Consulting

As we come upon the holiday season, there are many activities that wind down and need to be completed by year-end: employee reviews, goal planning for the facility organization and holiday shutdown schedules. These are all important year-end activities, but another one is the repeat of the capital planning process/capital project management yearly cycle.

Just like yearly budgets, goal planning and employee reviews, planning and management of the capital plan should occur in a regular, annual cycle. But first, let’s talk about capital plan management basics. There are various tools, processes and team players to understand before beginning the capital planning process.

A process model can be anything from a simple excel spreadsheet to a complex model that includes all aspects of a real-world manufacturing plant. However, the best model does not include everything. It only includes what is necessary to answer questions.

Like any resource-constrained industry facing uncertain demands and external competition, the food industry is under constant pressure to reduce operating expenses, shorten lead times, improve flexibility and increase throughput. Designing new facilities or expanding existing ones is an expensive undertaking and is often ranked low on a list of options for companies.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was it built without a foundation. Successful building design begins on the ground floor, where operations, growth, capacity and more are considered and weighed to create the detailed facility solution that is appropriately aligned around your key business objectives.