Planning Your Factory Relocation
Beginning with a site visit to ensure everything is considered, including access, ground conditions, timing and height restrictions and personnel considerations. Manually checking is paramount with professional help as this will allow you to assess everything properly. Lift plans and method statements are completed with Health and Safety key factors. Once planning is complete and agreed to everyone's satisfaction, your lift can go ahead.
There are numerous important considerations when planning to move your facility, factory or plant. The successful execution will depend entirely on the planning and processes put in place. Here are some of the things you'll need to consider:
- Complete Site Surveys
- Machine Movement Plans
- Plant Decommissioning and Recommissioning
- Risk Assessments
- CE testing
- Equipment Upgrades and Modifications
- Decontamination processes
- Export Packing (if required)
- Removing Machinery and Installation
- Project Management and On-site Supervision
Steps in Moving Your Business
A simple step by step plan, written down and itemised, will ensure nothing is missed and that everything is completed and actioned in the proper sequence. These drawings will help professional movers to appropriately manage your labour force, and any likely disruption minimised - all of which helps you maximise profits.
Step 1:
Plan the Logistics of Your Move
Whether you are moving a short or a great distance, coordinating the logistics will benefit everyone. The large-scale transfer of operations, machinery, plant and goods can take longer than imagined or planned.
Drawing up a logistics plan will help you manage the flow of each part of your plant relocation and keep your operation moving steadily toward your objective. Consider whether your employees will remain working in a temporary office or an alternative option. Also, make sure to inform your customers of the move to avoid unwanted issues.
Step 2:
Organise Your Transport Requirements Early
As with many things, savings need to be made to organise your transport and haulage early. It's beneficial for both you and the haulier, as they know the work is there and you can negotiate better rates for early secure booking. Drawing out a timeline will help keep all employees involved with the plant relocation on track.
Think about what needs to move out first based on the existing layout. Will it need to be relocated first or set aside for transfer later? It becomes expensive and frustrating if you find your building's equipment and belongings need to move multiple times due to poor planning or layout.
Step 3:
Put Your Plan in Motion and Manage Your Progress
Once you are confident that you have everything covered in your drawings, you can begin the factory or plant relocation. Doing so will ensure all the details have been checked, verified and confirmed.
Whichever machinery relocation specialist you choose, make sure they follow the appropriate specifications. These are the comprehensive Health and Safety assessments, method statements, and lift plans concerning the particular method and equipment you and professionals will utilise during your facility move.
Plan for Your Business Relocation
There are many reasons you might need to relocate your business or manufacturing facility. Understanding the exact reasons why you are considering moving will help you narrow down to your wanted new location and, as a result, what you can afford and your needs.
Taxes
Taxes should not prevent you from achieving your goals. Sometimes, they may be beneficial while moving. For instance, moving from one county to another could lead to reduced sales tax, while moving from one state to another could reduce your inventory taxes or income. It is imperative to consider your moving expenses. To help determine your expense charge, calculate taxation in your current location and your decided destination, and compare.
Space
Consider a situation where your warehouse has a leaking roof or your office isn't spacious enough for all your employees. You probably require a new space as a solution to these problems. However, you should consider the new space keenly as you analyse your current space. Ask yourself why you need the space and what you can afford. As a company expands and more employees are hired, it's likely a bigger space is required; luckily, expansion is generally a sign of success, so that that facility relocation may pay for itself.
Operations (and Operating Costs)
Perhaps you chose your current location due to convenience, but you feel better off somewhere else. On the other hand, you may consider selling the current space and channelling those funds to boost your operating capital.
The most crucial factor to consider before relocating your business is the long-term consequences. For example, as a retailer, your current clients may find the new premise more or less convenient, or your rent may go up after relocating. However, additional funds may act as a cushion for your operating budget.
Be realistic, and think about what you will achieve in your new space and the extent to which that fund can take you.
Executing The Relocation
Blueprint
Drawing up a substantial blueprint of the overall layout of your manufacturing plant is incredibly useful for all employees involved in the facility or plant relocation. The final drawing should be annotated in great detail and distributed among your engineers, architects and other employees involved in the plant relocation.
Doing so is the most critical process; it helps brief your whole team on removing furniture, door and column locations to map out machinery and essential tools and equipment quantities. You'll discover that a plan will help good workflow. Ensure your project plan and layout drawings include necessary exits, ceiling heights for overhead equipment, electrical jacks and many more.
Generate Moving Budget
Begin by curating a detailed schedule that includes a plan for each department on each day leading up to the soft launch of your successful relocation process. Understanding the roles allocated during the process and every step of your plan; if you experience miscommunications and mistakes.
The sales team can adjust the fulfilment times they spend with customers, and your finance team must account for every potential cost you could encounter during the process. It is crucial to inform HR if you require any additional employees. Every team involved in your plant relocation process will allow you to generate a precise moving budget and thoroughly understand it.
Successful Supplier Selection
If you wish to hire new or existing suppliers from a different supply chain, it can depend entirely on your factory's current requirements.
Existing suppliers result in minimal disruption; we recommend working with new suppliers to help you understand the new market and offer a fresh perspective, identify areas to improve and analyse any shortcomings.
Refurbishing Construction Equipment
Refurbishing your equipment could occasionally seem like a no-brainer, especially at half the cost of purchasing brand-new tools and equipment. However, when it comes to longevity for your equipment and achieving cost savings, it is essential to educate the equipment manager on these specific five factors:
When your refurbishment is machine appropriate
The potential advantages of the refurbishment
What your refurbishment entails
What to look for in a service centre
What to expect post-refurbishment
When you have officially figured out the answers to your questions, you can begin to assess how you can save money, avoid delays and get the most out of your resources during this operation.
Plant Commissioning Process
Commissioning is one of the most significant steps that factory staff can employ when coming to the end of your plant's construction. The purpose of commissioning is to hand over facilities that are efficient, safe for use and operation-ready for the owner.
Systematic commissioning plans and essential programming data help companies and businesses identify and verify all kinds of installed equipment against the initial design intent.
Hire and Train Your Workforce
It is paramount that you make HR aware of any changing demographics of employees within your new plant; in doing so, they can successfully prepare for a new generation of skilled workers, curating workforce development plans with regulations and right to work information. You will want to create a practical training manual for all new trainees or employees working with your commissioned equipment.
Soft-Launch
You'll want to begin slowly rolling out your moving process once your minimum production standards have been realised and achieved.
Your current and intended factory does not have to be fully completed to begin the soft-launch process; it can assist you in testing the waters. If your company machinery movers get to the existing site with your equipment, furniture or belongings and find complicated or unique challenges.
Any issues not discussed with your contractors will ensure you that you must make some changes, and therefore you can maintain partial production. The soft launch provides you with a head-start on some of the right machines and spare parts, giving you a more in-house experience of your new facility.
Full production
At this stage, you are ready to begin fully launching your overall production process once all modules you previously planned are entirely set up and running efficiently. Throughout your moving project, you want to utilise and refer back to your blueprint drawings to assess the move against what you envisioned your final plans to look like.
This guide was created to help you plan successful machinery moving and lifting. Projector Lifting Service Ltd's engineers have over 189 years of experience in heavy machinery lifting and relocation. We can help you plan your factory machines' safe and efficient movement. With our specialist range of lifting equipment, our team of qualified engineers have decommissioned, moved, relocated and recommissioned the following:
Power generators
Transformers
Injection moulding machinery
Euro shuttle locomotives
Crematoria
and more
Please follow the links below to learn more about how we can help you with your factory relocation. Contact us today via the phone number or email address on the website, and we'll offer you a free quote and any further information you require on our services.