Facilities The key to managing Facilities is flexibility according to John Doe Director of Operations for Company X Stepper. This flexibility begins with the buildings themselves, from their lease terms and location, to their size and maintenance. Company X has a specific approach to leasing real estate worldwide: having all their leases expire at different times in particular 3 year gaps between leases. Doing this gives them choices when one lease expires, not forcing them to make difficult decisions without proper analysis. As Company X moves toward a JIT system, it keeps its warehouse space to a minimum, however, special attention is paid toward the glass lenses used in its product.
Company X being located in the Silicon Valley was not coincidence, this location was chosen for two main reasons: Customers and Labor. Many companies that require products manufactured by Company X are located in Silicon Valley, as well as the highly skilled workers in the clean rooms required to manufacture such products.
English: Apple's headquarters at Infinite Loop in ...
The headquarters of eBay in San Jose, California. ...
English: Clean room of a semiconductor manufacturi...One of the most important skills required by employees is their ability to troubleshoot problems as they occur and correct them. These skilled workers spend their time in a climate controlled clean room environment. According to Doe, Company X has approximately 20,000 feet of Class 100 Clean Room space (Class 1 being the highest.) Through controls and discipline, he estimates that the Company X clean rooms are equivalent to Class 5. Doe also noted that Company X is one of the few Stepper manufacturers that utilize clean rooms in the production process.
Maintenance of the buildings is a major task for Facilities and constitutes 20-30% of the $18 Million Facilities budget (which is the largest allocated department budget at Company X.) A full-time maintenance staff is not used; rather all maintenance issues such as HVAC, electrical, vacuum...