The New England

Program Management Projects:
The New England

In the five years prior to this Strategic Facility Planning assignment (SFP), The New England experienced 7% annual personnel growth. Plans to expand existing product lines, start new investment activities, enter new markets and make acquisitions suggested a need for new office space as well as improved information systems to increase productivity.

Also in 1983, a new TNE subsidiary, Copley Real Estate Advisors, had grown 11% and expanded to a new 160,000 RSF lease in the Back Bay. Copley initiated a new project on an adjacent site with the Gerald Hines Company. PM was assigned the task of:

	Forecasting headquarters requirements in the context of new business projections, operational changes and MIS initiatives
	Analyzing the operational and economic impact of split vs. consolidated facilities
	Recommending TNE's most effective use of the new adjacent TNE development project

After an Operations Audit and Orientation Study, PM worked with:

	Business unit managers and in-house corporate planners to develop an automated business-facility planning model,
	Facilities managers to define building efficiencies, duplicated services and operational inefficiencies linked to alternate occupancy patterns, and
	Copley Real Estate representatives to review leasing alternatives and model the economics of TNE's occupancy options within the new commercial project.

Although the assignment was initially "project plan" oriented, TNE came to view the facility forecasting component as more critical to both their business planning work (e.g. projected operating costs) and leasing plans. The planning team’s forecasting work was reinforced by explicit business plans and the actuarial focus of associated managers.

The efforts of this interdepartmental team allowed TNE to identify considerable operational savings based upon less duplication and greater productivity. Further savings were created by improved use of owned property, minimal occupancy in the new project, and further development and application of the business-facility planning model.

For example, on-going use of this model allowed the company to reduce "reserve space" for unanticipated facility needs from 10% to 2%; an annual savings of 20% in the high cost Back Bay area.

In 1991, IFMA awarded TNE's Facilities group the annual Facility Management Achievement Award for their pioneering use of integrated computer-aided FM systems. These systems facilitated development and execution of Strategic Facilities Plans for their 2 million RSF in 90 locations nationwide, and resulted in both significant cost reduction and quality improvements programs.

In 1995, The New England merged with MetLife.

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