David Shull
Working within a single production facility is the best way to limit costs and manage resources. However, as your business grows there will come a point when your production floor can no longer sustain your growing demand. Expanding your plant can be costly, time-consuming, and requires a long-standing commitment. Yet, the need for sales growth will ultimately dictate a need for additional production space. Knowing when to expand is key. So, how do you decide when the time is right?
At BE&K Building Group, we specialize in helping industrial and manufacturing clients navigate these critical growth points. With decades of experience delivering high-performing, scalable facilities, we understand the complex demands that come with expansion and know how to plan for long-term operational success.
Here are five signs your building may be limiting productivity:
You can’t see across the plant floor to monitor production status.
Visibility is the key to dynamic management. Difficulty seeing across a plant floor may indicate a lack of available floor space. Competition for this space causes resources to stack up, reducing lines of sight over time. Visibility problems often lead to safety challenges, result in lost time searching for information, and keep other complications hidden.
You move things around to do equipment service or change production setup.
Productivity depends on staying operational. Keeping machines in good condition and ready for rapid retooling is “Production 101.” When equipment is placed too close together, supporting resources like work benches, toolboxes, supply carts, and document desks overlap into equipment-clear floor space. When this occurs, equipment changeover and maintenance first require obstructions be moved out of the way. This extra work takes time, slows production, and often creates new obstacles for other activities.
Your aisles are too narrow, unclear, or frequently blocked.
Access is critical to the life of production. Clear aisles enable rapid and safe delivery of materials, resources, and service support. It can be tempting to use aisles as temporary staging areas. In addition, when new lines or configurations are integrated into facilities, aisles often get squeezed, eliminated, or rearranged. Compromised aisles can reduce safety, increase unnecessary movement, and reduce productivity.
Your production flow looks like a pinball game.
Simple, clean, and direct flow is a standard for a healthy production floor. As needs change or manufacturing demands grow, production lines often become disorganized and disconnected. When direct connections between production stages are lost, productive flow drops. Unnecessary movement increases the amount of work in process. This can lead to an increase in inventory and a reduction in production speed.
You avoid new opportunities because it might interfere with current production.
Staying successful demands both continuity and smart opportunism. On one hand, failing your current customers is unacceptable and reorganizing your current plant is a threat to production. On the other hand, failing to capture opportunities to expand and diversify threatens future business potential and continued growth.
If any (or all) of the above signs are familiar to you, it is time to explore the idea of building expansion. The additional space could help you improve visibility, create better flow, increase safety, and make capturing future business easier. An evaluation of your current status may be more valuable than you could imagine and BE&K is here to assist.
As a trusted leader in industrial and manufacturing facility construction, BE&K Building Group brings deep expertise in designing and delivering spaces that drive operational excellence. Our team understands the intricacies of production environments and partners with clients to create customized solutions that align with their business goals. Contact us today to learn how we can help you turn today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities.