Start-up of a new
production plant.

A new building.
A new production concept.

The project covered fitting out a finished building with process equipment, layout and production organisation — together with end-of-line automation. Some orders and building works were already under way.

As a pharmaceutical production plant, every process decision — layout, flows, building services — went through quality and GMP requirements. The investment was one of more than 100 projects run in the organisation over two years.

One person
for one plant.

The company was running many investments in parallel, and its directors were also responsible for technical departments and maintenance in operating plants. The new plant got a person dedicated solely to it — with the task of bringing it into production.

• Full-time focus on the project — one person coordinating all workstreams.
• A start-up date and a schedule — shared by the team and all contractors.
• Directors as decision-makers — with ongoing information and data-based recommendations. They could focus on their departments and operating plants.

What the new
plant delivered.

A process consolidated in one place and automated end-of-line brought:

• A new role for operators — packaging and palletising automation shifted work from physical end-of-line handling to supervising and running the process.
• The process in one plant — no moving semi-finished goods between locations.
• Shorter lead time and better quality — fewer transfers, fewer steps, fewer places for errors.
• Less scrap — fewer intermediate processes, less material loss.
• More flexibility — faster changeovers and quicker response to production plan changes.

The whole plant,
from concept to acceptance.

• Process and layout — switch from linear production to a vertical process layout, line arrangement, production flow paths, flow between production and the warehouse.
• Relocation of 3 production lines from other plants — dismantling, transfer, reassembly and start-up in the new layout.
• New production line — from technical agreements to start-up.
• Automation of all lines — packaging and palletising for every line in the plant.
• Finishing works and building services — construction, plumbing, electrical and ventilation; completing scopes started under existing contracts.
• Tenders and contractors — contractor review, tenders, technical agreements, acceptance protocols.
• Stakeholder requirements — agreements with production, quality, regulatory (GMP) and maintenance departments; approval of production plans.
• Full investment cycle — concept → budget → schedule → tenders → contractor coordination → acceptance.

From horizontal to vertical.

Moving the lines did not mean recreating the old set-up. Production had previously run linearly, on a single level. In the new plant it was redesigned as a vertical process layout, with materials moving between levels.

Everything else in the project followed from this change: layout, flow of materials and people, building services and the connection to the warehouse. Every line — relocated and new — was fitted into the same layout.

Every line ends
automatically.

A separate, parallel workstream of the project was end-of-line automation: packaging and palletising for all four lines — the new one and the three relocated from other plants. The relocated lines received automation designed from the start for the target layout.

• Specification and supplier selection — requirements for each line, review of solutions, tenders, technical agreements.
• Integration with the lines — connecting packaging and palletising automation to the relocated lines and the new line, to one standard across the plant.
• Flow to the warehouse — the pallet at the end of the line as the starting point of the production–warehouse flow, designed together with the layout.
• Start-up and acceptance — commissioning, testing and acceptance protocols for every line.

Result: higher throughput and fewer errors at the end of the line — where, in pharmaceutical production, every packaging mistake matters for batch quality and compliance.

A plan, a team
and a shared rhythm.

Scopes and plan. All tasks, orders and contractor commitments — more than 200 items — were brought together in one place. On that basis, work scopes, a requirements list and a plan for the whole undertaking were created.

Project team. The people involved in the investment formed one team — with clear roles and a shared plan. Success factors were defined and used to measure progress.

Working to plan. Contractors worked to shared schedules. Progress was monitored continuously and contracts were settled on the basis of data.

Production as the project's client. Requirements from production departments were gathered and approved before execution. As a result, the layout and flows were designed around how the plant really works.

Production
started.

The plant started production in the new layout. Packaging and palletising automation on all lines delivered higher throughput and fewer errors. The following months focused on optimising plant operations and adding further lines.

The project was delivered by the team — and that is the most important part of this story. The Project Manager's role was to turn the knowledge of many people and the work of many companies into one plan, one team and one working rhythm.