De Alliantie

Optimisation of processes and chain integration

De Alliantie is a housing association with nearly 60,000 homes in the north of the Randstad, an area comprising the four largest Dutch cities. This makes De Alliantie one of the largest housing associations in the Netherlands. Nathalie van Kuijk is the facility manager, and speaks about how and why the organisation uses Facilitor.

Initial reason

Facilitor was initially purchased to help with e-procurement, because of the centralisation of purchasing.  De Alliantie drew up an inventory of e-procurement requirements, which formed the guideline for further optimising and professionalising of facilities and other procurement. Van Kuijk: ‘Employees can now place orders in our e-stores, which are linked to suppliers, from the comfort of their desks.’

Van Kuijk: ‘The key reason for working with an CAFM/IWMS is that we’re available 24/7 for our internal customers, which improves the quality of our services. Everything, so ordering, booking, and reporting, is handled through a single channel. Clear management reports are also important to us; we can steer events and make adjustments in good time, and draw up reports afterwards.’

In early 2015, a decision was taken to implement Facilitor broadly as an CAFM (Computer Aided Facility Management), with features such as alerts and reservations. This allows the users (staff) to arrange and oversee all their facility matters in a single system, and means processes can be further optimised. Moreover, this will result in more and more management information becoming available.

Van Kuijk: ‘The main argument for choosing Facilitor is that it offers CAFM/IWMS solutions for mobile applications, in addition to which the system is very easy to use for both end users and administrators.’

Working method

Nearly 700 members of staff at De Alliantie use Facilitor, including 10 key users.  Users can place their orders via an internet portal (self-service). The Analyzer Module offers additional options for reporting KPIs, among other things.

Implementation

Facilitor is being implemented using the Agile Project Management method.  This method is based on flexibility, interactive cooperation, communication, and team spirit.  The system can be delivered per component (for example per module), with enough flexibility to respond to changes and new insights. This approach has proved successful in both large and small projects. Facilitor and De Alliantie coordinated the action plan and its progress in close consultation.

Van Kuijk: ‘The Implementation is going smoothly and quickly. We are receiving good support and advice on the design of the system. A big bonus of using Facilitor is the flexibility it offers when individual or general modifications to the design of the system are needed.’

Next steps

When asked about what other roles Facilitor can play in supplier chain optimisation, Van Kuijk answers: ‘In the future, it will be easier to have alerts sent directly to the supplier, so that they can resolve the alert according to the established SLA discussed in advance with them.’