Concerns
When Brett Hewitt, assistant director of facility systems, joined Wake Forest, the facilities team was using an expensive software solution to track and manage maintenance tasks. “We moved over to MaintenanceDirect to try and save money,” Hewitt says. “After we implemented MaintenanceDirect, we found that there were some gaps that we needed to address. We needed some better reporting and we wanted to be able to track the assets a little bit deeper. We really wanted something that was more asset-centric.”
Our approach
Brightly — which was later acquired by Siemens — was ready to roll out Asset Essentials, its next-generation work order and asset management platform designed for smarter, more efficient maintenance and operations. The platform sounded like what Wake Forest was looking for, and the facilities team implemented Asset Essentials in 2019.
Working with Brightly (now a part of Siemens) has been a positive experience for Hewitt and his team. “We are a very high-touch client, and I reach out to support all the time,” Hewitt says. “We have meetings with our client success manager on a biweekly basis. And the support that we get, being a high-touch client, being high demand, is exceptional. I have great relationships with all the support techs that I talk to and with our client success manager as well.”
The results
In addition to the client support, Wake Forest has experienced a number of benefits from using Asset Essentials.
Data accessibility. “The strength of Asset Essentials, for us, is being able to pull out the data and report up through our VP and president and basically just answer any questions that come up,” Hewitt says. For example, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the facilities division got lots of questions about air quality and airflow on campus. They needed to find out quickly what filters were in each building, and Asset Essentials made it easy to find the information fast and quickly update to higher-quality air filters in the areas where they were needed.
Improved efficiency. All the information and work orders in Asset Essentials is available via mobile app, which means workers always have access to the information they need to get their jobs done. “All of our technicians use mobile technology, they all either have iPads provided or use their phones,” Hewitt says. “So that allows them to see what parts are on hand when they’re out in the field and look up information without having to travel back to the office to get parts or to look at OEM manuals and things like that. Without Asset Essentials, I’m not sure how our technicians would be able to do their job at all.”
Tracking costs and usage. Facilities leaders often have a need to keep track of usage and costs for each asset, and Asset Essentials makes that not only possible but completely automated. “Sustainability is huge at Wake Forest, it’s a big concern for the students, and we’re tracking energy usage,” Hewitt says. “Also, we have an offsite warehouse, which we use to reuse office furniture and equipment, and we track the pickup and delivery of those through Asset Essentials. Our sustainability manager also uses the software to track the work orders that are asked of her area as well.”