property office july 26,2011 fabricated equipment in the university environment ryan mcalarney, cpps
TRANSCRIPT
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Fabricated Equipment in the University Environment
Ryan McAlarney, CPPS
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
A Couple of Other “Fabs”
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Terminology/Definitions - Fabricated equipment can go by many different names
- Exactly what constitutes a fabrication can vary, sometimes quite radically from organization to organization
- Key: Your policy needs to work for your organization (Oh, and also be compliant with any rules and regulations your organization is subject to).
- Fabs can be one of the grayer areas of property management, but they don’t have to be!
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Show Me You Have an Idea of What You’re Building
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Budgets 101
- - Budgets are vital in almost any setting; they indicate there is a clear plan of expenditures related to the equipment being built.
- - Especially important if you extend O/H benefits to fabs.
- - Allows you to monitor allowable/unallowable costs.
- - Good to have on hand for documentation/audit purposes.
-
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
FundingMIT’s Fab Funding Structure:
- Anything goes, or restricted to certain sources (i.e. research)?
Parent Funding Source (Research account only)Parent Funding Source
(Research account only)
Fabricated Equipment Account
(child)
Fabricated Equipment Account
(child)
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Period of Performance (Build Time)--Set periods of time?
-- How flexible?
-- Governed by parent funding source’s start and end dates?
-- Good idea to have some type of time-based progress evaluation
-- Minimize risk of abuse or inappropriate charges
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Useful Life--Whether you depreciate fabricated equipment is a factor in determining useful life.
-- Uniqueness, proof of concept qualities can hinder ability to determine an accurate useful life.
--MIT has a minimum one year useful life for fabricated equipment.
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Burning Questionso - The “system” vs. “stand alone” dilemma (aka the computer
farm problem).
o - To capitalize or not to capitalize?
o - How do you address cannibalization (taking parts from a completed fabrication for use in another that is being assembled)?
o - Buy vs. build (the age-old question!)
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
General Tips & Trickso - Drawings & diagrams are invaluable.
o - Try to develop your own network of “go-to” people.
o - The more detail, the better.
o - When developing your fab policy, make sure it works for your organization. Involve all the affected players, if possible.
o - When dealing with a fabrication funded by a contract/grant, be aware of any required approvals and/or ownership issues.
Property OfficeJuly 26,2011
Discussiono - Questions
o - Ideas
o - Issues
o - Stories
o - Heckling of the presenter
