A clean start

Manufacturing Facility Renovation

Our client saw an opportunity: saving infrastructure, equipment, and nearly 300 jobs in this rural community. Rather than close down a recently acquired building, they chose to retrofit the facility—transferring toothpaste manufacturing operations from an existing, older facility.

The challenge? Design the renovation and conversion of a pharmaceutical facility to accommodate high-volume manufacturing. Given the constraints of the building, the initial programming of the facility was a difficult.

We had to step back. Wipe any preconceptions of the layout clear, and start from the base objectives to build a new program. It took about twenty iterations to develop the optimal design, but it was a significant departure from the original concepts. We worked with our client to evaluate their existing program and recommended improvements to safety, productivity, and flow of materials.

Our design allows for quick and cost-effective trials of new toothpaste products. Because teeth sensitivity is one of the largest emerging issues in the oral healthcare community, it was imperative that the project provide the required manufacturing capacity as well as a means of expanding over time to meet projected growth.