Factory Planning

Production is your engine - is it running smoothly?
Laying the foundation with long-term factory planning

A factory should expand your options, not limit them. This is not always easy in historically grown building structures. Limited or unsuitable space hinders growth opportunities, as historically growb but inefficient material flows. This is a major challenge for many companies – especially when

Significant changes to the production program are imminent
or significant sales growth is expected.

After all, in dynamic markets, stagnation means a loss of competitiveness and diminishing business success.

Relocation is not always necessary. It is more important to develop sites with holistic factory planning, including the optimization of your operational processes, both, in greenfield sites or in existing buildings. We make our client’s factories are fit for the next decades with adaptable, modular, sustainable, and easily expandable layout structures in production, logistics and office areas. The site’s urban development concept provides the framework for the planned implementation phases.

Your contact

Matthias Däumler

Director Factory Planning

Production that serves you for decades

With Dr. Schönheit + Partner you gain an interdisciplinary team of experts with more than 25 years of experience in the planning and realization of factories and industrial buildings. Our team of engineers, business specialists and architects work hand in hand. All disciplines are involved in the planning of your production facility are united under one roof – from process design to realization. We work with our clients to develop a tailored master plan and support until your plant is up and running.

In the factory planning process we take into account our client’s corporate strategy as well as their long-term development ambitions for the production program and logistics. Jointly we identify how to optimize production and logistics processes, considering technology used.

Our main premise in the realization of factory planning projects is to plan from the inside out so that the form always follows the process. In the center of our planning are always the employees – your most important value-adding asset. All production processes, material and information flows are consistently aligned for value-adding potential. Energy flows, combined with their generation and consumption transparent, synchronize them and link them to sustainable, demand-driven technologies.

The 7 dimensions of sustainable factory design

Few tasks are as complex as building or redesigning complete factories. With decades of international experience in building production units and hundreds of successful projects, we know which parameters are crucial. You decide how far and how deep we go, because every project is different. The following dimensions determine the long-term success of a factory planning project:

1. Master planning

How will you achieve your goals within the existing building structure, processes and technology?

Our Master Planning offering helps you answer this critical question. It provides you with a long-term strategy for site and plant development that allows you to plan early for possible expansions of your plant - for a versatile, modular, and sustainable factory.

2. Holistic factory planning

What is the ideal factory to realize your ambition?

The factory of the future is essentially built from the inside out - starting with the desired production realities, which are later surrounded by a sophisticated building envelope. The production programs determine the processes in production, logistics, planning and control. These are designed by our factory planners to completely incorporate our "lean" philosophy – meaning simple and transparent - and aligned with the people who work there. The result is a factory that is adaptable because it is modular.

3. System architecture

How should material and information flow?

The system architecture describes these requirements for the production system in a synchronized way, showing the relationships between processes. You can see how easily this complexity can be mapped when we present you with a strategic overview of how the factory works - on just one sheet of paper! This way, you can intuitively understand how the different areas within the factory or logistics system relate to each other. Material flows, information flows, and control principles visualize how closed the system is.

4. Logistics planning

How do you ensure the best control of materials and information?

To optimize your logistics performance, we analyze your existing logistics chain from supplier to customer and derive areas for action. Based on this analysis, we work with you to develop and size your target logistics chains in terms of organization, communication and technology. The concept includes not only the flows, but also the warehousing and temporary storage. Warehouses, as a non-value-added part of production, are designed to optimally provide their supporting function, thus, saving space and construction and operating costs.

5. Energy design

Do you use energy efficiently?

This question is becoming increasingly important as energy prices rise and legislation on sustainability are continuously introduced. Smart energy design reduces your energy costs and emissions at the same time - an important step on the way towards your green factory. On the one hand, we work with you to develop the technological requirements for efficient energy production and storage, and for synchronizing energy producers and consumers. On the other hand, we identify the potential for more efficient energy use. A roadmap unlocks this potential and leads to concrete savings. This reduces not only costs, but also emissions, giving you more freedom to shape the future.

6. Dynamic simulation

How will you know if the implementation is working?

Most decisions are characterized by a high degree of uncertainty; therefore, it makes sense to eliminate the possibility of costly mistakes right from the start. Using a digital model of your entire factory, we simulate material flows and processes in advance. This allows us to anticipate the impact of decisions on the overall system and, if necessary, adjust them in the concept phase. We work with you to define the right scope for simulation and create a model tailored to your needs.

7. Tenders and awarding

Who will realize this new factory?

We don't leave you alone when it comes to choosing production and logistics technology. Based on our experience from numerous successful projects, we have developed a specialization for this task and support you in planning and implementation. We develop future-proof and economical solutions, taking into account process requirements and building conditions. Our high-quality tenders offer a high degree of planning security and minimize risks in the implementation of the project. We rely on a highly professional network and ensure that the cost framework is adhered to.

The 6 phases to develop an ideal factory

“From the inside out” – what is nowadays common practice, we have been using for more than 25 years. Based on this experience, we have developed a proven 6-phase model: First, we work with you to evaluate factory development alternatives. The specific design of your factory is based on the selected production programs and the lean processes aligned with them. The result is your adaptable, modular and transparent factory, where people are at the center, with simple and aligned processes.