For this project, we are going to do our benchmark on the layout of a fitness centre which is in the service industry. The fitness centre that we had chosen for this project is Beast Gym, a fitness centre located at Crystal Ville, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. Unlike other ordinary businesses that sell tangible goods, Beast Gym actually provides services to the public by selling the right to use its fitness equipment. Service is defined as intangible and inconsistent product, and it is often knowledge-based. Beast Gym provides fitness equipment such as treadmills, exercise bike, elliptical trainer and dumbbell for the use of the customers. Besides, the customers of Beast Gym can also receive health advices from the trainer at there.
Throughout the benchmarking process, we believe that we will be able to obtain precious information regarding on how to organize a proper layout and make the operation of the business to be more fluent and bring convenience to customers.
Utilisation of space is a measure of how space is being used to it fullest.
Based on Figure 1.1, we can see that there is a brown-coloured door on the black wall. Behind the door is a room to keep some gym accessories such as yoga mats. The small room is build inside the wall. As for Figure 1.2, we can see that there is some gym equipment such as yoga ball and kettlebell putting on the floor or inside the basket on the floor.
In my opinion, utilisation of space for equipment and people is perfectly seen in the Figure1.1. The idea of building a room in a wall is amazing as it can save the place used. The room will not use any of the space of the original layout. It can add extra place for the fitness centre to put more equipment and also increase the space for gym user to walk. As for Figure1.2, I think that actually it is better to put a L-shaped rack at the corner and put that equipment on the rack instead of putting them on the floor. This is because if you put thing on the floor, you will need a lot of space. But if you put in on L-shaped rack, you can fully utilised the space by putting things a bit higher instead of broader on the floor.
Signage is a sign which includes graphic designs, a symbols or words with the purpose of giving direction or purpose of giving a warning. Flow of information and material is the procedure of how things should be done.
Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2 is some of the sign found in the gym. Figure 2.1 is found behind the door of each toilet. The ‘FLUSH LA BRO’ sign is to remind the gym users that they have the responsibility to the toilet cleanliness by flushing the toilet after use. Figure 2.2 is a no smoking and no vaping sign. The sign is found inside the fitness centre. The purpose of this sign is to let the gym users know that no smoking or vaping is allowed in a clean air zone which is inside the gym. As for Figure 2.3, it is a picture of instructions on how to use the machine. The instruction can be found on the fitness equipment itself.
In my opinion, the signage of ‘FLUSH LA BRO’ is not necessary to put behind each toilet. This is because our mind set of flushing the toilet after used has already been build up since we were young. Most of the people will automatically flush the toilet even though there is no signage as a reminder. However, if the user is an irresponsible person, the signage will be useless too. Other than that, the fitness centre did a good job on putting the no smoking sign. This is because gym room is the place for people to build up a healthy lifestyle. If people smoke inside the gym, the smoke will make the whole fitness centre become smelly and make others feel uncomfortable. In short, the signage is playing an important role in the gym room. As for Figure 2.3, it has shown the flow of information. Gym users will know how to use the equipment when they refer to the instruction sign on the equipment itself.
Safer working conditions refers to whether the working place has proper evacuation plan when emergencies happened or has the place installed with safety equipment such as smoke detector, water sprinkle and CCTV.
Safer working conditions refers to whether the working place has proper evacuation plan when emergencies happened or has the place installed with safety equipment such as smoke detector, water sprinkle and CCTV.
Figure 3.1 shows the entrance of the business premise. It is the only way to access into or going out from the gym. From our observation, the access door is lockable by locks and is tough as it is made up by steel. Besides, there is no coverage of fire alarm system, fire extinguisher or CCTV.
I think that it is not ideal to have only one exit. In case there is any unexpected accident or emergency such as fire disaster happened nearby the only door, people inside cannot escape out. The management of the business itself needs to have a proper evacuation plan to make sure that people inside can escaped safely when such incident happened.
Customer or client interactions means that the interaction between the staff and the customers. It includes whether the staff is reachable by the customers when they need the staff’s help.
Based on Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2, we can see that there is only one counter in the gym room. The counter will be seen when you walk in from the entrance. The purpose of the counter is to serves as an inquiry counter and also cashier counter. From the picture above, it is clearly seen that there is only one staff at the counter. Behind the counter, there is a refrigerator with energy drinks that are going to sold to the customers.
I think that it is good to have a counter near the entrance. This is because customers can easily find the counter when they need any help or have any inquiry. The staff is easily reachable when customers have any inquiry. Hence, the interactions between staff and customers will increase. Besides that, customers can also buy energy drinks and protein powder from the staff at the counter. However, there is only one staff in the gym room. If there are a lot of customers, he maybe cannot serve so many people at the same time.
Servicescapes includes the ambient conditions such as lighting and smell of the place, spatial layout and functionality such as aisle characteristics and product grouping, and characteristics of building design that carry social significance.
Figure 5.1 above shows that the premise itself installed a lot of transparent window on the building. Figure 5.2 is the picture of the ceiling fan in the fitness centre. Figure 5.3 shows that there are some lights on the ceiling. From Figure 5.4, we can see that the women’s and men’s bathroom for gym users to clean up is located side by side. Figure 5.5 is the picture of the aisle for gym users to walk. Based on Figure 5.6, we can know that the treadmills are located close to each other. Figure 5.7 and Figure 5.8 are some motivation sign found in the fitness centre.
From Figure 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 above, we can know that that the air circulation inside the fitness centre is good as the windows are all open. Hence, the smell inside the fitness centre will not be smelly. Moreover, the atmosphere is controlled in a moderate temperature as the fitness centre will switch on the fans inside. Next, the lighting is good during morning as the transparent windows allows the sunlight to comes in. As for sunsets, the fitness centre can switch on the lights inside the fitness centre. For Figure 5.4, some of the users will feel uncomfortable because of the bathrooms for women and men are located side by side. The bathroom or changing for women and men should be located at different side so that women gym user will feel more comfortable and safer. Next, we can see that the aisle inside the fitness centre as shown in Figure 5.5 is good as it is not too narrow for gym user to walk. However, in Figure 5.6, the treadmills are placed too near to each other and it will endanger the users. They don’t have enough place to stand when they walk down from the treadmills. Next, I think it is a good idea to put on some motivation sign to motivate the users as shown in Figure 5.7 and 5.8. This is because when the users are tired and want to gives up, they will feel motivated again when they see the motivation sign.
Utilisation of space is important because if we can fully utilise the space given, we can make our gym room to look more neat and easier for gym users to look for the equipment. For our own project, we will put some L-shaped rack at the corner so that we can fully utilise the space of the premise. We will use the rack to keep some gym equipment such as dumbbells and kettlebells. We will also implement the idea of building a room in the wall. However, we will use it as storeroom to keep some cleaning tools instead of gym accessories. This is because if we use it to keep gym accessories, gym users might not find the accessories they want as they did not realise that the door in the wall might have it. Moreover, we will also put L-shaped locker at the corners to allow gym users to store their belongings such as clean clothes and wallet.
First of all, at the BEAST GYM room, there is only two signage, hence it is totally insufficient. One of the signboard is no smoking sign and the other is to remind the user to flush the toilet after using. For our own project, we will also put the no smoking sign at some area of the fitness centre and also some sign to remind users to flush in the toilet. We will also put a sign to show the customer the direction of toilet. We will choose some creative sign so that customers can get our message. Furthermore, we will put up a board outside the main entrance of the fitness centre stating the rules and regulations of using fitness centre and also a board showing the fees so that customers are aware before entering. Besides, we will also put the instructions on how to use the gym equipment beside each gym equipment so that gym users would not hurt themselves when using that equipment. Moreover, we will check from time to time to make sure that all signage is clear to be seen.
For every business location, the safety of the working environment is the most important issue to be considered. A safe working environment not only enhances the working attitude and productivity of the employee, but also help in enhance the business value by taking care the issue of safety of customers properly. Hence, employer must provide a safe workplace so that the employees and the customers can stay at the place without feeling worry that anything bad might happen. For our own project, we will install fire alarm system to provide awareness towards occurrence of emergency like fire disaster. Furthermore, we will also put some fire extinguisher at some area inside the gym so that if there is a fire caused by wire burn, we can put off the fire. Next, we will make at least two exits available for the staff and customers to use. Besides, we will also come out with a good evacuation plan and trained our staff well on the evacuation plan so that in case fire disaster happen, people inside can evacuate in order and faster. Moreover, we will also safeguard the fitness centre by installing CCTV at certain area such as nearby counter and nearby locker. This is to safeguard or monitor the surrounding especially during midnight, in order to decrease the risk of criminal activities like robbery.
The counter is the core of the gym room because before the costumer is able to enjoy the equipment, they will need to make payment at the counter first. Hence, the design of the counter is very important. We will make sure that the height of the counter is not too high and too low. Besides, we will locate our counter at the main entrance so that it can be easily seen. Next, we will also make sure that for our own fitness centre, there will be a staff in charge for the protein and energy drinks sold at the counter. Additionally, we will also make sure that our fitness centre has sufficient staff or trainers to help the customers. Furthermore, our counter will also have some decoration to attract the customer, this is a good strategy to improve the business. In short, the counter is important to customer and client interaction.
Servicescape is a very important layout when planning for a project. This is because most of the people will choose place where they feel comfortable. First of all, we will use transparent windows in our fitness centre as natural sunlight can comes in and gym users can see the view outside the window when they exercise. Next, we will also install some ceiling lights to make sure the lighting in the fitness centre is sufficient. Additionally, we will install air-conditioner so that the gym users will not feel hot when they exercising. However, we will control the temperature carefully because if the temperature is too cold, your muscles won't stay warm during the workout. When it is too hot, you will start to feel uncomfortable because of overheat. The next matter is regarding to the bathroom or changing room. We will separate the bathroom or changing room of women and men to two different areas. This is because women will feel uncomfortable to have the changing area so near to men and men will feel the same too. Besides, we will also make the aisle for people to walk a little bit wider. Moreover, we will arrange our equipment according to the type and make the space between each equipment wider. Last but not least, we will also put on more motivation sign to motivate the gym user just like what Beast Gym does.
As a results from the benchmarking process made on Beast Gym, our team has found out several parts of weaknesses that Beast Gym, our benchmark business is facing, including circumstances like visibility of the business signage, flow of information or matter, issue of interaction with customers, and issue of safety in the business location. However, in case the project will also facing the same problems that Beast Gym is dealing with, these issues, in fact is what we can learn a lesson and figure out various kind of solutions to improve the future project.
For example, the signage visibility. We will improve the visibility by using a creative or attracting symbol to successfully deliver the message to customers. This action eventually solves the issue of weak signage. Next, regarding the safety issue, instructions on using equipment play a significant role in operations. We must always ensure that every equipment should always been used carefully by following the instructions to ensure the safety of customers, and also those staffs.
The reason on why we are choosing Beast Gym as our benchmark is due to Beast Gym has the closest traits with the business that our company is going to operate. The business doesn’t own a large and comfortable environment like other fitness centres in the shopping malls, but it creates a good impression among the customers in the area. We believe that the business strategy they used is working perfectly with the environment. Therefore, using Beast Gym as our benchmark will definitely bring benefits to our future projects.