It is a common misconception that a thorough understanding of a factory’s operations equates to also knowing how best to solve any issues when they arise. Chris Sackett from CDE Design Solutions explains how to avoid this mistake.
Business owners thinking they know the solution to a production problem before having a true understanding of the problem is the most critical flaw in the design process.
The pursuit of innovative and efficient solutions to complex problems is at the forefront of every factory design project. However, a common pitfall that factory design engineers often encounter is the reliance on pre-conceived solutions; that is “the way it’s previously been done”.
While established methodologies can provide valuable insights, rigid adherence to predetermined approaches can hinder creativity, impede problem-solving, and lead to suboptimal outcomes in factory design projects.
When it comes to factory design, it is the understanding of both the initial problem, as well as the ramifications and scope of the potential solutions that make the difference between failure and success.
Understanding the problem involves active listening and conceptualising the problem before approaching a solution. It comes from experience and curiosity, taking in the literal and nuanced aspects of the project.
Literal factors include machinery and equipment, technology, and industry codes, while also considering the more intangible aspects of the company’s culture and future requirements of the client, their products, resources, and factory design.
Understanding and listening are critical steps and, when used together, provide a strong foundation to help ensure a project’s success.
With thorough understanding, there are four main outcomes:
- Comprehension of the macro factory environment, well beyond the immediate micro issue;
- effective, operationally sound, and future proofed solutions;
- potential solutions to problems a client may not have foreseen; and
- optimal efficiency, saving valuable time and money across all phases of the project and avoids costly redesigns and retrofits.
Clients often present a problem as well as the solution. That is, they start by requesting a solution that they think they need without understanding the full extent of their problem.
Without that understanding, some of the issues that result include:
- At best, a sub-optimal or short-term solution that will require redress in the near future;
- bottlenecks, mistakes, scope, and resourcing blowouts and more issues than the original problem;
- limiting creative thinking and impeding the exploration of alternative and potentially more innovative ideas and subsequent solutions; and
- at worst, need to be scrapped and completely restarted.
Even the most experienced clients can come unstuck at times because factory design engineering is simply not their area of expertise. Working with factory design experts can avert that situation.
Ultimately, understanding the whole problem is the key to saving the costs throughout the life of a project and beyond.
In almost all cases, without listening and understanding, an initial scope will simply not solve the problem because the problem itself is not correctly understood. 
This story first appeared in the February/March edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
