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Discoveries, innovations, and insights that illuminate the future of the built environment

How an inefficient work order management process hurts tenants, operators, and owners—and what to do about it (Part 2)

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In the first part of this two-part article, we discussed the impact on tenants, property managers, operators, and owners of a breakdown in a building’s work order management process. Here, in Part 2, we’ll explore five key questions to answer when fixing or replacing your CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) or work order management process.

An unabridged version of this story was featured in the August 2017 edition of industry website AutomatedBuildings.com and can be viewed here. An edited version is included below.

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Bounded optimism

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Back in 2014, in a move that delighted reporters, bloggers and railfans alike, Amtrak started to offer free traveling residencies to writers. I’ll admit to the temptation to apply. I, too, love what writer Jessica Gross, on Amtrak’s “trial run” for the program, described as the “sense of safety, borne of boundaries” that comes from train travel, finding myself calmed by the erasure of uncertainty.

What to make of boundaries? Read any advice column and you’ll learn that boundaries are set to wall us off from the intrusions of others. Healthy relationships require you to respect your own boundaries, they write, and those of others.

But boundaries are more than ramparts for our hearts. They can also connect us and, in the case of a recent community engagement program, allow us to serve others.

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Welcome to the B.L.U.E. Blog!

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B.L.U.E.—or Build, Learn, Understand and Enrich—represents the core tenets of McKinstry’s internship program: the B.L.U.E. Program.

As a part of the program, we have asked our interns to share their backgrounds, their passions, their work, their lessons learned this summer, and their ideas for the future. All summer, you will hear from bloggers located in five of our offices: Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Golden, Colo. and Madison, Wisc.

Learn more about the B.L.U.E. Program at the program’s website. If you have a question about the B.L.U.E. Blog, leave a comment or email news@mckinstry.com.

Getting To Know: Nicole Demby (Golden, Colo.)

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Nicole Demby.

Hello! I’m Nicole Demby, and I’m a commissioning engineering intern and proud B.L.U.E. Program participant at McKinstry this summer. I’m from Cortez, Colo. and I’m a rising junior studying Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines—just five miles from McKinstry’s office in Golden, Colo.

Getting to intern at McKinstry this summer has been invaluable. My knowledge of HVAC systems and commissioning engineering (not to mention construction in general) has grown exponentially over the past few weeks.

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Getting To Know: Taylor Blevins (Portland)

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Taylor Blevins.

Hello! My name is Taylor Blevins, and I’m a B.L.U.E. Program intern in McKinstry’s Portland office. I first met with a McKinstry representative at the Oregon State University career fair and once I learned more about the company, I knew it would be a good fit for me.

I’m currently a rising senior at Oregon State studying Energy Systems Engineering. I also have some experience in BIM (Building Information Modeling) from my last internship with an architectural firm.

Ever since that internship ended, I’ve wanted to further-develop my skills in building systems and learn more about how buildings consume energy. As an engineer, it’s important that I learn how to help reduce that energy consumption.

Since McKinstry focuses on the mechanical systems of buildings and the energy aspect of buildings, I knew I was in the right place. So far my experience with McKinstry has been tremendous and I’m learning constantly.

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Getting To Know: Max King (Portland)

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Max King.

Hello! My name is Max King and I’m a B.L.U.E. Program intern at McKinstry’s Portland office. I work on the mechanical majors team, and I’m also studying Construction Management at Washington State University.

When I was pursuing an internship, I knew that one of my family members had previously worked for McKinstry. I thought interning here would be a good way to get my foot in the door with a company that already knows my family’s work ethic.

For my degree program at WSU, there are a few companies that come in nearly every week of the semester to present to students about their company, projects, goals and culture. I made sure to attend the McKinstry presentation and interview with them.

Ultimately, I chose McKinstry because of their commitment to creating a truly sustainable built environment. I wanted to gain experience in the mechanical field and I’d heard good things from my family about McKinstry.

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Getting To Know: Jessica Baumann (Madison, Wisc.)

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Jessica Baumann.

Hello! My name is Jessica Baumann and I’m a rising junior and Engineering Physics major at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville.

There are two things in that sentence that many people don’t know about. One is where Platteville is located. Platteville is in the southwest corner of Wisconsin, about 20 minutes away from the Wisconsin/Iowa border.

Secondly, most people don’t know anything about Engineering Physics. This major consists of curriculum taught to mechanical engineers, electrical engineers and physics majors. I enjoy this major because I feel like—once I’m out of college—it can lead to many opportunities, as I’ll have knowledge from several different areas of engineering.

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Getting To Know: Stephen Shin (Seattle)

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Stephen Shin.

To say that my life after high school has been a little unconventional might be the most accurate way to describe it. I’ve attended two different universities at three different campuses and found work in three vastly different industries. It’s been fun, to say the least.

However, as I’m always reminded, the journey is what’s important and I need to constantly remind myself of that. Besides, I like how things are going so far. It’s led me to a pretty cool internship with McKinstry, so I can’t complain.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me introduce myself a little bit. My name is Stephen Shin and my official position title here is “Energy Design Engineering Intern” within the B.L.U.E. Program. I’m working under Brent Hecker (a senior mechanical design engineer at McKinstry) with a group of (as expected) energy design engineers.

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Getting To Know: Rylie Van Court (Seattle)

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Rylie Van Court.

As a rising senior at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., I knew 2017 was going to be my last year to intern before graduation in 2018. I also knew I wanted to try something different than what I’d experienced at my previous internship—which dealt with electrical circuit design.

I’m an Electrical Engineering major at Gonzaga and one of my most memorable recent classes was about power systems. We learned about what transformers, motors, and generators were and how they work. It was challenging and the technical reports were time-consuming, but I also found that I truly loved what we were learning.

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Getting to Know: Charles LeCuyer (Seattle)

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Charles LeCuyer.

Hello! My name is Charles LeCuyer and I’m part of the B.L.U.E. Program at McKinstry’s headquarters in Seattle. I grew up here in Seattle and I’m currently attending The University of Washington’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

In late 2016, I started to look for a great place to work this summer. Luckily, I didn’t have to look far! McKinstry is so prevalent in Seattle, and I’d heard excellent things from who’s ever worked for the company. Now that I’ve been working here for a few weeks, I can definitely say that those people were right!

I started my work as a project engineering intern about a month ago, and I’m based at an active jobsite: the under-construction Roosevelt Light Rail Station in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood. I’m working with James Postma (senior project manager) and Katie Arendt (project engineer). They’ve helped show me the ropes, and I’m now handling a variety of tasks: Daily pre-task plans, safety walk inspections, man-hour reports, earned value tracking, and assisting with submittals.

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