Royal Freemasons' Benevolent Institution (RFBI)
RFBI HIGHLIGHTS
Fair Trading compliance and Comprehensive asset registers were achieved within 3.5 months.
Much more accurate financial planning enabled.
Asset lifecycle intelligence improves efficiency and cost.
Scalable Services enabled.
🤝 RFBI: data enables commitment to quality aged care
RFBI offers a continuum of care and services that are accessible to all older people and that have a positive impact on their lives. Founded in 1880 before government-funded social welfare programs existed to help people in need, today, 143 years on, RFBI still prides itself on helping Australia’s aging population with aged care services through its benevolence and annuity programs.
RFBI’s top priority is to provide quality aged care that enhances the lives of those in their care and creates a workplace that enables their staff to be their best.
📊 Need for clear, comprehensive asset data
Rising costs as well as increasing government regulations represent a challenging environment for asset management in the retirement living and aged care sector. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety also resulted in many additions to the Retirement Villages Act (1999) and while these are welcomed by the industry for helping improve services, they also create much higher compliance requirements for operators.
Through their 22 residential care villages, 20 retirement villages, and home care services, RFBI cares for over 2,200 older community members across NSW and ACT. With over 50,000 assets spread across their retirement village network, RFBI knew it was important they find a solution to establish asset management plans (AMPs) for each of their villages that allowed for easy monitoring, updating, and reporting for management and residents.
“When we started looking for a solution partner, achieving compliance was not the only desired outcome. Our staff and residents are at the heart of everything we do and we wanted to use this as an opportunity to implement a solution that would improve staff efficiencies while also allowing our teams to be able to present our Asset Management Plans to residents in a manner they could understand and use to inform budgeting decisions,” Anthony explains.
RFBI, Lake Haven Masonic Village
👩💻 Achieving asset lifecycle intelligence
To improve their asset management practices, RFBI needed a solution that could capture all the pertinent information about their assets needed to inform business decisions. In mid-January 2022, RFBI selected AssetFuture as their partner and began the journey to collect information about assets across RFBI’s network of retirement villages and import these into the AssetFuture platform.
"We knew we needed a more advanced approach to data collection," explains Anthony Tsapicounis, Property Officer, RFBI. "We considered several different providers, but AssetFuture ticked all the boxes in terms of what their solution offered and its ease of use."
RFBI used a two-staged approach to ensure all asset information was gathered and accurate. The first saw AssetFuture importing all existing asset information into the AssetCapture App. AssetFuture then trained RFBI staff members on the AssetCapture app so they could conduct a physical audit of the information now stored in the app to qualify the data and update it as necessary.
This approach proved very successful in consolidating a strong data set and generating Asset Management Plans for each RFBI village to achieve compliance in a very short time.
“We felt a hybrid approach that leveraged the information we already had on hand, followed by a verification audit by local teams, was the most efficient way we could ensure we had captured every asset and had accurate information recorded in the app.” Commented Anthony.
“The result has been great. Our Village teams now have a very good understanding of the assets in their Villages and through the app can provide reports, or make updates to reflect refurbishment or replacements quickly and easily, ensuring the data is always current and accurate.”
““By having the right data through AssetFuture’s platform, service levels are not only maintained but can be improved, which is a big win for us and for our residents. We’ve been able to move from a more reactive maintenance approach to a proactive approach, ensuring that all our facilities are kept running smoothly and there are no service disruptions. All these improvements have happened while also reducing costs and human labour - it’s much more efficient and our staff are happier.””
💪 Forecasting with confidence: empowering tomorrow
By the end of April 2022, RFBI’s asset management plans were complete and ready to be presented to residents. In just three and a half months a total of 54,218 assets from 846 units and 59 common areas were captured in the app - an incredible achievement in such a quick timeframe.
With this information, RFBI are now able to get a clear overview of all the assets owned across their retirement network and make informed financial decisions, as well as meet all its regulatory and compliance obligations. Internal processes have improved and Village Maintenance teams are better able to monitor, update and report on the condition of their assets.
Reports generated via AssetFuture Dashboards include 3-year and 10-year maintenance estimates and reports, as well as a 10-year capital replacement plan. There’s also a complete Asset Register and Schedule of Maintenance reports.
Since implementing AssetFuture last year, all RFBI Village Managers and Maintenance teams have been trained on the latest app, AssetContinuity, giving them access to the latest features the platform has to offer.
Moving forward, AssetFuture and RFBI plan to continue working together to expand the platform’s capabilities to drive further efficiencies and improved outcomes for residents and staff.
Request a demo and start your journey today! 🚀
Anthony Tsapicounis, Property Officer RFBI
““As a not for profit organisation, RFBI reinvests all its funds back into our people and services. This makes it all the more critical that we make informed decisions when it comes to investment and expenditure. Thanks to AssetFuture we now have the clarity and insights we need for accurate financial planning across our retirement village assets.” ”