UBS owns 350 properties in Switzerland and spends approx. CHF 120 million per year renovating or modernizing them. This figure includes about 1⁄3 for HEAVAC engineering and the associated measurement, control and automation technology.
Over the past 10 years, UBS outsourced responsibility for management of these properties to external facility management companies. A more dynamic technical environment, added to the higher demands of users, made this arrangement increasingly unsuitable. In 2007, with ever-rising costs for maintaining and renovating building technology, UBS decided to take back responsibility for managing their properties into their own hands.
The new person in charge, was recruited from a respected planning and engineering company in the building technology field. The first step was to analyse the cost situation and identify the largest potential savings. One of these lay in the control and automation electronics of HEAVAC engineering systems. In his analysis, he found that over the 15-20 year life cycle of HEAVAC installations, it was unfortunately necessary to renew control and automation electronics up to three times. Each time this involves an investment project costing much time and money. Such fundamental changes to existing installations are always associated with imponderables and need correspondingly professional staff. Even if one overlooks the cost burden, the shortage of skilled employees due to demographic change is a great added motivation for avoiding such critical interim investments.
What are the causes of the owner’s precarious situation?
– Faulty electronics: The operator of the installation has used cheap electronics that just do not have the life expectancy of the plant. When faults arise, there is no possibility of a 1:1 replacement. The life cycle of the control device has expired, or there is no longer any software tool provided for current Windows® computers.
– Change of use / new requirements: For cost reasons, fully compact, dedicated controller electronics have been used that can only do the tasks known at the time of their original installation.
– Expansion / networking: Even if the system is a programmable one, its computing power is often inadequate, or the installed system is compact and therefore not expandable with modules.
– Old technology: The installed control and automation technology was already at the end of its life cycle when originally supplied. The manufacturer therefore no longer supports further adaption or expansion of installed devices. Instead, the advice will be to change to newer, better technology, which unfortunately will not be fully compatible with the earlier generation.
For the future, UBS would like to avoid costly interim investments by paying close attention to the control and automation technology that system builders and machine engineers install in their properties.
After several visits and intense discussions, UBS is confident that it will achieve this aim in the best possible way by relying on and PLC-based, DDC technology like Saia®PCD.
When UBS visited the Saia-Burgess factory, they could see we have many Saia®controllers still earning money at over 20 years old. They were able to speak to end-user customers and system integrators who have experienced how easy and economical it is to implement changes of use or expansions with the modular Saia®PCD construction kit.
In future, UBS will ensure that its HEAVAC suppliers no longer use misguided optimization of control and automation to add a few francs to their margin, which over a year add up to several million in extra costs for UBS itself as the owner.