73% of facility managers in the UK spend most of their time reacting, rather than planning. Can digital reality change that?
Sherlock Holmes once said: “You see, but you do not observe.” His character’s genius lay not in predicting the future but in noticing details others overlook and drawing conclusions grounded in fact.
Successfully managing facilities requires a similar level of skill. Facility managers must make critical decisions about safety, compliance, and operational continuity, while maintaining the long-term value of the assets in their charge.
The stakes are real
Unlike ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’, these stakes are real. A recent independent UK study showed that “73% of teams resort to reactive problem-solving on a weekly basis, with a lack of real-time insights.”
A level of reactiveness and the ability to work under pressure are key parts of the role but emphasising them leads to budget issues, time away from high-value tasks such as preventive maintenance and strategic planning.
This is why adopting modern work methods, such as the use of digital reality, is important. It does not replace professional judgment. Rather, it provides a shared, accurate and actionable understanding of the environment. This approach changes reactive decision-making into proactive foresight, enabling teams to act confidently before problems escalate.
What is digital reality?
The term “digital reality” is used in various contexts. Some people associate it with virtual reality, which involves fully immersive simulations where imagined spaces replace real ones.
Others may think of it as augmented reality, which consists of information overlays on the physical world. While these interpretations have their merits, true digital reality, at its simplest, is about capturing what exists in the real world and making it comprehensible in the digital realm.
By bringing reality into the digital realm, facilities teams gain a clearer perspective. This process effectively transforms the complexities of the real world into actionable insights.
To support this, it’s crucial to use data capture tools that deliver genuine value. These tools can collect and harmonise data from various sources within a unified ecosystem, ensuring everyone is aligned on the same foundational truths.
Working in an ecosystem
Capturing this reality starts with high-quality data collection, with each device in the FARO INSIGHT ecosystem specifically designed for that purpose in various ways.
The Focus Premium terrestrial laser scanner delivers accurate data for a reliable base model of buildings, ensuring planning is grounded in reality.
Orbis Premium enables quick data capture, ideal for tracking changes without disrupting operations.
Blink offers high-resolution imagery with a precise point cloud for clarity and measurement in critical decisions.
After data is captured, it is transferred directly into FARO Sphere XG through the Stream app for automatic processing and integration into a single source of truth. At this stage, features such as asset tagging, change monitoring and floorplan creation can be used.
Furthermore, FARO INSIGHT provides offline solutions through its SCENE software for users who prefer to keep their data offline.
The benefits of this ecosystem include transparency and data continuity. Digital reality is not just a record of what exists, but a bridge from observation to insight, and insight to action. With much less friction.
The benefits of foresight
Facilities management involves taking responsibility for the teams that oversee buildings essential to community functioning, including offices, schools, energy facilities, and utilities. Those responsible for these spaces understand that every decision they make carries consequences for safety, compliance, and the services they provide to the public. Utilising digital technology offers the insight needed to fulfil these responsibilities with confidence.
It doesn’t make the buildings easier to understand but offers an extended level of accountability. By regularly capturing the environment as it truly exists, you have a reliable reference point for every decision, whether that’s inspections, compliance reporting or operational planning. It also creates a digital paper trail, which is a requirement under the Building Safety Act to ensure that information governance is measurable for compliance.
Letting the brain work on sufficient evidence
The brilliance of Holmes lay in observing the present more clearly than anyone else, not predicting the future. Facility teams do not need to be detectives, but they do need the same kind of insight. Knowledge grounded in reality, not assumption. Digital reality provides that sight, beyond sight, giving teams the clarity to act decisively and the confidence that their decisions are rooted in fact.
For facility management teams, the current approach may often be reactive problemsolving, but we are not limited to just one way of working. Anticipating issues is always more effective than addressing them after they occur. Therefore, the next time someone asks, “can modern technology truly improve your workflows?” consider responding with your own Sherlock Holmes quote: “To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine.” It rips itself apart.
With FARO INSIGHT’s digital reality solutions, you can clearly visualise buildings, make confident decisions, and rely on trustworthy insights. When your decisions are based on reality, anticipating the future becomes second nature and unexpected surprises become a thing of the past.
Insight You Can Build On.
*Please note that this is a commercial profile.
The post Smarter facility management with digital reality appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
