single service companies in order to grow in size and increase their economic weight to compete in the market in a renewed perspective.
Specific service providers:
can be defined as specialists in the management of a given service. Their offer is characterized by a strong vertical integration, i.e. they are able to respond to the customer’s needs from the development of the service to the delivery up to the control through the consequent reporting. They are characterized by being highly competitive companies in a specific activity for which they have developed a strong management, technological and operational skills, able to guarantee the customer a complete service. These companies have their strength in their ability, not only to provide the service, but to manage it “in its entirety”, exploiting internal synergies and qualified resources. This category of suppliers can be identified for specific services provided: space design and management, document management, car fleet management, corporate travel management.
Facility Management Company (also called Global Outsourcer or Facility Company):
economic entities able to position themselves on the market as managers of several services and to establish a real partnership with the customer, oriented to guarantee the result and to fully share the objectives. Their characteristic note is that they are able to respond effectively to the customer’s needs. They are lean, dynamic companies that, through the competence and professionalism of their resources, offer their clients managerial skills, taking care of the purchase, delivery and control of the service, respecting quality standards established in advance. These realities have as interlocutors medium and large companies, have a high spending capacity, and are equipped with the most advanced technologies and advanced information management systems.
THE DEMAND
In years of assiduous work alongside Facility Managers and in comparison with those operating on the FM market, IFMA Italia has observed and mapped the main organizational models within the companies in which a Facility Manager is located. This made it possible to classify the different realities in three macro cases described below.
CASE A
There is neither a single facility manager nor a Facility Department that is independent of other corporate functions. The management of services is divided between different structures (e.g. treasury, administration, human resources, general services, etc.). These are mainly old-fashioned Italian companies and public companies that have not yet taken on board the advantages of integrated service management under a single “hat” or that have yet to change their internal organisation.
CASE B
There is a figure responsible for services (which for simplicity we call Facility Manager, although we will see that his role does not always coincide with that outlined in the previous chapter as “Head of Facility Department”) at the head of a Facility Department. The services are managed internally and provided by external and/or internal staff. We find this structure mainly in large Italian companies that have gradually integrated the responsibilities originally divided.
CASE C
There is a Facility Manager at the head of a Facility Department consisting of external resources (the Middle Management employed within the Facility Department is employed by an FM Company). This organization is present above all in multinationals that have replicated the structure adopted by the parent company in Italy for several years.
(All credit for contents to IFMA Italia).
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