1. 44 I PROFESSIONAL RETAIL STORE MAINTENANCE I www.prsm.com
INSIDE PRSM
INTERNATIONAL FACILITIES MANAGEMENT professionals from Europe and North America converged in
London,Oct.1,toattendPRSM’sInternationalRetailExchange.Thepackedagendaofferedthe30attendees
the opportunity to discuss important facility issues and to collaborate with peers.
PRSM’s
International Retail
Exchange Tackles
Top Challenges
The Exchange kicked off with a welcome message from Patricia
Dameron, PRSM’s Executive Director. In her introductory remarks
Dameron recognized the challenges facing international retailers man-
aging multi-site locations as they simultaneously attempt to adapt to
changing marketplaces around the world, manage evolving technology,
and identify suppliers who can also meet their daily challenges.
“While the geography where we do our jobs may change dramatically
around the world, the challenges most retail facility professionals face
are often the same,” explained Dameron. “PRSM’s goal is to introduce
members to their colleagues and to assist them with meeting those
challenges whether you operate in Europe, North America or some
other part of the world.”
Bryan Walker, PRSM 2015-2016 Board President attended this
year’s event and was impressed with the excitement and teamwork he
witnessed. “We all face very similar problems in our day-to-day opera-
tions,” explained Walker as he reflected on the conference. “However,
international FM has an added twist in that they have to manage these
challenges in locations where they may have a very limited number of
suppliers, or the regulations they operate under may be very different
than their home country. This makes it even more important that
PRSM provide the opportunity for them to share common problems
and connect with those who can provide a solution.”
Opening speaker, Laurie Chalmers, Deputy Managing Director,
Dynamic Resources, outlined strategies FM professionals can use
to reduce costs even in the face of uncertain economies. Dynamic
Resources, a global resources
company, provides services to
leading global retail brands
and completed more than
8,500 projects last year.
Immediately following the
opening session, attendees
dove into store improvements
they could implement that would save money. While many of the top-
ics discussed were similar to those faced by FM professionals in North
America, a few stood out as unique to the European marketplace.
Many European retailers are identifying when and where they can
gain market share in the other global markets, including the U.S.
International expansion brings unique challenges for both European
and North American retailers such as finding new suppliers, adapting to
a new and different regulatory and geographic environment, overcoming
language barriers and learning how to do business in a different culture.
Finding suppliers, even for existing retailers in Europe, was also
a hot topic as retailers searched for unique ways to identify high
performing suppliers who can manage both specific city markets and
cross-border markets.
Sustainability and energy management were also explored, along with
new and developing strategies to reduce costs related to these programs
while still reducing environmental impact and energy usage. While the
value of energy management systems in North America is becoming
common place, retailers in other countries face unique challenges that
vary from country to country, making use more difficult.
Billie Waters and Rachael Clark from Gap Inc., presented a case
study on a collaborative approach to cost reduction initiated between
the facilities and sourcing departments. The case study, and the dis-
cussion, following focused on sourcing facility maintenance services
in France and the collaborative approach Gap Inc., used to maximize
vendor capabilities.
PRSM’s International Retail Exchange, while focused on inter-
national operations, re-emphasized that the challenges faced by FM
professionals worldwide are often the same, and that the ideal way to
solve those challenges and identify new partners is through connect-
ing, and collaborating with peers who have direct industry experience.
This event was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Dynamic
Resources, ServiceChannel and Aramark. l