A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the Gearing Up Maintenance Malaysia Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference was established and very well managed by the team at CWorks. This was a great event and I highly recommend it to anyone in the region (look out for the 2011 event!).
The speakers were a really good blend of experts covering the requirements for world class maintenance in a logic sequence. The program started at the strategic level, worked its way through operational concerns, and then through to some technical specifics. As you can imagine, being a spare parts guy I was on about half way through.
One thing that I found interesting was that a couple of the speakers focused on Facility Management. This is a discipline of engineering devoted to the care of commercial buildings and infrastructure. To be honest I hadn't previously thought much about Facility Management as I see myself as an operations and maintenance guy that provides guidance on spare parts. However, as I listened to the speaker I began to realize that some of my clients who manage water infrastructure, railroad infrastructure, power stations and distribution, and even in manufacturing have actually been engaged in Facility Management - its just that they, and I, hadn't realized it. I guess that it all comes down to how you see yourself and the business that you are in!
