Posted 4th November 2025 by Rob Whalley

Smarter Resource Planning with CAFM Software

Efficient resource planning is one of the most critical aspects of facilities and estates management. Getting the right engineer, with the right skills, to the correct location at the right time can make the difference between seamless operations and service disruption.

A modern CAFM (Computer-Aided Facilities Management) platform gives organisations the visibility and control needed to plan, allocate, and optimise resources across their estate — improving productivity, compliance, and service delivery.

Aligning Resources with Operational Hours

Every estate has its own operational rhythm. Some facilities run 24/7, others close overnight or during term breaks. CAFM systems allow users to define operational hours per site or building, ensuring that maintenance tasks are automatically scheduled during appropriate time windows.

For example, CAFM systems that provide access to 52-weekly job planners allow intrusive maintenance to be scheduled during half-term shutdowns or non-operational periods. At the same time, routine tasks are slotted around daily service activity. This prevents disruption to staff, students, or visitors — and ensures that engineers arrive only when access is permitted.

Factoring in Location and Travel Time

In multi-site or geographically spread estates, location weighting plays a key role in resource planning. A CAFM system can apply travel allowances or SLA adjustments based on a building's remoteness.

This ensures that reactive response times and completion targets remain realistic, and that engineers’ travel time is correctly accounted for. By automatically factoring in travel distance and site accessibility, the system helps balance workloads and supports fair, achievable performance tracking across all locations.

Engineer Availability and Skill Matching

CAFM platforms consolidate all workforce data into a single, centralised view — including availability, working patterns, leave schedules, and skillsets. When a job is ready to be allocated to a member of the workforce, the system can automatically filter engineers based on:

• Current workload and availability
• Relevant qualifications, certifications and trade type
• Proximity to the job location or areas served

This intelligent job matching ensures that each task is assigned to the most suitable engineer, improving first-time fix rates and maintaining SLA compliance.

Micro and Macro Approaches to Job Scheduling

Job scheduling within a CAFM environment can be approached at different levels — from detailed micro planning to broader macro planning. Each method offers unique advantages depending on the size of your team, the complexity of your estate, and the flexibility required.

Micro (Engineer) Planning: Modern CAFM systems feature intuitive drag-and-drop scheduling tools that allow planners to visually assign and rearrange work orders across teams, shifts, and locations. Jobs can be scheduled based on the estimated time required to complete each task, ensuring realistic workloads and efficient use of engineer time. This approach enables precise control of engineer activity, balancing task duration, skill requirements, and availability, with updates instantly synchronised to mobile devices.

Macro (Job Pooling) Planning: For larger or geographically dispersed teams, macro planning through job pooling offers greater flexibility. Instead of pre-assigning every task, work orders are placed into shared pools grouped by region, job type, or skill requirement. Engineers can select jobs based on proximity, workload, or priority, while planners can manage and prioritise work by estimated completion date. This approach supports agile resource management, ensuring that urgent or unassigned works are completed promptly without overloading central planning teams.

Time and Resource Forecasting

Beyond daily scheduling, CAFM systems support strategic forecasting. By analysing historical data and future planned works, facilities managers can predict upcoming demand, identify seasonal peaks, and plan resource requirements in advance.

This forward-looking approach helps ensure there are enough skilled engineers available for critical periods — such as compliance testing cycles, project shutdowns, or term-time maintenance backlogs. Managers can use these insights to plan overtime, recruit temporary resources, or coordinate contractor support to meet SLA targets.

Take-Away: Driving Efficiency and Compliance

Effective resource planning through CAFM delivers the clarity, control, and foresight needed to manage complex estates with confidence. By aligning operational hours, remote locations, engineer skillsets, estimated job times and SLA commitments, organisations can minimise downtime, prevent scheduling conflicts, and consistently deliver high service standards.

Whether allocating tasks with micro-level precision or managing schedules through macro-level flexibility and job pooling, CAFM software transforms resource planning into a true strategic asset. With drag-and-drop scheduling, real-time visibility, and intelligent forecasting tools, organisations can shift from reactive resource management to proactive performance — keeping teams efficient, compliant, and always ready for what’s next.