What is PPM? 

Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) is regular and routinely performed maintenance on physical assets, to reduce the chances of potentially serious and expensive equipment failure and unplanned equipment downtime. 

It is to manage and extend the lifecycle of equipment, but is also a compliance requirement to satisfy statutory and legal obligations. The work should be scheduled in advance and can range from weekly to annually, depending on equipment and risk.

Failure to deliver compliance can result in service delivery failures, which whilst not as severe as legal failures, it can impact on the operation of your facilities, your core business and cause reputational damage.

Why is preventive maintenance important?

It is important because it keeps equipment and assets running efficiently, and it maintains a high safety level, which helps to avoid large and costly repairs, as well as service downtime. 

A properly functioning preventive maintenance program ensures operational disruptions are kept to a minimum.

Specific examples of preventive maintenance include regular inspections of your heating, ventilation or air conditioning systems (HVAC) ensuring they are properly cleaned and repaired and that your water hygiene and electrical systems are also functioning within safety and compliance levels.

How can Facilities Management help?

We can provide the relevant PPM services through our experienced contractors that will deliver a professional planned maintenance function across your school portfolio.

Here are just a few examples of PPM services available to you through Facilities Management:

• Boiler servicing
• Lift servicing & repairs 
• Electrical Fixed Wire Testing
• Mansafe systems
• Legionella Risk Assessments
• Water Hygiene inspections
• Flushing of infrequent used Water
• Water Temp. monitoring
• Fire Detection & alarm servicing 
• Fire Extinguisher servicing 
• PAT Testing services
• Commercial Kitchen equipment servicing
• Air Con Servicing

Facilities Management (FM) are now offering our services for your Planned Maintenance 2022/2023 Compliance requirements.  To order and buy into this service, you can order or request a quote, before the end of March 2022, via the Smart School services portal.

If your school chooses not to use the Council FM service, you are still required to upload your certification documents to the councils Concerto CAFM system.

There has never been a time in recent memory where so many critical decisions around school operations have had to be made with such short notice. 

Now is the time to take stock and breathe. But it is also the time to evaluate and embrace new, smarter ways of doing things.

That begins with designing intelligent operations that seamlessly handle systems, management and contracts – creating genuine partnerships between schools and outstanding suppliers, while freeing school leaders to spend more time focusing on school life.

Smarter Buying

In procuring a wide range of goods and services in often complex marketplaces, schools can face higher costs than they need to, spending money which could be better spent on providing high quality teaching and achieving better educational outcomes for their pupils. We need to help schools overcome these procurement challenges. 

The rising costs of materials, resource shortages and driver shortfalls hindering the supply chain are just some of the macro issues presently affecting non-staff expenditure. Schools do not typically have specialist procurement skills available in-house. This can make efficiency savings to help manage these ongoing financial pressures, while continuing to improve standards for their pupils, difficult for schools. 

In the future, we need to think differently about the way we approach procurement. Supporting schools to look locally, developing a sharing economy across school network or creating strong relationships directly with suppliers can realise tangible cost savings. From catering services to site cleaning, schools need to re-evalute the way in which they contract suppliers to ensure they are getting the smartest value for money. 

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There has never been a time in recent memory where so many critical decisions around school operations have had to be made with such short notice. 

Now is the time to take stock and breathe. But it is also the time to evaluate and embrace new, smarter ways of doing things.

That begins with designing intelligent operations that seamlessly handle systems, management and contracts – creating genuine partnerships between schools and outstanding suppliers, while freeing school leaders to spend more time focusing on school life.

A Head for Business 

How do you manage a school through a pandemic? The extra burden of responsibility and risk that comes with Covid: making decisions about safety; bereavements; weekly new school policy announcements from the government; e-learning; providing support, reassurance and answers to staff, students and parents. Now add to that, the usual tasks associated with running a school. 

Headteachers have been under an enormous amount of pressure. Reacting to an acute problem has meant that portions of their structured planning and spend have had to be reassigned to ‘fight fires’. In some instances, this has led to a budget deficit with the unpleasant choices and cuts that inevitably come with it. 

The need for business model innovation is increasingly evident as expenditure comes under increased pressure. Effectively addressing the financial management needed to meet the needs of facilities, payroll, health and safety and emergency planning is key to each school’s future financial health. There is a growing recognition that education is not just a public service, it’s a business. If we get it right, schools can alleviate pressure on key staff while still providing the best possible education. And that makes sound business sense.

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There has never been a time in recent memory where so many critical decisions around school operations have had to be made with such short notice. 

Now is the time to take stock and breathe. But it is also the time to evaluate and embrace new, smarter ways of doing things.

That begins with designing intelligent operations that seamlessly handle systems, management and contracts – creating genuine partnerships between schools and outstanding suppliers, while freeing school leaders to spend more time focusing on school life.

Digital Acceleration

The pandemic accelerated digital transformation across the education sector. Enforced remote learning had a profound impact on pupils, teachers and schools, with the significant increase of e-learning, with teaching undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. 

While there is certainly no substitute for a great teacher, technology can be an effective tool to help reduce workload, increase efficiencies, engage students and communities, and provide tools to support excellent teaching and raise student attainment. 

As we strive to realise a tech-enabled future where the learning experience is enhanced for all, there are key issues that need to be addressed. A technology action plan needs to be put in place – ensuring teaching staff are given the correct support and training, the systems built are secure from attack, cost-effective cloud resources are implemented effectively and the best-in-class hardware and software is procured. 

Technology gives us the opportunity to reshape the way we teach, monitor, budget and assess all of our activities. But it is crucial that the actions we implement are far-reaching, sustainable and safe.

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