Designing facilities management needs into warehouse projects

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present an investigation of facilities management (FM) needs of warehouse tenants to inform future warehouse design. Design/methodology/approach - This study examines FM needs that must be designed into warehouse projects. It identifies tenants' FM requirements in warehouses; investigates the relationship between tenant satisfaction and performance of different facilities in warehouses; and recommends design and FM practices that warehouse owners should adopt to give tenants value for money. The research involves a quantitative study of tenant requirements for using warehouses. A questionnaire survey was conducted on tenants to find out their important requirements with a structured instrument. The sample was tenants of warehouses in Singapore. Findings - The results reveal that users' main needs and priority in warehouse operation comprise: incorporating an operations office within warehouses; providing an air well along the loading/unloading bays; ensuring no interruption of electricity supply; providing air-conditioning to the office; and providing good housekeeping. Originality/value - eThe paper provides information that can be the foundation for developing a set of generic tenant FM requirements that could accelerate the design development of warehouses.