This definition and explanation distinguishes indirect areas from direct value creation and clarifies their planning relevance.
The effect of multivariate influences is particularly noticeable in the indirect areas, as activity costs in indirect areas do not necessarily increase proportionally with the production volume, but rather are shaped by other influences such as batch size or variant diversity. Traditional measures counter this turbulence mainly by demanding a high degree of flexibility and adaptability, which is essentially only possible through oversizing and maintaining space reserves in case of expansion. It should be noted that oversizing leads to uneconomical overcapacity and increased unit costs. What the options for designing a versatile factory have in common is that a minimum factory dimension must first be found that corresponds to the forecast of the expected production program at the time of planning. As part of holistic factory planning, indirect areas such as work preparation, quality control or maintenance are also increasingly included. Indirect areas are becoming increasingly important for overall productivity in companies. The situation is exacerbated by an increase in capital-intensive technologies and production processes, as well as the constant shift from direct activities to indirect areas. While productivity development in the direct areas can often only be realized with small increases, enormous potential can be exploited in the indirect areas. As a result, it is precisely the indirect areas that are expected to have the greatest potential for increasing efficiency in the future.
Applying Indirect areas in a project
Indirect areas are sized from activities, staffing, shift patterns, adjacency needs and operating standards rather than from one generic space allowance.
Before applying Indirect areas, define the objective, system boundary and decision to be supported. The distinction from adjacent methods and systems is equally important: which processes are included, which interfaces remain outside the scope and which metrics indicate an improvement? This prevents a term from becoming a label and avoids local optimisation that creates new problems elsewhere.
A reliable assessment of Indirect areas combines current-state data with documented assumptions. Sources, reference periods, units and exceptions need to be transparent. Alternatives or measures can then be compared using consistent criteria. Depending on the task, these include performance and cost as well as space, inventory, ergonomics, quality, feasibility, risk and expandability.
The output from applying Indirect areas should support a concrete decision or a verifiable next step. Ownership, a target value and a review date make the expected effect measurable. To transfer the concept to a real assignment, it can be combined with the relevant consulting, planning, optimisation and digital capture services.
Indirect areas in practice: Our services overview brings together the relevant planning and consulting approaches.