Brookfield Multiplex builds solid business based on Pinnacle asset management solution

Aug. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- BACKGROUND
Brookfield Multiplex Services is the property and facilities management division of the Brookfield Multiplex Group. Established in 1998, Brookfield Multiplex Services has grown into a diversified business specialising in five service streams - Corporate Real Estate, Facilities Management, Property Services, Project Management and Residential Services.

Operating internationally throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, Brookfield Multiplex Services creates innovative, cost-effective property and facilities management solutions to meet the requirements of clients in a wide range of sectors, including commercial, retail, residential and strata, sport and leisure, government and defence, health, justice, education and infrastructure.

From its early beginnings as a facilities management organisation, Brookfield Multiplex Services has relied on Pinnacle asset management software to provide the efficiency required for the business to succeed.

CHALLENGE
Starting out in the facilities management business more than 10 years ago, the directors of Brookfield Multiplex Services recognised the need for a cost effective software program that would take the manual work out of collecting and managing data on each of the properties it managed.
While the business initially focussed on planning and tracking preventative maintenance requirements, and work orders for managed sites, as the business began to grow, its requirements became more complex.
“By 2000, the business was managing some pretty big sites and the way we accessed and utilised information about the sites was changing,” said Kay Grant, Director of Business Systems, Brookfield Multiplex Services.
“We needed to be able to track reactive maintenance work records against assets, so we had a consistent view of what was being fixed and how often. This was the only way we could identify where the problems really were and evaluate what properties were still viable. Of course, we then had to be able to produce meaningful reports on these findings to clients and tenants.”  
SOLUTION
While it was still essentially a business ‘start up’, the directors of Brookfield Multiplex selected Pinnacle’s asset management software solution as a convenient and effective, ‘off the shelf’ answer to address its need for greater operational efficiencies.

More than a decade later, Brookfield Multiplex Services is a large, successful business that enjoys continued growth, with contracts in the public and private sectors.

“Since the time Pinnacle was first introduced into the business, we’ve grown from a facilities management company into a full-blown property services organisation,” said Ms Grant.


“Pinnacle has helped our business grow upwards and outwards. Facility management has always underpinned our business, but now that our business has diversified we still need software that helps us collect, organise and manage data – data that is easily accessible to the 200 plus employees that now make up our organisation.”

Operating from a number of sites, Brookfield Multiplex’s Pinnacle solution resides on several servers and is made available to users through a Citrix network. As the user base has grown over the years, the business has simply purchased additional licenses as needed.

Brookfield Multiplex also deployed Pinnacle across its defence management maintenance joint venture business, to enable the effective management of project works.

BENEFITS
Managing more than 1,000 properties at any one time, Brookfield Multiplex recognises that it would suffer massive inefficiencies without the asset management capabilities that Pinnacle provides.

According to Ms Grant, “If it weren’t for Pinnacle, we would essentially have to go back to relying on Excel spreadsheets and order books – the business would suffer immensely without the valuable data integration and analysis functionality it offers.”

As the business continues to experience steady growth, Pinnacle is enabling Brookfield Multiplex to leverage new and exciting opportunities to further improve its operations for users and clients, alike.
Through its Pinnacle application, Brookfield Multiplex is able to monitor the actioning of job request, which its corporate real estate division has integrated with a web portal for clients to log-in and view what job requests have been lodged by which tenants, along with how and when that job will be done.
“Not only is this a very valuable for clients, but it also enables us to demonstrate to clients that we’re meeting strict KPIs,” commented Ms Grant.
Looking forward, Brookfield Multiplex is continuing to innovate with Pinnacle, turning its attention to standardising the solution across the entire organisation, as well as looking at the possibility of integrating the solution to a financial application and using it as a helpdesk.
“Although we’ve been using Pinnacle from the outset as a core business system, we suspect we’ve only tapped into part of what it can do.”
“As we continue to expand, we are very enthusiastic about discovering what other benefits it can deliver to the business,” concluded Ms Grant.

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Pinnacle Software Pty Ltd, was formed in Canberra, Australia in 1984. The company is a developer of leading edge software products for use in Asset and Maintenance Management.