Design Development Process

We got a call last week from a client that we have done several projects with in the past. They are a faith based ministry that helps people through the recovery process of drug abuse. They are a great organization that provides a need in our community. They were looking to purchase an existing medical building in northeast Indiana and convert it into a group living home. Of course, this can come with many challenges. They had worked with another Architecture firm to do preliminary layouts and those layouts brought to light code compliance issues along with flow and circulation constraints throughout the space.

When the client called us, they were in need of a fresh look at the layout, flow and code compliance issues. We were able to sit down with them and come up with an efficient, common sense solution that would be tailored to their specific needs. Here at PDMi, we believe that good upfront design development is the cornerstone to a successful project. A little extra time spent on the front end of a project can save a lot of time on the back end of a project.

If we can be of help to you in the upfront design development phase of your next project, give us a call as we’d love to help you out.

Inside Out

As many of you have probably experienced with children, grandchildren, or nieces and nephews, they get to the age where they want to be very independent. One way of showing independence is getting themselves dressed. Typically, this isn’t a problem, except when they come out of their room with clothes on inside-out. Even so, it’s a simple fix to get things back the right way. Not only have I seen this haste and confusion with my children, but I sometimes see it in business too. Some clients are hasty and want to design their facility from the outside-in, rather than from the inside-out. This too, can be a simple fix if it is caught early enough. Let me tell you what I mean.

We got a call several weeks ago about a proposed new manufacturing facility. This new facility would be producing an established product, but using new/emerging technology. With all of this in mind, the client knew that his new building had to be designed from the inside-out. We all agreed that the process is what brings value to him, and his building is there to protect and support that value. We found that the form and physical attributes of the building would be determined by balancing the flow of product through the building. So, while our client stayed focused on the product, we got focused on the process, and then the facility.

Three steps that you can use to design your next facility from the inside-out would be 1.) develop production sequence process flow diagrams, 2.) establish an efficient equipment layout and 3.) design the building to function around the process and equipment. These steps will produce the criteria for your corporate decision making process. Designing from the inside-out offers the greatest opportunity of meeting your long and short term goals. Call us; we can help you design your next project from the inside-out.

Value Added

We were at an industrial plant in Ohio a few weeks ago to look at an existing overhead crane rail system that the client was looking to upgrade. The plan was to simply replace the existing crane rails with new ones that would run smoother. We were called in at the request of the installer of the new system, who wanted an independent structural evaluation of the area where the new crane rails would be installed. At first glance, it seemed like a very simple structural evaluation. It became a lot less simple as we started to look at the existing crane rail and how it was installed years ago when the building was constructed.

As we got deeper into the inspection, it became obvious that the old crane rail system had been connected to the building structure in some questionable ways. The existing system had not failed, nor had it caused the building structure to fail. However, the install of a new system that carries different loads certainly could cause failure not only to the crane rail, but to the building itself.

PDMi’s structural evaluation was able to identify several areas that needed to be structurally enhanced in order to carry the load of the new crane rail system. As it turns out, making the call to PDMi to do a simple evaluation of the structure may have saved the building owner thousands of dollars in future structural damage, not to mention the headache it would cause.

This is one of many instances over the years that PDMi has been called in and Value was Added to a project. If we can be of help on your next project, give us a call.