Inside Out

As many of you have probably experienced with children, grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, they get to the age where they want to be very independent. One way of showing independence is getting themselves dressed. Typically, this isn’t a problem, except when they come out of their room with clothes on inside-out. Even so, it’s a simple fix to get things back the right way. Not only have I seen this haste and confusion with my children, but I sometimes see it in business too. Some clients are hasty and want to design their facility from the outside-in, rather than from the inside-out. This too, can be a simple fix if it is caught early enough. Let me tell you what I mean.

We got a call several weeks ago about a proposed new manufacturing facility. This new facility would be producing an established product, but using new/emerging technology. With all of this in mind, the client knew that his new building had to be designed from the inside-out. We all agreed that the process is what brings value to him, and his building is there to protect and support that value. We found that the form and physical attributes of the building would be determined by balancing the flow of product through the building. So, while our client stayed focused on the product, we got focused on the process, and then the facility.

Three steps that you can use to design your next facility from the inside-out would be 1.) develop production sequence process flow diagrams, 2.) establish an efficient equipment layout and 3.) design the building to function around the process and equipment. These steps will produce the criteria for your corporate decision making process. Designing from the inside-out offers the greatest opportunity of meeting your long and short term goals. Call us; we can help you design your next project from the inside-out.

Value Added

We were at an industrial plant in Ohio a few weeks ago to look at an existing overhead crane rail system that the client was looking to upgrade. The plan was to simply replace the existing crane rails with new ones that would run smoother. We were called in at the request of the installer of the new system, who wanted an independent structural evaluation of the area where the new crane rails would be installed. At first glance, it seemed like a very simple structural evaluation. It became a lot less simple as we started to look at the existing crane rail and how it was installed years ago when the building was constructed.

As we got deeper into the inspection, it became obvious that the old crane rail system had been connected to the building structure in some questionable ways. The existing system had not failed, nor had it caused the building structure to fail. However, the install of a new system that carries different loads certainly could cause failure not only to the crane rail, but to the building itself.

PDMi’s structural evaluation was able to identify several areas that needed to be structurally enhanced in order to carry the load of the new crane rail system. As it turns out, making the call to PDMi to do a simple evaluation of the structure may have saved the building owner thousands of dollars in future structural damage, not to mention the headache it would cause.

This is one of many instances over the years that PDMi has been called in and Value was Added to a project. If we can be of help on your next project, give us a call.

Summertime

If you are like me, you love all the things you can do during the summer months. As the song says “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy”. Whether you’re enjoying the golf course, picnicking with family and friends, going to see your favorite baseball team play or cooling down at your favorite waterpark, always keep the perspective that living should be easy (I didn’t say not busy – just easy).

As much as summer living should be easy, building projects are not always easy. All too often, we see projects that are made difficult by decisions that are made or decisions that are not made. We are working with a client that is going through changes in how they will be using their facility in the future. They called us to attend the kick-off meeting for the renovation project. As the meeting started it quickly moved to a discussion by the owner’s staff about who was moving where and what to do with the vacated space. It became apparent that a project that could be “easy “was becoming difficult due to the staff trying to solve problems before goals and program requirements were set. To get them back on track, we

• …went back and started from the beginning to carefully identify all their needs and projected future growth of each department. Constraints were identified and “needs” were distinguished from “wants”.

• …organized the programing process and quickly came up with a solution that addressed each of their identified needs so a floor plan could be developed for review & approval.

This is just one of many experiences that have repeatedly proven to us that the success of a project depends on the quality and integrity of the initial programing and planning. The programing and planning phases lay the foundation for the detailed design and construction phase. We would like to help you keep your next project “easy”. Give us a call.