Facilities Management Middle East
CLEAN TECH
How Farnek uses tech for maintenance in aviation
UAE-based smart and green facilities management (FM) company Farnek has been implementing technology in various sectors that the company caters to. Talking particularly about maintenance and the role of tech in the aviation sector, Javeria Aijaz, managing director, HITEK – the newly formed smart FM technology solutions company, says: “FM plays a major role in maintaining aviation facilities, for both hard and soft services. CMMS/CAFM are the default technologies that support FM to activate the strategy of effective asset management, manpower planning and inventory management. But the recent advancements in technology has supplemented traditional FM support, to deal with the critical challenges. Monitoring and analysing data to identify trends is most important. Through Internet of Things (IoT), measuring energy, flow, temperature, humidity, and especially footfall, across various locations and assets provide invaluable knowledge that supports cost-effective and efficient FM schedules for both manpower and asset management.”
Farnek has successfully activated its Smart Watch technology to enable the communication and tracking of the ground staff to support its efficient services delivery, particularly when carrying out trolley management responsibilities.
Farnek manages Dubai Airports’ cleaning and passenger baggage trolley services, and as well the cleaning of Dubai Cargo Village – an entity affiliated to the airport. An airport comprises international passengers, visitors,
stakeholders, and senior executives in a visiting area and it requires a level of cleaning which is appealing. The approach should be proactive, as spillage, littering, overflowing garbage bins have to be taken care of immediately. Additionally, extremely busy washrooms require to be maintained “on the go” while people continuously use them. Certain jobs require high involvement with a competent HSE management team, and their approvals, the machinery utilised, consumables provided, the cleaning staff works knowledge and the grooming standard all reflect on the organisation carrying out the task, Julian Khalil, senior director of soft services and security, Farnek states.
Some of the tasks carried out by Farnek in terms of cleaning also include sanitising and disinfection (more critical these days) of common areas, washrooms, offices, glass cleaning, and high-level ledge cleaning.
Baggage Trolley is the other set of services Farnek manages and it is to make sure there is never any trolley shortage. Maintaining the trolleys clean and sanitised is a critical requirement. Moving trolleys between heavy passenger and mobile vehicles to reach its Stations is gained through experience and one of the roles Farnek claims to fulfill well.
Kelvin Vargheese, senior director of TFM, Farnek, says: “Delivering quality services and offering a seamless experience, which enhances our business capabilities, through our connected workforce, has always been our top priority and this is one of the main reasons why Farnek has successfully secured FM contracts within the aviation sector and remains one of the most progressive service providers in the Middle East region.”
On the current innovative trends in maintenance operations in the aviation industry, Aijaz says: “Industry experts and professionals are showing significantly more interest in IoT rather than the more traditional Building Management Systems (BMS), aggressively evaluating the ROI and productivity that can be achieved not only through manpower logistics which on its own is considerable, but also for the asset and the wider facility management. There are also major operational benefits in understanding the health status of assets spread right across a large and critical aviation facility, such as an international airport; indeed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-based platforms can predict and prescribe what maintenance activities will be required, along with the necessary manpower and materials, which are music to the ears of operational and financial planners.”
Aijaz concludes: “Whether aviation related or not, every part of an operation has its own specific requirements. If we look at cafes, restaurants and bars, millions of international passengers, pass through the UAE’s airports every year with exceptionally high expectations for food quality, service and the overall experience. Therefore, each system including HVAC, plumbing, security, cleaning and HSE must be operating optimally. Another important factor for airports is manpower – that is essential to its technical operations. In such a time-sensitive and demanding FM environment, clear, concise and immediate communication is absolutely key. Also, efficient management is essential on how staff are mobilised or how assets are monitored. That is especially true in dynamic aviation facilities which can experience random unplanned events which if you do not communicate effectively, FM service delivery will suffer.”
Some of Farnek’s other offerings in airport maintenance and cleaning include and are not limited to: the implementation of Smart Washrooms wherein the physical verification of the premises, the time required to do this and the manpower required can be drastically cut, notifications can be received anywhere in one’s smart devices in terms of frequency of cleaning, replenishing of consumables, the footfall of various locations, odour, and temperature; incorporating CAFM which is in line with the Dubai government’s and Dubai Airport’s mandatory requirement of achieving paperless facility; using cleaning equipment that work on robotic technology which carry out tasks with predesigned data specifying the cleaning requirement of a location once set; among several other offerings.