Testimonials
“I am very happy with the layout that you put together for us. We are filling up the western side of the building's office space with a design company, a music company and a large format output device. We are going to be rebranding as the COT Media Group later this month. We now need to refine a few Standard Operating procedures to maximize the work flow. Things however are dramatically improved with the new layout. I will keep you posted and please feel free to have anyone contact me for a reference.”
Nigel Worme
Managing Director
COT Caribbean Graphics
Articles
Inside Finishing
Expansion: The Layout for Improved Productivity
By Carla Davenport
Your business is well-established, presses are running at capacity, and word-of-mouth recommendations are sending increasing amounts of business your way. You’ve added new machinery and personnel to handle the increasing load and your accountant says you’re "in the black." Sounds like an enviable position most any business owner would want, right?
Maybe not if your business is outgrowing your facility. The new machinery you added probably changed the smooth workflow you had when your business was new. Those new employees that are helping increase your business may be complaining that they have nowhere to "hang their hats" or even sit down for a break or lunch. You may be seeing product damaged because there is no longer any place to store it.
Growing Pains
According to Hal Ettinger, President of RBE Company, Mount Prospect, IL, ignoring your plant’s growing pains can spell real trouble. "Employees that have to compensate for crowded operations, poor equipment layout, and inefficient materials flow have to expend increasing amounts of time and energy to get the same volume of work done," Ettinger explains. "They can begin to experience low morale that will eventually affect their performance in the form of longer turnaround times and lower quality work."
Ettinger’s company provides project management, plant layout, and engineering design services exclusively to the printing industry. A former pressman and production manager, Ettinger has been directly involved in more than 75 expansion projects and points to the following problems as signs that it may be time to expand.
- Physical restriction: there is no obvious room to locate new equipment; there isn’t enough locker space, cafeteria space, etc.
- Increased waste from double handling; product is ruined because there isn’t proper work-in-progress or storage space.
- Morale goes down. It’s critical to retain good employees in today’s market. You don’t want to lose employees because they are frustrated with working conditions.
- You’re missing deadlines or you can’t accommodate additional sales opportunities because you are at or over capacity.
Expansion vs. Relocation
Expanding a present location may be an option for some finishers, but if you continue to grow your business, it may be a temporary one. For one reason or another, it may become necessary to move to another existing structure or to construct a new facility. "Staying in our present location was not a consideration," recalls Bob Gallagher, President of Ace Graphic Services, Lenexa, KS. Ace recently completed a move to an existing structure that was redesigned with the help of Ettinger and RBE. "We had experienced flooding two different times and felt that a third flood could easily do the company in. In addition to that, we physically needed more space to get into operations our customers were asking for. We wanted to add to our capabilities for foil stamping and diecutting."
Space Requirements
Whether you choose to build or move to an existing structure, the first requirement will be in terms of space. Just how much space will you need for future growth? A. John Geis, a printing plant layout and facility design specialist, suggests a formula that compares current sales to total plant area to determine projected space requirements. Using sales history, a projection line can be created by regression analysis, available in most business software. An alternate method, as stated by Geis in Printing Plant Layout & Facility Design (GATF Press), uses a ratio of current sales to total plant area, or $200-$300 per square foot. For example, if a current plant size is 32,000 square feet and 1999 sales were $10,300,000 the ratio is:
$10,300,000/32,000 sq. ft. = $322 per sq. ft.
Using a five-year trend projection, (which better reflects the accelerated sales over the last three years), sales in five years, or 2004, will be about $16,000,000. Again, using the ratio:
$16,000,000/$322 sq. ft.=50,000 sq. ft.
There is no way to accurately predict area needs five years out, says Geis, but this method at least uses a finisher’s own past history to project future needs.
Planning Is Key
"The Ace Graphic Services job was a good example of how one can accomplish a relocation to an existing facility," noted Ettinger. "It was successful because of Bob Gallagher’s attention to early planning strategies. He was willing to spend time and money to put research into the facility, determining its feasibility and layout possibilities. Owners want to make money as soon as possible in a new facility. Many will say, ‘We have a floor and a ceiling, let’s move things in as soon as possible and get going.’ Bob was willing to delegate the planning responsibilities to an expert, which many owners aren’t willing to do."
The milestones of adapting an existing facility are threefold, says Ettinger. "First you need to generate accurate drawings of the building as it exists. Then you get a consensus layout of the facility. Planning for future growth is a key ingredient in this process. What kind of machinery and space might you need in the future as the business grows? Then you generate a design packaged for a local builder or architect to complete the project. The whole process takes from 6-8 weeks."
Workflow Design
When designing the layout for a new facility, Geis advises paying particular attention to workflow, Straight through flow, he suggests, is better suited to plants 30,000 square feet and larger, with sufficient land to provide truck access at both sides of the plant. Since most sheetfed plants are smaller than 30,000 square feet, a U-shaped flow might prove a better choice.
To provide for the installation of larger presses in the future, Geis recommends sizing pads to accommodate potentially large presses. Pads should be designed by a structural engineer who will use soil borings and press weight data to determine the appropriate design for press pads. Following are Geis’ specific recommendations for the pressroom in the new facility:
- Avoid having any outside windows, as UV from sunlight can destroy rubber ink rollers.
- Maintain the temperature at 70-73 F + or — 2 degrees and relative humidity at 45-50% + or — 5%.
- Install a drop ceiling approximately 12 feet high to provide a dust-free overhead, a smaller volume of air to environmentally control, and an attractive working environment.
- Provide a lighting level or 60-70 foot-candles at work height. Use cool white fluorescent or 5000K tubes for a drop ceiling and clear metal halide for an open ceiling.
- If the compressors, blowers, and pumps for the presses are not located in manufacturer-supplied cabinets, consider moving them out of the pressroom to eliminate the noise and heat they produce.
- Spray all inside walls with a noise-dampening material to eliminate noise refraction. The inside of exterior walls should be sealed to prevent moisture infiltration.
- Install plumbing for water close to the presses, and consider water treatment if the water’s conductivity is greater than 500 micromhos per centimeter.
- Provide overhead compressed air piping (as well as around the bindery) with drops on columns and convenient wall locations for cleaning equipment.
Layout Basics
Planning a facility is a major undertaking that can affect the profitability of a finisher’s workflow for many years to come, Geis warns. Careful, professional planning is essential. But in any facility, there are basic layout specifications that can help workflow, no matter what the volume of your business is. For instance, the feed end of presses should be close to paper storage and to a guillotine cutter for prepress cutting. Spacing between presses need only be wide enough to move printed product back to the feeder or to store pallets two-wide. All presses with a foil stamping/die cutting image of 25 inches or larger should be on their own pads.
If your finishing operation has a bindery area, layout should be designed so that all large equipment (i.e. cutters, folders, gather-stitcher-trimmers) are located close together and all small equipment (i.e. drills, stitchers, round-corners, etc.) are located close together. Another option is to make much of the small equipment portable so that it can be moved easily to different machines for inline operations. If a wall separates the bindery and presses, the bindery ceiling could be open to allow pallet storage racks to be installed for three-high storage (20-foot minimum clear height.)
A pneumatic trim collection system, feeding a cyclone and horizontal baler or directly to a wastepaper compactor, should be considered if volume warrants it. Providing cabinets to store cutter/trimmer knives and folder/saddle-binder parts is also recommended. Lift tables or load levelers to maintain loads at convenient operator height are suggested at cutter and hopper feeder locations.
One of the most difficult layout problems for finishers may be where to locate work-in-progress storage and how much of it to provide. It is optimal to provide some work-in-progress area at each large machine, and room for a few pallets or bindery carts at each small machine.
Support service functions such as restrooms, locker rooms, a lunchroom, supervisors’ offices, and maintenance areas are additional items to consider. Sufficient docks for receiving and shipping are needed, as well as wastepaper and trash handling. A covered platform with different truck heights to accommodate tractor-trailers and vans is also a good idea.
Productivity Is the Prize
"The goal of a project like this is productivity," says Ettinger. "Productivity is the ability to process more volume with at or fewer people in a shorter period of time." Gallagher is convinced that his new facility has met that goal and is ready to be perpetuated into the future. "We’ve already added a significant amount of new machinery," he stated. "And just the way materials flow through the plant is so much more convenient. My advice to anyone considering expansion is don’t be afraid to grow, because if you’re standing still, you’re really moving backwards!"
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