“The construction of a new production hall under the BTS model requires much more than simply designing and building the facility” – emphasises Paweł Błaźniak, Representative of the Management Board of BTS Development. The hall is being built for a specific company, so it must take into account its production processes, internal logistics, technology, utility requirements, staffing and plans for further development. The developer, future occupier, designer and main contractor should therefore form a team as early as possible, with the shared aim of preparing a facility that meets not only the company’s current requirements but also its future needs.

The primary objective of the design partnership is to create a production hall or a combined production and storage facility tailored to the company’s actual processes. For this reason, the following aspects, amongst others, are analysed as early as the conceptual stage: the layout of production and storage areas, the flow of raw materials and finished products, the positioning of machinery and production lines, energy requirements, the height of the hall, the load-bearing capacity of the floor, the number of gates and loading bays, office and staff facilities, car parks, and the potential for future expansion.

At the same time, the design partnership should lead to the optimisation of investment costs and the subsequent running costs of the facility. The most advanced technical solution is not always the most cost-effective one. The aim of a BTS project is to select the hall’s parameters so that they meet the user’s actual needs, without incurring unjustified investment and operating costs.

Risk register from the start of the investment

A risk register should be drawn up at the very beginning of the project and updated throughout the entire investment period. Its role is to identify potential risks before they result in increased costs or delays in the construction of the production hall.

Risks may relate, amongst other things, to administrative procedures, the availability of utilities and adequate power supply, the supply of materials, delivery dates for machinery, technological changes, clashes between installations, or changing requirements of the future user.

For each significant risk, it is worth determining the likelihood of its occurrence, its impact on costs and the schedule, the person responsible, and the preventive measures to be taken. The risk register is therefore not a document created solely at the start of the project. It should be a tool used regularly during project meetings.

Find out more on our blog:

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Does Build-to-Suit prolong the project timeline?

Build-to-Suit requires a more extensive preparatory phase than a standard warehouse built to a standardised specification. It is necessary to gain a thorough understanding of the client’s processes, develop a bespoke concept and ensure the building is compatible with future technology.

However, this should not be viewed solely as a delay. The additional time spent on analysis and design can significantly reduce the number of changes during construction and, above all, costly modifications once the facility is up and running.

A well-prepared BTS project may therefore involve a more extensive preparation phase, but at the same time ensures more efficient implementation and a lower risk of operational problems.

“A good example of efficient implementation is BTS Park Świebodzin II, where the construction of the warehouse and production facility was completed within seven months” – points out Paweł Błaźniak.

The developer should advise, but not replace the technology specialist

The developer and the main contractor should advise the future occupier of the facility, but the scope of responsibility of each party must be clearly defined.

They should not take the place of the production technology supplier nor decide on behalf of the company regarding the choice of robots, IT systems or specific applications of artificial intelligence. However, their experience can be of great value when preparing the hall’s infrastructure for future technological solutions.

This applies, amongst other things, to ensuring adequate power supply, LAN and Wi-Fi infrastructure, cable routes, BMS systems, access control, monitoring, IoT sensors and the possibility of installing automated internal transport systems at a later date.

In practice, decisions made during the building’s design phase can therefore influence its potential for automation even many years after the hall has been commissioned.

A production hall prepared for robotisation and AI

Robotisation should be taken into account right from the design stage of the facility. A hall using traditional forklift trucks will have different requirements to a facility designed for AMR/AGV robots, automated production lines or advanced warehouse systems.

A similar approach should be taken to solutions utilising artificial intelligence. Their effective implementation requires, above all, access to relevant data and the infrastructure necessary for its collection, integration and analysis.

Data sources may include machinery, production and warehouse systems, as well as building management systems. Therefore, the appropriate ICT infrastructure should be planned right from the design stage of the facility.

This does not mean that all technologies must be implemented at the time the facility is commissioned. What is most important is to prepare the infrastructure in such a way that subsequent automation, robotisation or digitalisation do not require costly refurbishment of the facility.

Scope of process analysis at the BTS concept stage

Area of analysis Elements of cost and technical optimisation

Layout and infrastructure Hall height, floor load-bearing capacity, number of gates and docks, layout of production lines.

Utilities and IT Power requirements, LAN/Wi-Fi infrastructure, cable routes, IoT sensors.

Operation and development BMS systems, office and staff facilities, car park and land reserved for future expansion.

A design partnership reduces investment risk

The greatest benefit of a design partnership is the reduction in investment risk. The sooner the future occupier, developer, designer and main contractor jointly define the requirements, the less likely it is that costly changes will be required during construction.

This approach also allows for better control over the schedule and budget, ensures the building is properly prepared for the technology to be installed, reduces future operating costs, and takes into account the possibility of future expansion or automation of the facility.

For a manufacturing company, this means, above all, a facility that matches its actual processes. For the developer and main contractor, it means the opportunity to understand the user’s expectations at an early stage and to manage the entire investment process more effectively.

“In our model of cooperation, the relationship does not have to end with the handover of the keys to the hall. It may also encompass subsequent modernisations and adapting the facility to the company’s further development. A well-designed hall should not only meet the company’s needs at the time of its launch, but also enable its further growth” – emphasises Paweł Błaźniak, Executive Board Representative at BTS Development.