To the uninitiated, an indoor high school track meet can seem like a study in chaos. Some athletes are standing on the track, apparently waiting for a race to start. But the race has started — they’re the next leg of the relay. In the middle of the floor, small groups of young men and women are skipping like children, swinging their arms and raising their knees as high as they can. As it turns out, these are distance runners warming up. The long jump event seems to go on and on, but that’s because it’s hard to distinguish practice jumps from the real competition. From time to time, hurdles get dragged on and off the track, sometimes by the coaches.
Anyone involved in facility management will know the feeling of trying to keep track of more things than seem humanly possible. A facility executive may step out of a budget meeting, planning to check on the status of a roof replacement project, and be interrupted by word that it’s too hot in the executive suite. Back at the desk, e-mail may bring word that the department’s quarterly newsletter is ready to be sent out, and also that there’s a problem with a contract service provider.
Complicating these challenges is the need for the facility executive to find a way to address every problem that arises in a building filled with complex systems and system interactions. Facility executives need to know where to look for information, whether that is a supplier’s Web site or prospective outsourcing providers’ phone numbers.
That’s where this Annual Product and Service Guide can help. It’s a convenient way to track down industry players for any project that arises, from a minor roof leak to a major construction initiative. We hope it saves you some time. With all the running around you already have to do, you deserve it.
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