Site Masterplan and new Facility Flows When Expansion Ability is Limited

With the introduction of a successful new product line, this global pharmaceutical company had experienced significant growth and identified the need to expand their facility. A new building for production was planned for construction on the campus, however the site was already at capacity, and had limited expansion capabilities due to environmental and utility constraints. The campus had grown over the years to over 200 acres, however production occurred in various buildings and there was no centralized logistics area. With the anticipated increase in volumes for all production, the site had to be able to accommodate storage for a range of 125-175% overall growth.

Miebach Consulting supported the client with a comprehensive site masterplan, consisting of the layout and material flows for all logistics areas, determining the best location for expanding warehousing, processes and associated technologies for all types of goods required for production at the site, and ensuring a 5-10 year growth accommodation with minimal impact on environmental and utility modifications. Along with this masterplan, Miebach also provided a roadmap for the implementation, migration, and overall evolution from the current state to the proposed solution.

The scope of the design included areas for:

• Receiving
• GMP Material storage
• Dispensing
• Raw material sampling and testing
• Handoffs to and from production
• Shipping
• Waste collection and classification
• Truck yard
• Site traffic flows

Utilizing stakeholder interviews and onsite production observation, Miebach completed a full analysis of material flows, sizing, layout, headcount, investment, operating costs, and qualitative aspects for 4 masterplan alternatives. Options including 3PL and client-owned offsite storage facilities were considered, however there were no qualified 3PLs available within a 50 mile radius, and the offsite facilities were not ideally able to handle the more aggressive forecasted growth potentials. Ultimately, it was proposed to renovate areas of the existing facility and construct a new building on the campus that would be a dedicated logistics facility and waste hub.

The additional 115K sq ft warehouse would enable the overall storage utilization at the site to decrease from 100% to just over 80%, creating the space for the anticipated growth. Automation updates to the facilities included vertical lifts for small items, VNA racking to increase density of pallet storage, sampling and kitting suites in the new logistics center, and future plans for AGV delivery from the logistics center to the production facility through a main spine.