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Lead Times, Cost, Availability, and Sustainability: Things that Make Facilities Managers’ Lives a Challenge in 2023

Facilities, real estate and building managers in large companies will tell you that their work lives have never been easy.  But if anyone can claim un-sung hero status in the last three years it is the rank and file of business practitioners we loosely refer to as Facilities and Real Estate.

Even if “return to work” announcements are bringing remote workers back to offices full time or in hybrid staggered day arrangements, the handwriting is on the wall:  Most major corporations are reducing their office space, office leases are being vacated.  Facilities managers are racing to organize and kit out newer, smaller workplace facilities for occupancy to accommodate the new realities of how we work in 2023.

We came across an interesting barometer for this equation of full time, fully remote and virtual, versus hybrid Rubik’s cube of facilities management.  Based on analysis of company press releases, a website called Buildremote.co has compiled a list of companies who have announced proposed or completed reductions of office space. 

It is sobering and provides a window into just how busy facilities managers across the board must be in 2023. We certainly see it with our clients who are actively engaging for decommissioning projects. 

Companies who have moved to a fully virtual/remote workplace configuration may be in the minority, but many if not most companies are moving to smaller leased facilities.

The constant here of course is that facilities managers will still need office furniture, for these smaller footprint leases, often delivered and installed within very constrained lead times.

 If the company who is relocating to new smaller quarters, maintains corporate design standards across workplace installations regardless of location, certain brands like Knoll and Herman Miller are the preferred if not mandated furniture options. High-end ergonomically functional seating like the Herman Miller Aeron chairs are the minimum expected standard for office workers who are often reluctantly returning to the new office setting.

So how do these factors impact the lives of facilities managers? Let’s take them one by one:

Lead Times:  Lead times for ordering office furniture in the best of times was always a challenging factor in occupancy planning.  Covid impacted factories who couldn’t operate during lockdown.  Even as they have returned to full operation, disruptions in supply chains for materials sourced offshore continue to extend lead times to problematic lengths. Reports vary, but lead times of 20 weeks for anything but on off purchases are not unheard of.

Cost and Availability:  The preferred manufacturers of office furniture favored by designers dictating corporate standards have never been cheap.  They have come with generous guarantees and workmanship, and they are perceived to be the “best”.  But within the facilities and real estate managers’ objectives to create a new more efficient hybrid workplace also is the C-Suite’s expectation of reduced costs and economies.  “Buying new” has never been the way to “buy economically”.

Is “buying used” a viable option?  There are plenty of “used furniture” outlets who have in fact proliferated since Covid.  Kitting out a home office with one slightly used desk and one Aeron chair at discounted prices is as easy as buying something on eBay or Craig’s list.  But does a busy facilities manager tasked with outfitting a new, smaller space with 50 workstations all matching corporate standards really have the time to shop like a “thrifter”?  No. 

If you have a critical mass of “as new” used and/or remanufactured office furniture items to source, you want them to be available quickly, in the quantities you need, totally functional, delivered and installed by the supplier, with a warranty that extends the original manufacturer’s guarantees. And we will tell you how!

Sustainability: The facilities manager’s job is challenging enough.  But their Company’s promise to their shareholders, their customers and employees now includes a greater assurance of sustainability.  The expectation for “green” disposition of office furniture that is beyond its useful life drives the liquidation process to new levels of accountability.  But it also extends to the acquisitions of new furniture assets.  Remanufactured or “as new” assets that can be reallocated to new spaces, philosophically and pragmatically reduces the environmental impact of facilities management in 2023 and beyond. 

Who can you go to for solutions?

Only a handful of providers can address these headaches for facilities managers, and we are proud to be the market leaders in these unique challenges.

Arguably this is what we are proudest of when our repeat clients come to us, not just for decommissioning and liquidation projects, but as important because we provide reliable, fast, cost effective, and sustainable solutions for acquiring assets for your new workplace facilities.

If this makes sense to you, we would love to have a chat about helping to make your facilities and real estate managers’ lives easier. Contact us at sales@tfxfurniture.com to schedule a call.