Research opportunities for the management of engineering services using systems engineering

This paper aims to incorporate systems engineering thinking into the management of engineering services. An overview of Singapore service sector is provided and it shows that management of engineering services for commercial buildings and public transport, which has important socio-economic implications could be area where the concept of systems engineering services (SES) could present potential research opportunities in yielding service improvement. Facilities management (FM) in the context of commercial buildings is introduced and the essential characteristics of commercial buildings as compared to other types of facilities, in particular the user profile of such facilities will be highlighted. In particular, the user profile of such facilities will be highlighted. Also, an overview of public bus services is presented and it is shown that it is indeed intertwined with FM. Finally, potential research gaps are identified and discussed.