|
August 18, 2009 - Vol. 8, No. 25 |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Professional Forum Updates
|
- Register now and save. The Early-bird Registration Discount expires Aug. 21, only 3 days away.
- IAMC's Fall 2009 Professional Forum in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., entitled "Corporate Real Estate's Impact on the Balance Sheet" happens Sept. 19-23, 2009. Register online.
- The Forum takes place at Hilton Minneapolis. Here are two numbers for making reservations by telephone: 1-612-376-1000 or 1-800-445-8667.
- IAMC's special room rate at the Hilton Minneapolis has been extended through August 25 (7 days remaining). Reserve your room now.
- Get thrifty transportation from Minn.-St. Paul International Airport to Hilton Minneapolis.
|
Facility's Initial Cost May Be Fraction of Life-Cycle Cost
For a manufacturing or industrial facility, construction and start-up costs may amount to as little as one-fifth the plant's total costs over its useful life. Facility management professionals know this and encourage their companies to evaluate new-facility plans on the likely life-cycle cost, which may look out two to 10 years. Heidi Schwartz writes, "Initial cost remains a practical consideration, but the amount of money spent over the entire expected life of the asset is also an important part of the long-term picture. Expenditures for operations, maintenance, and disposal are relevant, in addition to those associated with expected service life and, increasingly, the environmental impact of projects and products." The article "Moneyspeak" says, "this approach [life-cycle costing] is valid for investments where long-term payback is a major factor. The shorter the asset life, the less valid this method becomes." As an example, the piece notes, "Complex or compound assets, such as energy management systems, can only be justified by using life-cycle costing. The use of an energy management system is a cost that is added to standard electrical and mechanical equipment costs. The only method to justify the additional cost is to quantify the savings which are produced in associated areas."
|
Reporting to Make a Difference
 |
| Leonard Anderson (center) of Kimberly-Clark emphasizes his point at the Asheville Research Roundtable | Corporate real estate (CRE) units issue reports to departments across their companies. But the impact of those reports varies widely. Some CRE departments seem to have a knack for getting lots of positive play from the information they share. How do they do it? The Research Roundtable on Sunday, Sept. 20, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. before the Minn.-St. Paul Professional Forum is entitled "Reports Issued by the CRE Department - Content, Purposes and Impact within the Company." Three presenters will briefly review how their departments propagate information, and then each will focus on 1-3 reports they believe have had a particular impact on corporate management. The presentations will be followed by table discussions for additional sharing. The program is open to all IAMC Active members and includes breakfast and lunch. If you have questions or ideas regarding this session, please contact Greg Saylor of Kimberly-Clark Corp. or Joel Parker of IAMC.
|
|
Participate in IAMC's Online Business Networking
Stay "linked in" year-round with fellow IAMC members through IAMC's LinkedIn online business networking group, which is open exclusively to members. Once you join, you can post discussion items for group input and share your knowledge by answering others' questions.
If you're not periodically checking IAMC's discussion group, you're missing some great CREM Q&A. Here's the latest question posted for group-member comments: "I'm working on an internal project that will be defining and determining our 'core/strategic' properties and the preferred financing model for them (lease vs own). Has anyone completed a portfolio analysis like this, and did they find any good benchmarking data (especially for a manufacturing company) to support their recommendations?"
To jump to the LinkedIn logon screen, click here. Once logged on, go the top of the left-hand column and click on "groups." For more information on LinkedIn or the IAMC Group on LinkedIn, click here. |
|
Find Corporate Real Estate Jobs; Post an Opening; Post a Resume
 Go to the IAMC Career Center to read about dozens of corporate real estate, economic development and real estate service provider jobs. Here's an example: Construction Manager for PBS&J. The position description says the incumbent "provides direction in all conventional and unconventional aspects of construction engineering to manage project construction observation and documentation activities, monitoring contractors' substantial compliance with contract, plans, specifications and special provisions and determining project quality, cost, and adherence to established completion schedule." |
Short Subjects
SAP Tops among Logistics Software Providers
- Large corporations' logistics networks are so complex and central to company success that planners use sophisticated software to evaluate and make adjustments to them. Rob Trebilcock writes, "The most significant trend may be the emergence of new models, like on-demand, software-as-a-service, and by-the-transaction subscription models, for delivering and pricing supply chain management solutions."
Universities' Growing Interest in Economic Development
 |
| Daniel Levine |
- "Many universities are now actively re-examining their role in regional economic development and exploring new ways to bring more private-sector research dollars to their institutions. Some companies have found that this newly infused entrepreneurial spirit on-campus has created opportunities to forge innovative university-corporate partnerships that are designed to increase overall business activity and bring profit to both the business and university," writes Daniel Levine in Site Selection magazine's July 2009 edition.
Manufacturing Productivity up Sharply
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in its press release on "productivity and costs" for the April - June period of 2009 says, "In manufacturing, the preliminary productivity changes in the second quarter were 5.3 percent in manufacturing, 3.9 percent in durable goods manufacturing, and 2.0 percent in nondurable goods manufacturing."
|
Click here to write your questions, suggestions and comments. |
Surplus Property Clearinghouse
