New Shop, who dis?

We've got a new shop on the horizon and while I've been at this for a while I'm guilty of being in my own bubble. So I'm curious what are the things that you love or hate about the shops you've worked in?

We're a small factory and do zero job shop work. We've got one VMC and will have another on order once the building is sorted. There's also a DS30Y lathe and we will likely add a second turning center next year and maybe a 3rd at some point. We also do a decent amount of assembly and have 4-5 assembly stations for specific products to work into things.

Thing's already on my list to do:

Epoxy the floors, would love a product recommendation though.
Exhaust all the machines.
Centralized coolant system with drops to each machine.
Direct-able duct for screw compressor, winter/summer mode.
Floor level mop sink in tumbler room.
Update to modern led lighting.

Curious what else the community will suggest to make our new space better.

Don't forget inspection equipment. Toolscope? CMM? gauge block and pin sets. Metrology training.

Clean (and maintained) bathroom facilities, with privacy for "ahem" evacuation drills. Ventilation to keep odors under control. Bring in a service to clean it (at least weekly) if you can't get a reliable self-maintenance process going.

Clean (there's a theme here) kitchen facilities for heating up lunches and such. Water service of some form if the local water has poor taste or smells, or invest in a quality filtration system. A good-sized fridge to hold marked and dated food, with a policy of all remaining food tossed at the end of the week and a monthly thorough cleaning of the fridge.

Company provided snacks are a welcome treat, but shouldn't be abused or turned into lunches.

An area for sitting away from the machines and desks for meals if desired (maybe hold on WRT larger groups until after the pandemic), with trash bins that seal to keep pests at bay.

Speaking of pests: good, clear (HiRez) outdoor cameras and recording devices covering entry ways and parking areas. This both gives notice when UPS or whoever delivers, and alerts you if someone suspicious is snooping around cars. It's a fact of life now that in some areas you have to watch for smash-and-grabs. You may want a buzzer lock on entry doors.

First Aid stations that are maintained! Eyewash that doesn't have algae growing in it, band-aids that aren't from WWII surplus, etc. Notices on how to get rapid help in case of fire, serious accident, chemical spills, etc.

Let your local police and fire department know if you have any concentrations of flammable materials, hazardous fluids, etc. FD's in particular should know if you've got stocks of magnesium chips and the like. Good idea to invite the FD Chief in for a walk-through, so they can get an idea of hazards if smokey rescue is needed.

Know your OSHA requirements. Cooperation with the local office can save a lot of headaches and fines.

Emergency evacuation drills and established regrouping points outside. Make sure people understand how to get out in the event of blackout or smoke. Having dedicated and functional emergency lights is a good idea, may be mandated in some situations. Extra flashlights of a type reserved for emergency use with batteries kept charged.

PPE stock - masks, eye and hearing protection, gloves, etc. All kept organized and clean (again, that theme) so there's no excuse not to use them.

Music? Some recent threads on the matter, just make sure there's no knife-fights over genre or volume.

Free charging stations for employee EVs.

Exercise room.(don't forget private shower and sauna)

Clean and tastefully decorated room for female staff to attend to/breastfeed thier infant along with the same area setup for free daycare purposes. Room should have a sofa/cot to provide a rest area for female staff.

Dedicated charging ports at each machine for employee electronic devices.

Dedicated room to accommodate: An employee wellness clinic to include free health screenings and tests along with any required vaccinations. Weekly Yoga by a certified instructor. Visiting barber/hairdresser.

Friar said:

Direct-able duct for screw compressor, winter/summer mode.

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Thats an awesome idea. I tried to convince my old boss if we could duct the heat of screw compressor intercooler outside we would get nearly as much cooling from the expanding compressed air in summer. He thought I was nuts.

standardparts said:

Free charging stations for employee EVs.

Exercise room.(don't forget private shower and sauna)

Clean and tastefully decorated room for female staff to attend to/breastfeed thier infant along with the same area setup for free daycare purposes. Room should have a sofa/cot to provide a rest area for female staff.

Dedicated charging ports at each machine for employee electronic devices.

Dedicated room to accommodate: An employee wellness clinic to include free health screenings and tests along with any required vaccinations. Weekly Yoga by a certified instructor. Visiting barber/hairdresser.

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You laugh. But I have all of this except the hair cut. And I get discounts at local places that DO haircuts.

TeachMePlease said:

You laugh. But I have all of this except the hair cut. And I get discounts at local places that DO haircuts.

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Actually, the list is comprised from items on websites offering ideas on improving employee satisfaction.

mmurray70 said:

... if we could duct the heat of screw compressor intercooler outside we would get nearly as much cooling from the expanding compressed air in summer. ..

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Lots of exhausting going on here - there's always the indoor air quality issue. I suggest a air exchange unit with a heat exchanger. Sending the bad stuff out while maintaining interior temps will save on heating/cooling bills. Dehumidification can be incorporated too. It should be part of the HVAC system.

Windows - lots of 'em! Plants, lots of 'em. They help clean the air and keep oxygen levels up.

standardparts said:

Actually, the list is comprised from items on websites offering ideas on improving employee satisfaction.

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In other words. Undoubtedly some large corp paid a consultant big bucks to figure out why people are quitting. The truth of you dont pay enough and are a giant ass to work for wont float. So they threw this together

Air conditioning is huge. It helps with employee morale, tolerances are easier to hold, and it's better for your equipment.

Mebfab said:

In other words. Undoubtedly some large corp paid a consultant big bucks to figure out why people are quitting. The truth of you dont pay enough and are a giant ass to work for wont float. So they threw this together

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The OP #1 asked for suggestions without giving an idea of size of operation and the demographics of workforce and clients. Post #3 was a list of reasonable items, and in #4 I added some items that might be considered if spending money on physical layout of the building based on the makeup of the workforce.

I have worked places where a picture of the shop could have accompanied the dictionary meaning of "abject squalor", as well as working ops that were very nice.

Main thing is if your asked for a laundry list of requirements/improvements you pile as many items in as you can think of. Never know when a company has suddenly gotten deep pockets.

standardparts said:

The OP #1 asked for suggestions without giving an idea of size of operation and the demographics of workforce and clients. Post #3 was a list of reasonable items, and in #4 I added some items that might be considered if spending money on physical layout of the building based on the makeup of the workforce.

I have worked places where a picture of the shop could have accompanied the dictionary meaning of "abject squalor", as well as working ops that were very nice.

Main thing is if your asked for a laundry list of requirements/improvements you pile as many items in as you can think of. Never know when a company has suddenly gotten deep pockets.

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This is the kind of stuff that I was looking for.

For clarification, we're 4 people at the moment and I could see us being at 6 by year end. Max size would be around ~15 though. We're located in Central Oregon, on the sunny/dry side of the mountains. Which means a swamp cooler keeps things tolerable (peak of 84* with all the machines venting into the shop and the due west exposure, thinking we can shave 5-10 degrees off that in the new building)in the summer. Although fire season is making that harder and harder some years. The safety stuff isn't something that was top of mind but I was going to have the wankers at OSHA come by once we're settled and do the no risk inspection deal. Good idea to put the eye wash station in, since the plumbers will be in doing some other small projects. Just have to add it to the list of things to clean once in a while! New shop will have an actual break room which will ne nice, it'll need a sink and perhaps a basic dishwasher but those are easy enough.

Anything in the workflow, chip management category?

Air drops everywhere. Get the RapidAir piping for running it through the shop.

AARONT said:

Air drops everywhere. Get the RapidAir piping for running it through the shop.

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We've got that system now and it is pretty awesome. Potential new shop has a partial system with steel pipe. Probably wind up ripping that all out and starting from scratch though. Hose reels are the other secrete to air. It's one thing to have air drops at work stations but there's a few tasks we have that need a longer hose and having them on a reel makes life so much easier. Winding up air hoses under pressure sucks.

Decent workbenches and LIGHT. It's really tough to work without enough light.

Question for those who exhaust machines, do you put some kind of a filter/scrubber on the outlet or just rely on the mist collector at the machine to clean up the air?

Friar said:

Question for those who exhaust machines, do you put some kind of a filter/scrubber on the outlet or just rely on the mist collector at the machine to clean up the air?

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I've done this with furnace filters, you can see them darken as they pick up some of the residual crap from the exhaust.

DouglasJRizzo said:

Decent workbenches and LIGHT. It's really tough to work without enough light.

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Definitely as you get older you need more light to see fine details.

CITIZEN F16 said:

Definitely as you get older you need more light to see fine details.

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Agreed. The landlord where I am now, installed very high intensity, high efficiency lighting and I'm grateful. Makes all the difference.

On the OP's centralized coolant topic -- is one coolant type good for all your work/materials? Would two centralized systems be worthwhile (only OP can say, of course). Or perhaps localized changeover valves for supply and collection?

Data cabling to all machines/workstations?

UPS or generator changeover for planned/unplanned outages?