Dimensioning – application and procedure

Dimensioning is an essential part of factory planning and is used to determine the capacity of operating resources and personnel as well as the space required. The capacity requirement is based on the production programme.

Static and dynamic dimensioning

A distinction is made between static and dynamic dimensioning. Static dimensioning is a simpler consideration of the average demand in a time period (e.g. one year). Dynamic dimensioning, on the other hand, takes fluctuating demand quantities into account. In practice, static dimensioning is often sufficient due to the high effort involved in the dynamic dimensioning procedure.

Dimensioning of operating resources

Operating resources are generally defined as machines, systems, devices, tools, etc. The dimensioning of operating resources starts with production equipment, as the characteristics and extent of all other resources (space and personnel) are derived from this.

Personnel requirements planning

Personnel requirements planning is an essential component in the factory planning process, as personnel costs often play a dominant role in cost structures. In direct areas, personnel requirements can therefore be calculated from the product of the annual quantity and the time required per labour unit. It is more difficult to determine personnel requirements, e.g. for warehousing, order picking and logistics activities. Up to now, it has mainly been necessary to determine all relevant workplace-related activities and their time requirements in advance. However, the key figure method can also be used here, for example, to compare the work processes of the equipment to be operated (e.g. stacker cranes and order picking devices, scheduling software, control centre) with the number of units produced. Determining the personnel requirements for activities with a high administrative component is much more extensive. In the case of existing processes, work analyses, time measurements on site or the use of MTM procedures, for example, have had to be used to determine working time requirements.

Space planning

After the planning of operating resources and personnel, the space planning takes place. The predetermination of the space required for a factory planning object is a core task within factory planning due to its significance with regard to land or building structures and the resulting investment requirements.

Read more in our book Dimensioning indirect areas based on fuzzy data or contact us, we will be happy to support you methodically in the efficient dimensioning of your resources.