Demand for Covid-ready workspace on the rise

The facility management (FM) industry in India, as per pre-Covid data, stood at `1.25 lakh crore, but much has changed during Covid, both in terms of qualitative and quantitative parameters. FM firms are certainly under stress and this will impact their existence as well, says Deepak Shanbhag, CEO, PSIPL, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz

How has the facility management industry evolved in the post-Covid era?

We had embarked on the journey of amalgamation of technology with facility management for long and the recent pandemic just added more impetus to it. We intend to become the tech and innovation aggregator and leverage our strong footprint on the ground to deploy them on a real-time basis. IoT-based water/energy/waste management solutions have helped us gain the right place in the eyes and minds of our existing and prospective clients. Our energy optimizing solutions have imparted proven savings of over 40 per cent to our clients on the HVAC side. Similarly, the water solutions have ensured savings of over 30 per cent on an annual basis in last 12 months for few of the residential clients. Few things have changed forever post this Pandemic and PSIPL is well poised to lead this transition from a manpower intensive industry to technology driven FM. As an outcome of the pandemic, 2020 has been the year of healthcare crisis which paved way to improvise the wellness quotient of the real estate assets. For this, the facility management workforce became the frontline warriors ensuing to maintain sanity of the workplace.

Hospitals became the first line of service during the advent of the pandemic: Even though the pandemic was in fury and economic operations had halted owing to the lockdown, the hospitals continued to provide medical services to the Covid patients in the country. In order to maintain the operability of the hospitals, the facility management workforce continued to perform the following task.

Warehouses, small office workspaces/branches, Manufacturing lines saw pent up demand during the various phases of unlocking. With the unlocking of the economy, small office workspaces, branches for a multilocation essential service and manufacturing assembly lines became the prime service renderers of the facilities management services. The task bestowed upon the facility managers were to ensure Covid-preparedness, train the workforce to follow protocols, create sanitization schedules in the space to make it conducive to initiate operations.

How would you draw parallel in FM industry abroad vis-s-vis in India?

The Indian FM space shall continue to be derivative of manpower as long as the wages do not cross a min threshold. However, large economic activity will surely see an increase in outsourcing needs. With reforms in wage codes and related aspects the industry will go through phases of impacts. However, the Indian FM industry like any other industry will have specific India flavour and less of commonality with global practices. Technology shall nevertheless be the common denominator with implementation disparity based on regions and segments of business.

In the age of WFH how is the industry changing its tactics?

Our focus on residential segment shall be even more sharp. WFH will mainly impact the corporate occupancy in Metro cities while in tier-1 and tier-2 cities, the requirement for FM services may continue to swell. Dispersed location business shall continue to see lot of traction which will drive the business further. Rather than WFH we see it as WF anywhere. Our ability to adapt and aggregate solution for these changing dynamics shall be the key to our tactics.

Will we witness consolidation in the FM industry?

The FM industry in India as per pre-Covid data stood at Rs1.25 lakh crore, but much has changed during Covid both in terms of qualitative and quantitative parameters. FM firms are certainly under stress and this will impact their existence as well. As a clear outcome the industry bottom line may no longer be driven by the count of manpower but more so by the service delivery which shall become quantifiable and objective based due to the massive advent of technology. Industry consolidation in one way or the other may start from H1 of FY'22 and shall pick steam as Covid subsides.

What kind of technological advancement are we witnessing at PSIPL?

Evolution in technology makes the human element even more critical which ensures these solutions are deployed and leveraged effectively. Upskilling and re-killing will become the order of the day and PSIPL is mindful of the same. This will require an agile dispensation mechanism of information and training material for our large site workforce. PSIPL has been effectively maintaining a 20:1 training ratio across India to ensure the training needs are met effectively. Our app-based tool (FM Matrix) and the unique concept of WPCs help us to meet this challenge. FM Matrix is a cloud-based robust and comprehensive app-based tool that becomes the bedrock of our service delivery including checklist management, attendance modules, asset management and R&M module.

PSIPL has completed 20 years of existence. Could you share some insight on the journey of the business?

From an idea to manage captive business PSIPL went on become one of the most formidable name in the indigenous FM space. The captive business today stands less than five per cent and its expanse of business stretches across all states in India with over 12,000 employees on its rolls and Rs300-crore revenues. PSIPL today caters to varied segments of business with an unmatched solution for BFSI, Retail, Manufacturing and IT sectors.

What kind of technological advancement achieved at PSIPL?

Evolution in technology makes the human element even more critical which ensures these solutions are deployed and leveraged effectively. Upskilling and re-killing will become the order of the day and PSIPL is mindful of the same. This will require an agile dispensation mechanism of information and training material for our large site workforce. PSIPL has been effectively maintaining a 20:1 training ratio across India to ensure the training needs are met effectively. Our app-based tool (FM Matrix) & the unique concept of WPCs help us to meet this challenge. FM Matrix is a cloud-based robust and comprehensive app-based tool that becomes the bedrock of our service delivery including checklist management, attendance modules, asset management and R&M module.

What the business expansion plans for PSIPL?

PSIPL envisions to be the first choice in delivering integrated solutions and experiences. With this in mind, a multi-fold strategic planning exercise has been undertaken by us. This strategy stretches from augmenting the internal delivery structure to aggregate the most innovative technical solutions. With strong brands in our portfolio, increasing our business volumes with our existing clients becomes a natural progression to grow with these brands.