With the click of a few buttons, staff members sent 3 175 facilities-related requests to the Facilities department in February 2021.
They did this using the new electronic Integrated Workplace Management System called Planon, after the first of three phases was implemented on 1 February.
Most of the requests logged were about building maintenance, followed by electrical equipment; plumbing problems were the third-most reported issue.
Another benefit – besides only taking a clickety-click of the fingers to log these requests – is that staff could, for the first time, track and see all their facilities-related problems through to finality.
In addition, the system is supported by a Facilities Service Desk which is still in its infancy.
Requests you can log
Service requests that staff can log on the system during the first phase include requests about maintenance of buildings, landscaped areas and roads on our campuses, as well as requests about electrical and mechanical equipment, pest control services and fleet vehicles.
Future service requests currently being planned for phase 2 are infrastructure and space requests, reservation of spaces, office move requests and move planning.
As more and more staff members and external stakeholders will start using the workplace management system, plans are under way to ensure that everybody knows how this system will make their work life easier as it unfolds in the coming months.
Click on each block to read more.
Find answers to your questions
Some of the questions that may occur to you are answered below:
Where do I access the integrated workplace management system?
Click on “Requests for maintenance and facility services” button on the Facilities web page and follow the instructions from there.
What do I do if I have any trouble accessing or navigating the system?
The new number of the facilities call centre which will be active as from the first week of April is X285 3100.
You can also click on the “Contact service desk” button on the Facilities webpage. This will take you to a page where you will find the contact details of the staff on the various campuses who will log a request on your behalf.
Another option is to email the Facilities Service Desk on your campus, who will log a request on your behalf. Here are the addresses: Facilities-MC@nwu.ac.za, Facilities-PC@nwu.ac.za and Facilities-VC@nwu.ac.za.
If you are still unsure what our workplace management system, Planon, entails, you can watch these short tutorial videos for guidance.
WHAT IS AN IWMS?
WHO IS INVOLVED?
HOW DOES IT WORK?
WHAT IS AN IWMS?
The Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) is a facilities management system which provides a platform to:
Report a fault
Route a fault
Resolve the fault
Monitor and provide feedback
WHO IS INVOLVED?
The following role players are involved:
(Click on each circle to find out.)
1
2
3
Help Desk
A fault can be logged either through the Help Desk representative or a self-service tool available on mobile and computer channels.
Self-service
requestor
Team lead
The team lead supervises the fault request and assigns it to a technician to resolve.
Maintenance
Back office
employee
The back office employee keeps all system data up to date while the maintenance manager oversees daily operations and extracts reports to identify possible concerns.
Maintenance manager
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The IWMS is a process-driven system which can be summarised as follows:
Request created
Work order assigned
Work in progress
Work completed
Admin completed