Optimizing Your Research and Development Facilities

An effective QHSE and risk management program for R&D facilities is born out of building an organizational culture of safety and compliance excellence. The presence of complex equipment and hazardous materials increases the priority for R&D organizations to take a proactive approach to identifying and eliminating hazards, where possible, and considering human factors when developing a QHSE and risk management plan. R&D organizations should continually solicit feedback from employees working in R&D facilities to gain additional insights on areas of quality and safety improvement. Accidents or incidents involving people and equipment can have serious implications to an organization’s R&D objectives, resulting in costly down time and increased speed to market due to injuries, equipment breakdowns or environmental exposure.

Incorporating project and program management into the operational strategy for R&D facilities ensures cost efficiency, risk mitigation, timely delivery, quality assurance, and strategic alignment. By coordinating projects and aligning them with broader goals, organizations can optimize resource allocation, reduce risks, and enhance facility value, supporting innovation and competitiveness. It’s also crucial aspect of capital planning, giving organizations the foresight to deploy capital most effectively. This comprehensive approach enhances the overall efficiency and profitability of warehouse operations.

Real estate, including R&D facilities, account for a significant amount of an organization’s total Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon output Furthermore, many firms will soon be required to report on carbon output related to supply chain activities or Scope 3 emissions. With increasing pressure from C-suites, regulators and consumers, it is essential for CRE&F teams to secure C-suite alignment and organizational commitment for these sustainability and decarbonization efforts. A comprehensive action plan that includes a firm’s total portfolio of R&D facilities and assets, will establish a benchmarking and measurement process, identify insights holistically and down to the asset level, and drive efficiencies and lower costs through scalability. Additionally, R&D organizations can leverage these learnings and efficiencies to evaluate and optimize their supply chains, further increasing long-term value and sustainability achievement.

Ongoing economic uncertainties and pressure to increase innovation output and speed to market requires R&D CRE&F leaders to take a holistic and proactive approach to facility and asset monitoring and analytics that still provides site- or asset-level insights. Aligning this approach to an organization’s R&D objectives will not only improve efficiency, reduce carbon output and lower costs in the short term, it will ensure teams can focus on long-term innovation and value creation through decarbonization, increased equipment life, and improving retention and recruitment efforts by investing in safety and training and higher-quality R&D facilities that enable greater collaboration. In addition to an integrated approach to R&D facilities optimization, it is essential for organizations with highly specialized R&D functions and equipment to consider strategic partnerships with OEMs to train on-site engineers on how to rapidly diagnose and repair issues encountered by equipment users.

Setting science-based targets from your established baseline can an enhance decarbonization and reveal long-term value through operational and supply chain efficiencies, and premium pricing on low-carbon products. Companies need to account for their direct emissions (Scope 1), energy-related emissions (Scope 2), and if applicable, significant value-chain emissions (Scope 3). This involves setting a Scope 3 target, particularly if these emissions comprise over 40% of the total. With stricter regulations like California's SB 253 law, tracking Scope 3 progress can help organizations proactively mitigate risks associated with non-compliance.

Condition-based and predictive maintenance techniques utilize performance data to assess equipment or asset condition to avoid costly repairs or downtime. The goal to replace arbitrarily timed tasks with scheduled maintenance, only when warranted by equipment condition. Continuing analysis of equipment condition-monitoring data allows planning and scheduling of maintenance or repairs in advance of catastrophic and functional failure. An integrated monitoring and analytics platform will give decision makers real-time data and insights, across a portfolio of R&D facilities or down to the asset level, needed to establish performance and cost benchmarks, and proactively identify processes and systems that will increase uptime, improve employee productivity and lower the total cost of ownership by extending the life of your facilities and equipment.

Research and development inherently involves a high degree of uncertainty and potential risks. Effective risk management can help to identify and mitigate these risks early on, reducing uncertainty and helping facilities ensure projects are completed on time, within budget, and without an impact to the quality of the work. Particularly in highly regulated industries, risk management ensures that all projects comply with relevant laws, regulations, and standards, preventing legal issues and potential penalties.

For companies with R&D functions, equipment downtime can not only delay research and speed to market; the cost of engineering site visits combined with replacement lab and technical equipment is a significant hurdle to the R&D process. The rapid introduction of new equipment and technology, coupled with the increasing technical requirements needed to service lab equipment, can pose challenges to R&D facility leaders who may lack the technical background or knowledge required to implement processes that identify proactive maintenance, reduce equipment downtime and lower replacement costs by extending the life of equipment and facilities. Partnering with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for on-site troubleshooting can drive quicker installation and repair, reduce downtime and deliver higher productivity and speed to market.

To meet evolving consumer needs and stakeholder expectations, CRE&F teams are increasingly tasked by C-suites to address these challenges and deliver transformational outcomes, such as reducing costs through operational efficiency, decarbonizing facilities and supply-chain activities, and achieving gains in DE&I and recruitment and retention. An ineffective or outdated change-management program often causes strategic initiatives to fall short expectations, in part, due to a lack of partnership with the C-suite and other stakeholders and not recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Realizing these outcomes requires CRE&F teams to align their goals with the organization’s overall business objectives, as well as its R&D objectives. Often challenged by inconsistent service and delivery models across geographies, CRE&F leaders need C-suite and organizational commitment to secure capital and resources needed to attain these outcomes.

Without the a strategic procurement approach, facilities may end up using resources inefficiently, spending more time, money, and manpower than necessary on sourcing and managing third-party partners. If the procurement process is not rigorous enough, the facility may end up with partners who are not capable of delivering the quality of work required, negatively impacting project outcomes. A well-planned and executed procurement approach is critical to ensure the selection of suitable partners, maintain project timelines, safeguard against compliance issues, stimulate innovation, and manage risks effectively.

CBRE’s Integrated Facilities Management uniquely connects building maintenance and services to deliver quality R&D environments that foster healthy productivity and innovation and manage portfolio performance and risk. We combine technology, talent, and process in technical services, supply chain, energy and sustainability, and Facilities Management employee experience services. CBRE understands each company has different R&D objectives and therefore, has different asset and facility requirements—we create customizable facilities management solutions to address these requirements and help our clients achieve transformative outcomes their real estate portfolio. Learn more.

Outsourcing your real estate operations is a big decision. At CBRE, our clients focus on what they do best while we concentrate on optimizing their real estate to empower them. We know that just as your people and business require cross-functional collaboration and constant optimization for success, so too does your real estate portfolio – connecting your assets and your occupied spaces together into a global strategy that can deliver maximum value. CBRE’s customized solutions and white glove change management process ensure organizations outsourcing for the first time can move seamlessly from one operating model to the other, protecting your people, partners, and properties at every step. Learn more.

Our team uses an optimized service delivery process to manage every aspect of your project’s budget, schedule and scope and protect your interests throughout the entire real estate journey. From small projects to large, complex construction undertakings, our experts will help you deliver efficiently, offering a variety of commercial models including turnkey solutions. The Project & Program Management Office (PMO) acts as an extension of a client's organization to standardize and provide project-related governance across a defined program, geography or region. The PMO also facilitates or directly coordinates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. This centralized control results in a collaborative environment with consistent project execution, supply chain management, rigorous fiscal governance, and a commitment to innovation. Learn more.

Our global supplier network ensures competitive pricing, resilience, and access to best-in-class resources. Our global scale enables strategic partnerships with industry-leading suppliers, driving innovation and creating value for our clients. We continuously evaluate marketing pricing through competitive sourcing events and benchmarking to deliver cost savings. Learn more.

CBRE offers enterprise-grade technology across the entire real estate lifecycle. We integrate, build and scale with our clients to pilot real-world technologies that become industry standard. Seeing over 36 billion data points from over 300 global sources, CBRE connects data at scale, so you can realize insight that leads to foresight for you and your organization. Learn more.

Energy management represents a major opportunity for manufacturing assets. Our globally consistent programming in decarbonization solutions, renewable energy and electrical vehicle charging stations can help you achieve your ambitious ESG goals. We help enterprises optimize their energy performance through strategic and turnkey solutions to support carbon reduction and net zero commitments to achieve their sustainability goals. Learn more.

Our comprehensive metrology and calibration solutions are globally accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 standards. Our services include on-site, ship-in-ship-out, and account-based calibration, as well as customized gage programs and calibration database services. We offer consulting services to help you design a calibration program that meets your specific needs and ensures that your equipment is always in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Modern research labs are designed to simultaneously balance functional needs and safety concerns (efficiency) with ergonomics, indoor air quality, thermal/visual/acoustical comfort, flexibility (effectiveness), and the provision of shared social spaces (user satisfaction). With CBRE’s workplace experience services, organizations can transform their R&D facilities into a destination for innovation through people-centric, technology-enabled experience services to increase collaboration, optimize performance and deliver meaningful workspace insights.