Background
South Carolina’s Beaufort County Government, a culturally diverse and rapidly growing municipality that sits along the Atlantic coast, faced significant asset management and operational challenges. When Frank Stroncheck joined the county two years ago as Facilities Director, he quickly identified areas demanding immediate attention: severe understaffing, insufficient budgeting, and an outdated work order system that hindered effective tracking, analysis, and strategic planning. These issues were sharply underscored shortly after his arrival when a lightning strike at the facilities department building, housing critical IT infrastructure, highlighted the urgent need to modernize the system. Drawing on his extensive multi-facility operational experience and military background, Stroncheck set out to implement a comprehensive solution. His goal: to not only improve work order management but to also establish a system that supported long-term asset management, robust preventive maintenance (PM), and provided data-driven insights for resource allocation, budget requests, and strategic initiatives.
Using data to move beyond anecdotal requests
To address these systemic issues with clarity, Stroncheck prioritized establishing a data-backed understanding of the county’s true infrastructure needs. He initiated a full-scale facility condition assessment (FCA) across 700,000 square feet of the county’s most critical buildings. This assessment unearthed a staggering $24 million in deferred maintenance and identified a recurring annual need of $6 million to maintain infrastructure health. By integrating this extensive data into Brightly’s CMMS (Asset Essentials) platform, Stroncheck translated raw data into actionable insights. This allowed him to decisively move beyond anecdotal requests and present a compelling, factual narrative to county leadership that supported his budget proposals.
“We wanted Brightly’s asset management system so that we could have the data to show that we needed more money, which proved that we needed more staff,” Stroncheck explains. “The data gives you a solid voice.”
This data-driven approach to asset management resulted in Stroncheck securing increased funding for day-to-day maintenance and future capital projects.
Beyond budget advocacy, Brightly’s products have also transformed the facilities team’s approach to maintenance. Empowered with streamlined work orders, enhanced technician efficiency tracking, and improved resource allocation evaluation, the team is now actively rolling out preventive maintenance programs and prioritizing essential assets, including HVAC systems and generators. Leveraging Brightly’s real-time data, Beaufort County plans to continuously expand its preventive maintenance coverage, with the goal of achieving a proactive 4:1 PM reactive work order ratio.
Optimizing workforce and operational sustainability
As the new preventive maintenance framework took shape, the data also revealed broader operational hurdles, particularly staffing and long-term sustainability. By combining detailed maintenance data with established industry standards, Stroncheck demonstrated a significant resource gap. The data-backed evidence successfully justified the addition of five new staff members, significantly strengthening the facilities team to 19 technicians.
The facilities team has also implemented rigorous energy-saving benchmarks alongside their proactive maintenance strategy. Through these efforts, Stroncheck projects an extension of the county’s asset lifespans by four years, which is anticipated to generate an additional $4.2 million in savings every five years.
Establishing operational transparency and accountability
These operational and financial reforms laid the foundation for a broader cultural shift within the department. Beaufort County Government’s holistic approach, driven by the extensive data and capabilities of Brightly Asset Essentials and other tools, has fostered a culture of transparency and accountability.
Stroncheck emphasized the importance of “bringing in the experts” and leveraging data to “tell the story” of the facilities needs and impact. This comprehensive strategy not only ensures the long-term sustainability and optimal performance of Beaufort County’s assets but also demonstrates a profound commitment to responsible stewardship of taxpayer money while enhancing community services.
Results
With Brightly's asset management solution, Beaufort County:
- Used FCA and Brightly software to provide a data-backed budget request for stakeholders.
- Leveraged Brightly reports to request five new technician roles, demonstrating a clear need for additional resources beyond the current 14 technicians.
- Proactive maintenance and energy conservation efforts are projected to extend asset lifespans by four years, resulting in an additional $4.2 million in savings every five years.
- Implemented a preventative maintenance (PM) program with the goal of achieving a 4:1 proactive to reactive work order ratio.
Vitals
One of the South’s fastest growing counties with:
- 65 county buildings
- 1 million square feet of county land, across 500 square miles, including prominent and highly utilized facilities.