Factory planning – an interdisciplinary challenge

Planning a factory is one of the most complex tasks in industrial value creation. It requires a deep understanding of technical, organisational and economic interrelationships. The aim of modern factory planning is to design efficient, flexible and low-waste value streams that meet both today's productivity requirements and future developments, such as those arising from digitalisation and automation.

The focus is on a holistic view of production processes. Production-related aspects, such as manufacturing processes, cycle times and plant layouts, must be harmonised with material flow-oriented design and logistical requirements. Only through the coordinated interaction of these elements can an efficient and future-proof factory structure be created.

A key success factor is the systematic design of internal logistics. The supply and disposal of materials, semi-finished products and components in production and assembly areas must be based on clear lean management principles. High material availability combined with minimal inventories requires a precisely coordinated logistics concept. Modern factories are increasingly relying on automated systems that make material flow dynamic and flexible. Driverless transport systems (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated handling technology offer new opportunities to make internal logistics efficient without hindering production processes, as was previously the case with rigid, line-bound systems.

Factory planning should therefore not begin with building design. Those who start by thinking about floor plans and hall dimensions run the risk of straying from the actual goals of value stream and process optimisation. The correct approach is to think about planning ‘from the inside out’: starting with the ideal processes, the optimal material flow and the supporting technology, the layout is developed, on the basis of which the building envelope is then designed. The building must serve the process – not the other way around.

In practice, however, the implementation of the ideal layout is limited by numerous constraints. Building regulations, fire safety requirements, environmental regulations and economic restrictions significantly limit design freedom. This is why interdisciplinary cooperation between different departments is particularly important. Machine and plant designers, logistics experts, architects, civil engineers, IT specialists and ergonomists must work together to develop an integrated solution. Only through close cooperation between these disciplines can a factory be created that is both functionally and economically optimised.

In addition, digitalisation is playing an increasingly crucial role. Methods such as digital factory models, simulations, building information modelling (BIM) and virtual commissioning make it possible to validate factory layouts at an early stage, identify bottlenecks and compare variants. This makes planning more efficient, transparent and less risky.

Ultimately, modern factory planning is not only a technical task, but also a strategic one. It lays the foundation for a company's competitiveness over many years. Those who succeed in combining processes, technology, buildings and people in a well-thought-out overall system will create a factory that not only produces efficiently, but can also respond adaptively to the challenges of the future.