BPI Physical Infrastructure Requirements – Examples

Centralization v decentralization of facilities

Mars Equipment traditionally maintained customer support facilities in all major cities in their market area. Customer support staff would answer calls from local customers who had queries about Mars products or problems with items that they had purchased. If a service call was necessary, the customer support representative would dispatch a service agent to see the customer as soon as possible.

Under the redesigned organization, Mars centralized all customer support activities in one location. This allowed them to spread out customer calls over more staff which greatly decreased the average call waiting time for customers and improved the allocation of calls across customer support staff. It also allowed customer support staff to route calls to experts in particular areas. These experts are often able to help a customer solve a problem over the phone, reducing the number of service calls required. All remaining service calls were contracted out to local distributors.

This change required Mars to lease a new facility equipped with powerful telecommunications equipment, and to obtain a 1-800 number. However, hundreds of small local offices were eliminated, and service to customers was greatly improved.

II    Introduction

A. Objective

The objective of the Physical Infrastructure Impact Assessment is to define the quantity and type of space that is required by the Business Case. In particular, the assessment identifies the following:

• The type of physical space required to deliver Agency services (office, common-use, special space, etc.).
• Special features required for security, and/or for infrastructure requirements (eg., floor capacity).
• The total space requirement for the Directorate based on established space standards.

B. Approach

The development of the Physical Infrastructure Assessment has been guided by:

• The facilities management process.
• Feedback from Agency sections regarding special requirements.
• Ongoing interaction with the Director of Facilities Management (DFM).

The Physical Infrastructure Assessment provides a framework for determining the type and amount of facilities space required by the Agency. The framework is based on space allowances for staff workstation space and support space. Examples of support space include meeting rooms, storage areas, mail rooms, kitchen areas, etc.

The framework is closely aligned to the organizational design and human resources proposed in the corresponding Stages of the Business Case, as well as the management process for Facilities Management .

C. Highlights

The opportunity exists for reducing central repository space by adopting a strategy for conversion of documentation to electronic form. Additionally, the review of existing documentation to reduce holdings through client cooperation would further reduce current storage requirements. Associated Person -Year (PY) reductions through more efficient information retrieval would accrue.

Possible co-location of the data reproduction operation with existing similar departmental operations. This could further reduce storage space requirements.

A strategy for conversion to an on-line system will need to be addressed to hold to projected space requirements.

II Type of Space Required

In this section, we confirm the purpose of Agency space, present guiding principles used in establishing space requirements, identify the type of space required to support Agency service delivery, and note certain key assumptions in establishing Agency space requirements.

A. Purpose of space

The purpose of Agency space can be stated as follows:

• To house, in a cost-effective manner, a customer service oriented operation which provides Agency employees with safe and functionally adequate accommodations to effectively carry out their activities.

B. Guiding principles

A number of guiding principles have been identified for the Physical Infrastructure Assessment:

• Agency standards of office and non-office accommodation will reflect Directorate needs and a client service focus.    
• Agency staff will be provided with a safe and functionally adequate physical work environment.
• Agency-occupied space will reflect best economic value to carry out Directorate activities effectively and efficiently.
• The Agency will use established standards in determining its space requirement.
• Facilities will be utilized in such a manner as to minimize operation and maintenance costs.
• Agency space requirements will be based on reliable client     forecasts of workload. This includes forecasts of space required to accommodate new acquisition projects.
• Agency operations require frequent reference materials named in the Document Information System in the IT report. On-line accessibility to these reference materials is essential.

C. Infrastructure considerations

In determining the space requirements for the Directorate, several important considerations must be taken into account. These factors are likely to effect the type of space required, and the possible locations or facilities that can accommodate the Agency.

• The Agency currently holds approximately 162 cabinets of aperture cards in four locations: Laurent Building, 123 King Street, ABC Building and the Printing Bureau. In addition, the Printing Bureau holds 18 index card files. Each cabinet contains 30 drawers with 3000 cards per dra­wer. When at full capacity, each cabinet weighs approximately 750 lbs. It should be noted that Tri­umph project expectations will result in an additional requirement of 55 aperture card filing cabinets.
• Electronic data processing of classified data will require either a shielded enclosure or specialized equipment for security purposes. Since the production of publications and the requirement for shielded areas and/or specialized equipment may be minimized. Other potential security requirements, for both storage and operational space, will, however, need to be considered.
• Special fit-up requirements will be required for the Computer Assisted Design (CAD system). These include:   
• clean power       
• suppressed lighting   
• air conditioning       
• anti-static flooring       
• dataline requirements   

• CAD system requirements may be significantly reduced due to the contracting-out of all engineering drawing production.
• Reproduction units exist within the Agency. These require a proper ventilation system and a hazardous waste recovery room for the handling and disposal of hazardous waste materials. A non-vibrating environment is also essential, with the following standard requirement:   
• electrical       
• plumbing       
• special room height       
• special floor capacity to support the equipment   
• The Agency currently holds the following:

approximately 200 cabinets, each weighing approximately 204 kg., for history files and official reproducibles.

45 shelving units holding boxes of oversize artwork.

A classified storage area of 16 m2 for secure documentation. This room has a locked door with cabinets locked by bolts and Trempile greenleaf locks. Currently, a tape library is included in Agency storage holdings. These tapes have an associated stress factor requirement and air conditioning needs.

• Approximately 350 filing map cabinets, with a total weight at full capacity of about 90,000 pounds. An additional 75 filing map cabinets are expected due to the delivery of Triumph project documentation. Master drawing storage totalling approximately 30,000 pounds.

• Coordination of desks, chairs, bookcases and computer related     set-up will need to be managed through accommodations units.    

D. Nature of requirements

Facility space is typically required for a number of reasons. These include:

• To accommodate staff workstations and equipment   
• To conduct general client or staff meetings   
• To store data (graphic arts, engineering drawings, publications, etc.), supplies and other material

Specific space requirements include:

• Office space, including circulation space   
• Common use space, including:
• Meeting rooms       
• Coat storage       
• Coffee lounge area       
• Copy machine   
• Special purpose areas such as:
• Computer rooms       
• Storage space (Central Depot)       
• Off-site storage   

E. Key assumptions

Certain assumptions have been made in determining the type and quantity of space required for the Agency. These are outlined below:

• Where possible, Agency teams will be co-located with each     other in order to maximize the sharing of resources (staff as well as equipment).   
• It is becoming increasingly evident that the production services team Ð graphic arts necessarily be co-located with Corporate Services at headquarters.   
• Current Agency satellites (Technical Data Service Centres)     will continue to be in operation at three locations: Laurex Building and 125 Rookcliffe Downs   
• The estimated space requirement for storage of documentation at the official depository is the same as that currently utilized at the National Printing Bureau. In the future, conversion from hard-copy formats to electronic formats will reduce the storage space requirement for the Directorate   
• A strategy will be required to address the 'weeding' of existing documentation. Client cooperation will be necessary to complete this task effectively.
• Only official reproducibles will be stored by the Agency.
• The space identified is in usable square metres.

III Space Requirements

In this section of the report, we summarize the space requirement for the Directorate based on established space allowances.

A. Space allowances

In the case of general office space, Central Agency space allowances in the Administrative Policy Manual allow for an average office space per employee, referred to as the office space control standard. This control point is determined on the basis of the average salary of the office population. We have used a control point of 11 square metres plus 3.5 square metres for circulation space. This total control point standard of 14.5 is applied equally to all Agency employees. It is meant as an average; clearly, the director and team leaders would be above the control point while data clerks, administrators and technicians would be below.

We have also included under the general office space requirement the need for additional space above the accepted control point. This additional space is required specifically for the Production Team Graphic Arts to accommodate their need for larger work stations.

In addition, we estimated the space required for the following common-use support space required in excess of the control standard:

• Meeting room   
• Coffee lounge   
• Coat storage   
• Copy Machine

Finally, space requirements have been estimated for special purpose space, specifically, storage space for the three Technical Data Service Centres (TDSCs), and the Central Depot, as well as space for a computer room.

B. Amount of space required

The application of the office space control standard of 14.5 square meter and the allowance for common use and special purpose space results in a total space requirement of approximately 5753 square metres. This compares with existing accommodation space of 7850 square meters. The majority of the reduction in space is due to lower staff levels and, therefore, corresponding lower requirements for office space. Addition space savings are achieved due to the elimination of in-house production of publications and engineering drawings.