Speech by SMS Tan at the Gala Dinner for World Workplace Asia Pacific 2022

Jul 28, 2022

Ms Christa Dodoo, Member of Global Board of Directors, International Facility Management Association (IFMA)

Mr Frank Ngoh, President, SIFMA

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Patron, SIFMA

Partners from the Facilities Management (FM) industry

Good evening. I am very pleased to join you tonight at the gala dinner for World Workplace Asia Pacific (WWAP) 2022. WWAP has brought together thought leaders from around the world to exchange views on the future of our industry. I hope that the discussions over the last couple of days have been fruitful. I thank SIFMA for organising this year’s event.

SIFMA plays an integral role in championing the development of the FM industry in Singapore. For instance, you have introduced accreditation schemes for FM firms and professionals to raise standards. You have also started a rebranding campaign called “See Space Differently”, which aims to change public perception of the industry and attract younger people to join this sector. These efforts go a long way to building a vibrant and professional FM community.

Need for FM Transformation

As Deputy Prime Minister Heng said in his opening speech, it is an exciting time to be part of the FM community. It is a time of great challenges as well as great opportunities. Let me elaborate.

Today, we face a significant challenge in maintaining our ageing buildings. More than 50% of our buildings in Singapore will be above 30 years old by 2025. And we all know older buildings can cost more to maintain, especially if we continue to adopt manpower-intensive methods.

Our workforce in Singapore is also ageing. About 40% of our resident Professional, Managerial, Executive and Technical (PMET) workers in the Built Environment (BE) sector in Singapore are 50 years and older. We need to leverage technology and re-design jobs across the sector, including in the FM industry. This will help our older workers remain productive and continue to contribute, as well as improve the working environment to attract and retain younger workers.

Key Transformation Strategies

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has been working with firms on several strategies to transform the industry and address these challenges.

First, we are looking at how we can better design our buildings. We are working with developers and consultants to incorporate maintenance considerations, upfront during the design phase of a building project. This is what we call Design for Maintainability, or DfM. For instance, designers can utilise building materials that are more durable and suited for the local climate. This will help to reduce the maintenance workload downstream.

Second, we are encouraging the use of smart technologies for building maintenance, or what we refer to as Smart FM. Adopting Smart FM will allow firms to reap productivity savings and optimise their manpower deployment. For instance, sensors can also be installed to collect and monitor building performance data, enabling fast deployment of workers to address incidents when they occur. And firms can go even further to build data analytics into their smart building maintenance systems, to carry out predictive maintenance. By servicing equipment even before breakdowns occur, firms can reduce the resources required for repairs and deliver better services to clients and end-users. Smart FM can also make the industry more attractive to younger workers. With more firms adopting Smart FM, they are also creating new job roles such as digital FM specialists, which provide better job prospects for our workers.

Third, we are embarking on the next phase of transformation through Integrated FM (IFM) and Aggregated FM (AFM). This involves harnessing synergies from managing different FM services on an integrated platform, and aggregating FM services across buildings. IFM and AFM can yield up to 20% in productivity improvements, and significantly reduce the use of resources such as electricity and water. At same time, IFM and AFM can also create new and good jobs, such as centralised operations managers.

I have seen some of these deployments by our local firms. For instance, I saw how local service provider, Certis, put these concepts into practice at Jewel Changi Airport. By leveraging its digital Mozart platform, Certis’s officers could better coordinate its cleaning, maintenance, and customer service operations at Jewel, as manpower resources could be optimally deployed to where the needs are. In fact, Certis coordinates operations across several developments, including Changi Airport, from an integrated command centre at its headquarters.

Another example is the collaboration between Temasek Polytechnic and its FM service provider, SMM Private Limited. Temasek Polytechnic had decided to adopt an IFM and AFM contract with a longer duration of eight years across 49 buildings. A longer contract term gives SMM greater assurance in investing in Smart FM, and adapting these innovations into practice to benefit Temasek Polytechnic. By integrating and aggregating FM services across the many buildings within the Temasek Polytechnic campus, Temasek Polytechnic and SMM could benefit from the economies of scale and synergies created.

Creating a Vibrant Ecosystem of Solutions

In addition to addressing our domestic challenges, transformation can also bring about even other opportunities for our FM industry. For instance, progressive local firms that embrace IFM can explore regional opportunities. According to the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the IFM market for Southeast Asia will register a compound annual growth rate of around 6% between 2020 and 2025.

On this note, Singapore can play a role in creating a vibrant IFM and AFM ecosystem, which is tailored for the tropics. We aim to develop more use cases for IFM and AFM in Singapore through a $30 million grant, and share our learnings with the rest of the region. We will launch the grant shortly, and interested parties can approach BCA for more details.

We invite FM firms from across the region to actively collaborate with our firms and solution providers in the creation of IFM and AFM solutions. Your expertise will be useful in ensuring that future solutions would address the needs of the wider market.

Necessary Changes to Facilitate Transformation

In sum, we can overcome our challenges and capture external opportunities, if we work together and commit to transformation. We can do more with less, and grow our talent pool. We can also tap on wider opportunities to extend our growth.

But these require a concerted effort from everyone in the FM value chain. First, service buyers. Buyers will need to change their mindsets to look at savings across the entire building lifecycle, rather than focusing on near-term costs. For example, specifying Smart FM requirements may mean paying more in the near-term, especially if there is a need to retrofit existing infrastructure to support such technologies. But the eventual savings over a building’s lifetime can outweigh these upfront costs. Buyers can also adopt progressive procurement practices such as outcome-based contracting, which incentivises providers to innovate and raise service quality. More information is available in BCA’s Guide for FM Procurement, which can be accessed on the BCA website.

Second, service providers. Providers will need to look past the initial difficulties faced in transformation, and focus on how doing so will help retain and attract talents in a sustainable manner. As mentioned earlier, the adoption of technology, coupled with job redesign can create new and exciting job roles that appeal to the younger generation. You can consider off-the-shelf Smart FM solutions that can be deployed relatively easily for a start. These include solutions that could assist with the scheduling of FM tasks, fault reporting and the tracking of fault response times. And we have schemes such as the Productivity Solutions Grant, which help co-fund the adoption of such solutions. Firms can also take dressing from SIFMA’s Certified Facilities Management Company (CFMC) accreditation scheme to rework their processes and operations, and keep pace with transformation.

Third, FM professionals. Professionals will need to embrace the changes that will accompany FM transformation. In this regard, I encourage you to proactively enhance your skills and knowledge in the key transformation areas of DfM, Smart FM, as well as IFM and AFM. There are many training programmes at the BCA Academy to support you. And you can apply for SIFMA’s Certified Facilities Management Expert (CFME) accreditation scheme to demonstrate that you have the necessary competencies.

I am pleased that there are many firms here today have demonstrated significant progress in your transformation journey. For example, C&W Services found that the buildings within its portfolio required more frequent maintenance as they age. But retrofitting buildings can be costly and disruptive to building owners. Rising manpower costs also meant that increasing the number of workers is not a sustainable option. To overcome these challenges, C&W Services installed smart sensors to alert facilities managers when incidents occur. This resulted in savings for the firm, as it could reduce the manpower required for patrolling and equipment inspection. I commend C&W Services for its willingness to adopt technology and transform processes, and encourage other firms to follow its example.

Conclusion

Let me conclude. Each FM stakeholder, whether you are a buyer, provider, or professional, has a part to play in transforming the industry to be future-ready. All of us will need to work together to ensure that Singapore remains a safe, sustainable, and liveable city for decades to come.

I look forward to the continued support and contributions of the FM industry to the Built Environment sector.

Let me once again congratulate all our WWAP 2022 award winners, and SIFMA for organising this successful event.

I wish everyone an enjoyable evening ahead. Thank you.