Facilities Mapping

FACILITIES MAPPING (FM) is the process of digitally identifying and mapping facilities infrastructure with the explicit goal to improve operational management and planning tasks such as dispatching, inventorying, and maintenance. Some examples of facilities include utilities (gas, water, telephone, and electricity), airport siting, and transportation planning. In the past, when a facilities map was needed, a team of surveyors and draftspersons would combine skills to develop such a map. Usually the map was created and updated manually. 

Today, in the competitive business world of facilities service provision companies must continuously find new ways to maintain and deliver efficient services. This is a challenge as the facilities infrastructure is usually dense and covers large geographic areas. Moreover, time is also a key component. The steps for a successful operational strategy is based on collecting and integrating information on organization assets, processes, potential and existing customers, and changing market situations.

The core of the FM system is built around computer- aided drafting and design (CADD), geographical information systems (GIS), and global positioning systems (GPS) technologies. This combination of geospatial technologies has also caused some confusion in drawing disciplinary boundaries of FM. Hence, terms such as AM/FM (automated mapping/facilities management) and network management systems are essentially the same technology. Because of the linear characteristics of the utilities infrastructure, CADD software is generally the choice for digital encoding. 

But there is the tendency now to merge CADD systems with the spatial data management capabilities of GIS in order to develop more integrated databases. The encoded facilities infrastructures are then linked to a database that holds detailed attribute information about each facility. By querying the map on the computer screen, information about each facility and its relationship to other facilities can be obtained for operational planning and management purposes. Updates can be quickly made using a digitizing table, a mouse, and a keyboard. Usually the decisions made using FM are not for analytical purposes but for allocating resources for service dispatching, inventorying, and maintenance. Nevertheless, analytical studies such as network analysis and catchments area analysis are possible with FM systems.

Global positioning systems also play a major role in facilities management. The GPS is a network of 24 orbiting satellites and Earth receiving stations that provide an accurate and unique coordinate position for any point on the Earth’s surface. The network was originally designed as a navigational tool for military applications, but the civilian and research community has quickly realized the value of the technology and adopted it for use in many navigational applications. The satellites transmit signals that anyone can collect with a suitable GPS receiver. For example, with inexpensive GPS receivers, utility service crews can be quickly dispatched to the location of utilities needing repair.