SUTD alumni develop facilities management platform for better communication

12 Jul 2021

Straits Times, 12 Jul 2021, SUTD alumni develop facilities management platform for better communication
 
While working on his final-year project which would eventually become his start-up, Mr Wang Wei Liang and his team interviewed over 100 property consultants, residents and facility managers.

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) students were trying to find a better way for landlords and tenants to resolve disputes on rent and maintenance.

But the interviews led to a bigger idea when they learnt there was no centralised platform for communication or easy way to maintain a paper trail of discussions that took place in person or over the phone.

Such communication difficulties also existed on a larger scale between facility managers and service contractors, inspiring Mr Wang to start Proccoli, a facilities management platform streamlining collaboration between facility managers, residents and service contractors.

Proccoli also allows facility managers to publish projects for service contractors such as cleaning and landscaping companies to bid on.

Procurement in such projects is usually done through e-mail, which can be tedious and time-consuming, said Mr Wang.

Residents will also be able to report issues they face such as leaking pipes and broken tiles to the facility managers of their residential estate.

Proccoli's platform ensures that at every point in time, all parties have access to necessary information and are accurately updated on the status of the project.

Mr Wang said: "The built environment industry still relies a lot on manual information storage and communication methods. Proccoli aims to digitalise the process, making it more transparent, accountable and efficient."

Mr Wang, who graduated from SUTD last year, is grateful to his university for both funding and mentorship.

He was awarded the Stephen Riady Innovation Fund, a grant which provides SUTD students and alumni with up to $10,000 to develop their business ideas.

He will also be receiving $50,000 from the Startup SG Founder grant provided by Enterprise Singapore.

Mr Wang said: "Competitions such as Enterprise Singapore's Founder Ignite provide us with industry connections which help us obtain referrals to potential clients as well as resources to reduce our operating costs."

For now, Proccoli is focusing on product development. It aims to release new features for its web application such as service contract management tools by the end of the month.