The greenfield factory journey

Client Background

A semiconductor company, historically focused on maximizing the amount of equipment in its factory, was seeking new ways to expand its manufacturing facilities, building them for agility over output. Each piece of equipment required a custom design package for tool hookup, a lengthy and costly process. To accelerate installation and the start of operations, the manufacturer needed new automated optimization methods that would balance equipment density needs with standardized tool hookup packages.

Solution

The manufacturer needed to construct a greenfield fabrication plant quickly, while designing the factory layout to improve quality process and space utilization. Deloitte created a working solution capable of inputting factory layout requirements into an automated platform to simulate layout scenarios and identify the optimal baseline layout of a fabrication plant. The solution provides better visibility of the new floor parameters, creating a clear understanding of the scope and impact of demand changes and how to meet operational needs. Deloitte partnered with the company to:

• Collect key layout requirements: Gathered details, such as tool types, factory size, and design constraints, and fed them into the solution to create a baseline, spatial digital twin model of the fabrication plant, sub-fabrication area, and support structures.
• Automate the model: Produced possible iterations of the plant layout, including tool density details, possible tools per square feet, and cost summaries; facilitated high-speed simulation of thousands of potential layouts and ability to view pros and cons of each option.
• Allow for new potential layouts: Created the possibility to input design iterations into an AI-driven optimizer that can prioritize layouts based on changing inputs and optimization of criteria, providing the ability to standardize construction of a greenfield fabrication layout, allow for more tools and better tool orientation, and simplify complexity with less customized hookup packages.
• Manage stakeholders: Aligned construction and tool installation teams with the contractors required for execution.

Impact

• Produces a fully functional 3D digital twin model of fabrication and sub-fabrication areas
• Accelerates time to develop an optimized fabrication design from months to days
• Increases standardization in fabrication layout for more cost-effective construction for base build and tool installation

Client Background

A startup business needed to design and build their first manufacturing plant but had limited experience with manufacturing. The client sought help to design their production operations leading to full commercialization and templatization of the factory design to scale globally as their business grows.

Summary

Deloitte partnered with the client to develop a multi-year greenfield smart factory conceptual design, operating model, and foundational technology landscape including key vendors and solutions that could achieve the company’s short- and long-term growth goals.

• Simulated and iterated factory designs using dynamic assumptions and various product mix/scale scenarios, with models of key production metrics:
• Asset performance to identify most suitable production technologies
• Downtimes to model constraints, while minimizing assets and costs
• Workforce needed to operate and maintain assets, and move material
• Researched physical and digital technology vendors and products to optimize operational efficiency while reducing total costs
• Cored vendors on functional fits, strategic fits, scalability and costs

Impact

• Designed manufacturing capacity ramp plan to accommodate significant capacity increases over time
• Sequenced assets and IT systems optimally for maximizing ROI
• Built leadership confidence in executable vision
• Designed quality controls for efficient production
• Built strong foundation for product technology platforms to define manufacturing operating system via core technology recommendations and template development

Client Background

An advanced manufacturer needed construction program advisory services to conduct site selection analysis and incentives negotiations for building a new US plant to expand the client’s network of global manufacturing facilities.

Solution

Deloitte partnered with the client’s global and US project leadership teams on business case development, financial modeling, incentives negotiations, and architecture, engineering, and construction selection. The teams began with 100 locations and used a multi-phase, down-select approach to determine the most suitable site for the new US plant.

• Assessed business case and project needs to extract key assumptions, plan the project calendar, and gather critical location specifications such as labor quality and availability, real estate and utility infrastructure, and business, operating, and regulatory environments; resulted in 35 suitable sites.
• Conducted location analysis with field investigations of the 35 sites to assess technical suitability, including topography, layout, utility infrastructure, community support, labor force and regulations, air permitting regulations, natural disaster risk, and port, highway, and airport access; retained nine locations for negotiations.
• Performed field site due diligence of the nine remaining locations to locate potential flaws by inspecting soil conditions and site access, reviewing utility provisions and proposals for capacity expansion, and analyzing local transportation infrastructure and training and recruitment capabilities; requested three communities to submit proposals for consideration.
• Supported negotiations with a structured approach that entailed multiple rounds of talks with key state, county, city, utility, and railroad officials, foreign plant tours and meetings with client executives, and development of the project Memorandum of Understanding and supporting documents.
• Created unmatched incentive package working in tandem with the state and local community, including utility, rail, training, and transportation grants and funding and elimination of corporate income taxes, and developed a program incentives playbook outlining administrative steps to realize incentives value; selected final location for the new US plant.

Impact

• Executed successful site selection for US expansion
• Decreased risk and optimized long-term cost profile
• Negotiated one of the highest-value state and community incentive packages
• Reduced one-time costs to drive more funds into onsite improvements
• Established scalable site and workforce development at no cost to accommodate growth