Factory & Line Layouts – Ensuring Success for a Startup

As prefab manufacturing continues to have a spotlight thrust upon it, new factories are popping up nationwide. If you have ever been a part of a new factory startup, you probably have the scars to prove it – mentally, emotionally, and physically. Every new factory startup is a lot of work and time, but it doesn’t have to be a horrible experience. Having lived through a couple of these myself, I have learned (and continue to learn) a lot about what it takes to ensure a smooth transition while reducing the number of pitfalls. Let us take a deeper look into what it takes to ensure your new factory startup is as successful as possible.

Product

Having a strong understanding of your product and everything that goes into it is extremely important, and it is the first step of the process. You also need to realize that your product can change in different regions – so if you have a couple of geographic locations in mind for your factory, make sure you understand the building codes and practices of that region and what impact they could have on your product. These impacts could change your product enough that the equipment planned is not able to perform adequately, which can cause a decline in output or even maintenance issues from trying to push machines beyond their ability. KNOW YOUR PRODUCT today, tomorrow, and even what it could be in the future.

Processes

Product and processes go hand and hand. Knowing what you want to produce and how you want to produce it, while making sure that it is code-compliant, is important. There are a lot of products and many different processes to choose from, so researching and understanding what those are will help you select the best equipment and layout for your operation. As Stiles can assist and guide you, your deep understanding of product and process will ensure the best possible outcome.

Manufacturing Concept

Most prefab manufacturing facilities fall into manual, semi-auto, or fully automated. Knowing which of these you want to be is very important. We can debate which is best, but there are pros and cons to all three. This high-level chart lists a few of the considerations.

I think six out of the seven features in the chart – money, # of people, maintenance costs, space required, product flexibility, and safety/quality – need no explanation, but output does need further discussion. Manual has the most flexible output because you can decrease or increase productivity by adding or subtracting production staff to the process. However, this comes with its own issues and is the reason why automation is gaining a much bigger foothold in our industry. Revolving production staff is a challenge in most shops and has a direct impact on output, safety, and quality. Manual output is also greatly affected by the difficulty of the project; for example, if your shop is 90% production builders, throwing in a multi-family job can bring your shop to a crawl.

I personally think that a common misconception about adding automation is that people focus too hard on output numbers only. In my experience, it is the consistency of a semi-auto and full auto production shop that needs to be taken into consideration. A manual shop can be greatly affected by different or new products running through the lines, whereas an automated extruder line runs at the same rate as you feed it. So, material and element flow into the automated line is key to keeping the output consistent. This allows you to schedule your shop and maintain deadlines more accurately. This allows the semi-auto or full auto setup to outperform the manual line in production output over a duration.

Phases

Another very important aspect in setting up a factory is size. What size do you start with day one and what is your growth strategy? If you plan to grow at all, this must be thought of now, so you can create a ramp-up plan in phases that will reduce downtime and expenditures in the future. Even if you only plan on adding a saw or table, it’s best to consider that and have a plan to execute when the time comes. It’s better to take the time to create a plan (even if you never use it) than to overlook it and need it later. DON’T SKIP STEPS IN PLANNING.

The Building

The largest decision to make when considering your location is the building itself. Do you rent an existing building or build a new one? Renting might be more affordable and work better in your timeline, but it will pose certain problems. Trying to find an existing building that works for your needs will limit your geographic locations and it may limit how you can alter the building. For instance, if you are not allowed to change the building or alter the concrete when installing machinery, that may limit your material flow and layout efficiency. Being able to embed machine rails into the concrete, optimize door locations, and request a certain column spacing makes building new very attractive. Ensuring that you have the ceiling height you need is also key. In a perfect world, understanding your process and material flow first, then backing into an equipment layout, and lastly surrounding it with a building is the best way to ensure success.

With so much to consider when doing a new startup, partnering with the correct companies to assist during this process is the most important aspect to ensuring success. It takes good partnerships and teamwork to make the dream work. Let Stiles be one of those partners. We don’t want to fill a building with equipment, we want to help you create something that will be successful and last through the ups and down of today’s constantly changing industry.