Despite concerns about cost and facility downtime, the benefits of upgrading to top-of-the-line production equipment far outweigh any possible inconveniences. For example, upgraded production equipment will enable workers to meet new product specifications and rigorous manufacturing guidelines.
During the RFP and interview process, ask about the contractor’s experience juggling construction projects with an occupied facility. A trusted factory infrastructure contractor can offer valuable insight into managing your next production upgrade project.
Experience
You want a contractor who has experience with projects similar to yours. Make sure they can reference people who can vouch for their work. In addition to learning about the company’s experience, you should also ask for the resumes of key team members working on your project. This will help you get a feel for the expertise they can bring to your upgrade.
Establishing a trusted partnership with contractors of manufacturing construction projects allows you to control existing production plant interruptions, maintain the structural integrity of existing facilities, and ensure the timely completion of manufacturing facility upgrades to meet strict product deadlines. The store can provide expert advice and planning to anticipate and manage roadblocks that may hinder equipment installation.
Detailed Estimates
While facility upgrades might not be the sexiest project in the world, they are typically required to keep production up and running. However, these kinds of projects can often be complicated due to the need for extensive planning and complex approval processes.
The most effective way to ensure your upgrade is completed on time and within budget is to work with a contractor that can provide detailed cost estimates. This is a process of breaking down the overall scope of a project into components that can be priced individually (for example, slabs and beams for a building or the piping and connections in a heat exchanger).
The result is a bid estimate, which provides a contractor’s breakout of building costs, plus markups for overhead and profit and a contingency allowance. A control estimate is then prepared after the project is awarded and during construction and is revised regularly to reflect approved customer change orders and actual costs incurred. This will help you avoid surprises and maintain solid project cost control throughout construction.
Reputation
Manufacturing facility upgrades can greatly impact production efficiency and workforce productivity. A comprehensive plan must be implemented to minimize any potential downtime during these upgrades, including employee training and safety coaching. It also requires a long-term partnership with a factory infrastructure contractor that knows the facility and can handle future upgrade projects.
The best way to ensure that your factory upgrade project is successful is by finding a partner with a good reputation. Reputation is defined as the standing someone holds in the eyes of others based on their accomplishments and character, often measured by their honesty and integrity.
Business-minded people usually agree that the end game of a business is to maximize profit, and reputation plays an important role in attracting customers to products, investors to securities, and employees to jobs. Reputation marketing is a new form that focuses on collecting and amplifying positive user-generated content, such as customer reviews and testimonials, online ratings, community awards, and social media mentions, to use as a promotional asset in marketing campaigns.
Timeline
Manufacturing plant upgrades are a major project that involves numerous steps and phases. It can be hard to determine how long it will take to complete the upgrade process, but the following timeline can help you understand how much time is needed.
When it comes to industrial construction projects, a company is generally faced with deciding whether to upgrade its existing facility or build a new one from scratch. The latter option may cost more money and limit future expansion, but the former can save the company a lot in the long run.
Regardless of the chosen option, the contractor must have the experience and expertise to ensure the project is completed on time.
Flexibility
Because facility upgrades are typically capital projects, they are often viewed as bottom-line expenses that must be planned and approved well to ensure performance and return on investment. This type of project also requires a long timeline to complete, and it can be difficult for facility managers to balance the demands of ongoing production with workforce and facilities issues.
Finding a contractor that is flexible enough to manage production plant upgrades with minimal downtime is essential. This type of planning and continuous partnership will save time and reduce opportunities for costly errors during project execution.
Management Team
Your production upgrade contractor must have a management team with experience and skill. The right people can make or break your project, so choose carefully.
A manufacturer with an established relationship with a factory infrastructure contractor can reduce the overall cost of their plant upgrades by saving time and money on the learning curve. A continuous partnership also provides valuable consulting insight early on in each new project. Storee can also anticipate roadblocks preventing a timely and successful facility upgrade. This can include structural constraints, space limitations, existing building utilities, and equipment access to the installation area for construction and reinstalling.
