Running more than one plant means every project decision reaches beyond a single facility. Your engineering and operations teams know their own sites better than anyone, but managing operations across multiple locations introduces challenges that extend beyond any individual plant.

Maintaining consistency, standardizing equipment and processes, and planning for future growth all require balancing company-wide goals with the realities of each facility.

Sometimes, an outside perspective can bring valuable experience to those conversations.

Ryan Pleak, Vice President of Strategic Accounts at RMH Systems, encourages manufacturers to look beyond the immediate project and consider what is happening across the operation.

1. Look Beyond the Immediate Project

A conversation might start with a conveyor upgrade, a racking project, or a specific operational challenge. But according to Pleak, understanding the broader operation is just as important.

“If we’re just there to look at a type of rack or if we’re just there to look at a type of conveyor, I’m going to ask, you know, what’s happening upstream? What’s happening downstream?”

Drawing on experience across different manufacturing environments, Pleak brings a broader perspective to conversations about operational improvements and how individual projects fit into long-term plans.

2. Standardize Where it Makes Sense

For manufacturers managing multiple locations, creating consistency doesn’t always mean implementing identical solutions. Different layouts, equipment, production requirements, and operational histories can influence what makes sense at each site.

“Every facility is just a little bit different when you walk in there,” Pleak says.

The opportunity is to identify where a more consistent approach could create value while allowing for the differences that matter at each facility. 

Questions to consider across facilities 

• Are different plants solving the same operational problem in different ways?
  
• Which equipment or processes could be more consistent across locations? 
  
• Where do facility layouts, existing equipment or production requirements call for a different approach?

3. Connect Today’s Project to the Bigger Plan

Those conversations can be valuable well before a manufacturer is ready to invest in new equipment.

“I don’t think there’s any time that’s too soon to start thinking about, you know, growth and national account strategy with a customer,” Pleak says.

Whether the discussion begins with a current project or a future expansion, understanding an organization’s broader goals can create opportunities for collaboration across facilities.

Questions to consider before moving forward

• How could this project affect what happens upstream or downstream?
• Will today’s decision support or limit a future expansion?
• Could an approach developed at one facility inform planning at another location?

RMH Systems brings together engineering, integration and service resources to help manufacturers evaluate individual projects in the context of multiple facilities and longer-term operational goals.

Want a broader perspective on your operations? Watch the video to hear Ryan’s perspective on building consistency across multiple facilities, planning for growth and looking beyond the immediate project. To discuss an upcoming project or longer-term facility plans, connect with Ryan below.

Ryan Pleak
Vice President, Strategic Accounts
rpleak@rmhsystems.com
402-319-8456
Connect With Ryan on LinkedIn