- Selection of suitable regions (factor costs, labour market and supplier structures, infrastructure, regulatory framework, economic development).
- Search for suitable properties (land, building developers, basement properties).
- Personnel recruitment for the planning and development phase.
- Technical due diligence of land and sites for technical feasibility and risks.
- Brownfield / greenfield projects: differentiation and specialized approaches for existing sites versus new builds.
Consulting factory and logistics planning
A look at many locations shows that plant structures survive for a long time. It is therefore particularly important to proceed with prudence and professionalism and to involve the right partners when planning a factory - be it a new building or a conversion.
In the beginning is the idea. We are happy to share with you our ideas of a factory of the future. From our point of view, layout and infrastructure must enable efficient flows, promote cooperation between employees and support the joy of creating value. To ensure that a factory is still one of the best in 50 years, we rely on the following key elements:
- Modular, so that you can grow and properly integrate value creation partners
- Flexible, because products and technology change
- Optimal in terms of material AND information flow
- Smart and digital
- Energy Efficiency, CO2-neutral and resource-saving
Before the excavators roll, the ideas must be developed into robust concepts and concrete layouts. This is not possible without the involvement of stakeholders, who demand coherent concepts and a convincing business case based on several comparative scenarios. Here it is important to work out the potentials on all levels in concrete terms and to evaluate them in a comprehensible way.
Sustainability aspects play a major role in modern factory and logistics planning. Under "Zero-Impact-Factory", various environmentally friendly measures are implemented, ranging from the reduction of energy and water consumption, CO2 and VOC emissions to waste management and soil protection.
In order to achieve a high level of planning efficiency and to manage risks in the course of the project with foresight, an iterative and agile approach is recommended. It is carried out according to the following guidelines:
- from the central (value-added process) to the periphery (outdoor facility)
- from the rough (general planning/plant structure planning) to the fine (workplace design)
- from the ideal (Greenfield) to the real (Brownfield)
This ensures that unnecessary discussions at the beginning (e.g. about the colour scheme of the offices) do not slow down the overall process significantly. Experience has shown that the desires of all those involved are great when it comes to new planning and replanning. We take great care to ensure that the planning focuses on the essential issues, especially those that affect the building structure, investment level and potential.
EFESO supports you from the first planning idea to the start-up of the factory or logistics centre. This ranges from strategy development and site selection in the run-up to the entire project implementation to the onboarding of local suppliers in the ramp-up phase. Our range of services includes:
Location search and selection
Production and logistics concepts
- Future-oriented value flows in production and assembly.
- Line and plant planning.
- Material supply and disposal systems.
- Storage and transport systems.
- Preparation of tenders.
- Supplier selection and integration.
- Planning of inventory management concepts.
- Dimensioning and technology integration: detailed dimensioning of production facilities and integration of specific technologies.
- Infrastructure and supply planning: planning and integration of energy, water and supply systems in production.
- Material flow and logistics simulation.
Smart Factory
- Horizontal integration from product design to delivery / paperless factory.
- Advanced operator support, cobots and exoskeletons.
- Digital visualization in the factory.
- Automated storage and retrieval systems / Smart Automation.
- (Partially) autonomous transport of materials and assemblies.
- Open / flexible office concepts.
- Requirements on the IT infrastructure.
Scenario and layout planning
- Master planning scenarios and expansion options for locations.
- Design and detailing of the overall layout: greenfield and brownfield, rough and detailed concept.
- Area and spatial planning for value and support areas, infrastructure, office spaces, social areas and outdoor areas.
- Determination of the building structure.
- Digital planning in 2D and 3D.
- Scenario evaluation: economic efficiency calculations and concept simulations.
Implementation support
- Tendering, supplier selection and awarding.
- Coordination and support during production ramp-up.
- Qualification concepts and training for employees and suppliers.
- Project management and project controlling.
- Claim and risk management: processes for actively handling project risks and claims during the construction phase.
- Handover management: clear processes for handover and ensuring operational readiness after completion of the construction and realization phase.
Sustainability & Zero Emission Factory
- Energy-efficient technologies and production facilities.
- Sustainable supply concepts.
- Planning of low-emission buildings and infrastructure (CO2-neutral).
- Energy recovery concepts.
- Circular economy.
- Building certifications according to international standards (DGNB, BREEAM, LEED).
»We have worked together with EFESO in a relationship built on trust for decades – including in 2024 as part of our plant structure planning. The plant structure is a key element in supporting our future growth. The EFESO team contributed its expertise in a highly results-oriented way, particularly through its deep know-how in factory planning and its understanding of how a plant operates in our industry. Our expectations were fully met. In particular, the 3D visualization of the plant structure significantly enhanced internal understanding of the proposed solution. «
Realizing future-oriented factories for the production of eV battery cells
Simulation: Digital model "EFESO eVB Cell Factory"
Digital twins and simulations of the architecture and processes support optimal factory planning.
Our video of a digitally designed factory for the production of eV battery cells shows which elements such a simulation can contain, for example.
CASE STUDIES & INSIGHTS - PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Smart Factory Planning: Smart Planning for smart Factories
CASE STUDY:
What does the ideal factory of the future look like? Do products there control their production completely independently? A pharmaceuticals and life sciences company plans the main directions for the smart factory transformation of four plants in just one month. Together with EFESO, the project team creates a "big picture" as a basis for planning and tests three prioritized technologies in pilot projects.
@Adobe Stock
Factory and logistics planning
CASE STUDY:
An automotive supplier consolidates four parts warehouses into one warehouse. Three distribution centers of a company from the automotive industry should be integrated into an existing fourth. With the support of EFESO, the company mastered this task in eight weeks. To do this, it developed five solution scenarios with different degrees of automation (“minimal invest” to “fully automated”) including layouts and monetary evaluation.
Sales and Operations Planning
CASE STUDY:
A wood processing company wanted to improve its planning quality while reducing planning efforts. EFESO developed a suitable solution concept for an S&OP process based on SAP IBP (Integrated Business Planning), allowing the planning process to be standardized and automated, as well as bring about more flexibility and increasing efficiency. An intensive dry run was carried out in the first stage of the project.
Blueprint for the Sustainable Factory
CASE STUDY:
A global supplier for the textile industry sets new standards in the sustainable design of its production facilities. EFESO accompanies the construction of a new factory in Bangladesh as a sparring partner and identifies together with the client potentials to reduce the use of resources and CO2 emissions as well as to increase workplace attractiveness. The result is a lighthouse factory that serves as a model for other factories of the company in terms of social and ecological sustainability.
Sustainability update for the global production network
CASE STUDY:
In order to achieve the sustainability targets it has set itself, an automotive supplier must optimize its more than 70 existing plants worldwide in terms of emissions and resource consumption. Together with the customer, ROI-EESO develops an overarching target picture to evaluate the maturity level and derive a sustainability roadmap for all sites.
Factory Planning – Time for Performance Programs
INSIGHT:
EFESO supports companies in the end-to-end realignment of their production network – from ideation to ramp-up. As a one-stop shop, we offer strategic, efficient, and hands-on support for every stage of your factory planning.
Design and Realization of Distribution Centers (DCs)
INSIGHT:
Learn about the key success factors for integrated distribution centers and agile, resilient supply chains.
eV Battery Cell Factory
INSIGHT:
Discover how we successfully plan and execute factory projects using a ‘one-stop-shop’ approach, as demonstrated in an EFESO project for a 5 GWh battery cell factory.