Why is FM necessary?

The majority of Japanese corporations and organizations are faced with the necessity of innovating and reforming their business approaches. The first thing they attempt is the ‘restructuring’ of their operations by reducing the number of employees, because the personnel expenses are the largest among all the business expenses, and they are the ‘fixed’ expenses that incur regardless of the economic conditions. However,

  1. Almost no corporations and organizations pay sufficient attentions to the facility-related expenses, despite the fact that they are the second-largest ‘fixed’ expenses, and the real property costs in Japan are among highest in the world. Consequently, they are significantly falling behind in their steps needed to deal with this major issue.
  2. Many of the facilities built during the ‘Real Estate Property Bubble’ period are significantly under-utilized, despite the fact that they continue to incur a large amount of costs to their owners.
  3. Even the heavily facility-dependent corporations and organizations such as hospitals, schools, and government agencies run their facilities in irrational, uneconomic, and inadequate manners. Consequently, they are burdened with these under-managed facilities, and their management efficiencies are significantly reduced.
  4. Many facilities need improvements in the areas of energy efficiency and environmental preservation, but no significant steps are taken.

These facts clearly indicate that FM is one of the most necessary and vital business approaches for the Japanese businesses that should be implemented ‘today’.