This is the first post in our Centralization Series, focusing on how property managers can leverage centralization to streamline operations, reduce costs, and increase maintenance maturity.Property managers are under increasing pressure to streamline operations, reduce costs, and maintain high resident satisfaction. But fragmented processes and inconsistent maintenance workflows are holding them back. Work orders pile up, unresolved and unmanaged. Costs spiral as unplanned repairs eat into budgets. Resident satisfaction plummets as maintenance requests drag on for days or even weeks. Without centralized systems, managers are stuck reacting to problems rather than preventing them, leading to wasted time, wasted trips, and frustrated tenants.
Is the Current State Sustainable?
Given cost pressures, labor shortages, and increasing demand for faster response times, the question is: Is the current state sustainable? The industry is facing unprecedented challenges – site staff turnover exceeds 90% in some markets, while the average time to hire and train a new maintenance technician ranges from $6,000 to $10,000. The impact is compounded by the sheer volume of work orders – a recent NMHC study found that 27% of work orders are delayed due to understaffing. Legacy solutions like staffing and outsourcing may no longer be practical as they compete for the same scarce resources – skilled labor, data, and technology. Centralization and modernization provide a foundation for operational consistency but come with challenges – particularly when it comes to balancing efficiency with resident experience.Over-centralization can create a perception of reduced personal service, where residents feel like they’re being shuffled through a system rather than receiving attentive care. If we don’t start to centralize, what does the future look like for our teams? For our properties? For our residents? The key is to consolidate backend processes – such as work order management and vendor coordination – while maintaining a responsive, resident-facing presence. For instance, a centralized maintenance triage system can quickly assess work orders and deploy the right resources while still keeping residents informed through timely updates and clear communication.Think of the tradeoffs in your personal life; would you trade Netflix's Ai recommendations & convenience for the charm & inconvenience of the video store clerk?Centralization is a game changer, but to fully harness its power, property managers need to understand where they currently stand in their maintenance operations. This is where the concept of maintenance maturity comes in. By assessing operational maturity, managers can identify whether they are stuck in reactive firefighting mode or are moving toward predictive, data-driven strategies.Why Maintenance Maturity Is the Missing Link
Maintenance maturity refers to the level of operational sophistication in handling maintenance tasks. Moving through the stages of maturity requires a shift from reacting to problems to anticipating and preventing them. Here’s what the path to maturity looks like:- Corrective Maintenance: Fix it when it breaks. Work orders are addressed as they arise, often resulting in high costs and excessive downtime. This stage is characterized by constant firefighting and no real strategy.
- Scheduled Maintenance: Routine checks and repairs are scheduled based on time or equipment age. While this reduces unexpected breakdowns, it can also lead to unnecessary work and inefficiencies.
- Preventative Maintenance: Maintenance is now proactive, driven by data and specific triggers like usage hours or equipment condition. Processes start to become standardized, reducing repeat work orders.
- Predictive Maintenance: Data analysis becomes central, using technology to anticipate equipment failures before they occur. This stage minimizes unplanned downtime and drives targeted maintenance efforts.
- Prescriptive Maintenance: Fully data-driven, with advanced analytics that not only predict failures but prescribe specific actions. This stage maximizes asset longevity, reduces costs, and ensures seamless operations.
Benefits by Role
- For Owners: Centralization is a direct path to increasing Net Operating Income (NOI) and asset value. By reducing maintenance overhead, consolidating service contracts, and minimizing work order-related expenses, owners can see a tangible boost in property valuation. Consistent maintenance outcomes improve investor confidence and property marketability.
- For Managers: Centralized systems reduce the chaos of reactive maintenance and provide clear visibility into work order completion rates, staff productivity, and property ratings. Managers can focus on enhancing operational efficiency, maintaining tenant satisfaction, and optimizing overall property profitability.
- For Staff: Clearer processes, reduced workload through less duplication of effort, and improved job satisfaction by focusing on higher-impact tasks rather than repetitive work. Consistency in processes can reduce training time for new hires, minimizing disruption and boosting team efficiency.
5 KPIs to Consider Tracking Towards
- Average Hours for Open Work Orders: Track the hours work orders remain open before being resolved. Aim to reduce this time by 10%. It is hard to track real progress in days, make sure you include weekends & evenings. Your resident does. At first, you are going to make incremental improvements; celebrate the wins, 8 hours is a 11% improvement on 72 hours. 93 hours is also 23% slower than 72, but both are 3 days.
- Average Hours for Closed Work Orders: Calculate the hours taken to resolve work orders from start to finish. This reveals bottlenecks and areas for streamlining. Same as above.
- Corrective vs. Preventive Work Orders Mix: Track the ratio of corrective work orders (reactive) to preventive work orders (scheduled maintenance). A balanced ratio indicates a mature maintenance strategy. Aim for a 60/40 split, gradually increasing preventive work orders. Renos are capital work orders, make readies are corrective or make ready.
- Effort per Work Order: Monitor the number of trips required to resolve a work order. Reducing unnecessary trips by 15% - 50% can have a huge impact on resource & cost requirements.
- Repeat Work Orders: Track the percentage of work orders that require follow-up. Reducing repeat work orders saves hours and reduces costs with improves quality & reduces resident 1&2 ratings.
Takeaway
Tomorrow, take a look at a single day’s work orders. Identify which ones could have been resolved without a physical trip to the property. Set a baseline for each KPI and track progress over the next week. This simple exercise will reveal immediate opportunities for centralization and operational improvement.Stay tuned for the next post in the Centralization Series, where we’ll dive into how to assess your current maintenance maturity and map out a realistic path to predictive maintenance.Our mission is to simplify the homeowners & home builders customer experience. Let Iris do the work.
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