Editorial

Citation

Finch, E. (2007), "Editorial", Facilities, Vol. 25 No. 7/8. https://doi.org/10.1108/f.2007.06925gaa.001

Editorial

In this issue a wide variety of contributions are published, reflecting a diversity of facilities management research. This includes a paper by the Mexican researchers Huertas-Cardozo et al. who develop an optimisation model for the warehouse space layout dilemma. This makes use of information on distance, time and frequency of activities to produce a stochastic model. The value of this model is that it enables the evaluation of alternative warehouse layouts so that the facilities manager can optimise operations.

The paper by Widyarto from Malaysia brings in another field of research related to virtual reality and immersion technologies. The paper provides a case study of Jamarat, one of the main ritual sites during the Hajj in which Muslims stone the devil during the annual pilgrimage. Virtual reality and visual analytics are proposed as a way of familiarising prospective visitors to the site, prior to their visit. The virtual environment provides a training system for hajj pilgrim candidates, so as to avoid possible fatalities caused by crushing. There is clearly a growing interest in such approaches for many types of facilities where pre-training of users provides significant benefits. Other examples include walkthrough simulations of airports for the unfamiliar traveller and the use of walkthroughs in security and preparation for VIP visits.

The paper by Wan and Yim looks at the level of awareness of energy management opportunities in the hotel sector in Macao, China. The paper suggests that although customer demand, inadequate environmental knowledge and the absence of governmental regulations fail to encourage environmental management practices, the main factor hindering the adoption of environmental management systems is the inability of hotel managers to recognise the impact that facilities management can have on effectiveness and competitiveness.

The contribution from Duncan et al., considers how race equality issues are implemented in the procurement process in Wales. The paper suggests that social landlords in Wales are failing to promote race equality within the construction procurement process. Indeed, construction contractors and consultants that undertake work on behalf of social landlords are doing little to ensure race equality within their own organisations. This paper provides a revealing insight into the complex issues surrounding race relations, both in construction and maintenance.

In the paper by Enoma and Allen, airport security comes under the spotlight. It presents a case study approach examining possible key performance indicators that could be used in airports for the purposes of safety and security. The case studies are based on questionnaire studies and data analysis from three Scottish airports.

Seppo Junnila, from Finland, looks in depth at the energy conservation potential in offices. Junnila employs a quantitative scenario analysis to estimate the energy conservation potential of office equipment as well as office lighting. This is based on a qualitative model for estimating the current level of end-user energy management in the organizations. The paper argues that there is a significant potential for energy conservation amongst end-users in relation to the energy consumption of office equipment.

Contributions from China, Finland, Wales, Scotland, Mexico and Malaysia thus make up the full spectrum of papers in this issue, which is diverse not just in terms of scope but also nationality.

Edward Finch