FSI wins Saudi FM solutions supply contract

FSI Middle East, a leading facilities management (FM) solutions software provider, has been appointed to supply and deliver FM software solutions to the National Industrial Training Institute (Niti) based in Saudi Arabia. As per the deal, FSI Middle East will deploy its Concept Evolution system, as well as the Concept Reach self-service portal, at the Saudi institute to manage its contractors in a more structured way. The Concept Evolution software solution will provide Niti with more control over FM contractors by translating the various contractor agreements into the system, which will allow the institute to monitor the work and ensure that its performance is in line with the various SLA (service level agreements) within the contracts. "When we initially met Niti officials, they needed a solution to gain more control over their campus facilities management contractors," explained Saber Nias, the business development manager of FSI Middle East. “They currently have five FM contractors on site, and all the PPM, reactive and scheduled tasks where being managed over the phone, and via email or sms. This created many islands of information and paperwork, which was often difficult to interpret or summarise into a standard format understood by all the parties involved,” stated Nias. "Furthermore, they didn’t have the right tools to monitor the FM contractors from both a cost and performance perspective, which was a very big concern for them," he added. The system also captures all costs associated with each task. Additionally, Concept Reach is a customer self-service portal that will be tailored to suit Niti's corporate requirements, and serves as a platform for the students and faculty members to manage their complaints/issues online, in a more convenient way. “Ultimately, their long-term goal is to enhance their service offering to the students and faculty and by providing Niti with the correct software, we are enabling them to log, track and manage issues/complaints online,” added Nias.

An independent, not-for-profit training institute, Niti is a joint venture between oil giant Saudi Aramco and the Technical & Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC). It offers industrial training mainly to Saudi high school graduates to qualify them to work in the oil /gas, petrochemical, energy and construction industries, in addition to their various related services companies. The campus currently accommodates 1,100 students and faculty members, with a total capacity of 2,000 students. “During the selection process, we reviewed over five different CAFM vendors in detail, and we found FSI’s Concept Evolution to be most suited to our company,” remarked Ayman Al Mulhim, the maintenance unit head. “The decision was based on the FSI’s product functionality, support and the value for money, and we are very pleased with our decision,”