I am making building layouts of the interior space of warehouses.  This show's us the available space for installing equipment.  I have no background in doing this but I have background in CAD.  

I walk into a warehouse with a tape measure and a pad of paper to make sketch the layout. What are some best practices, tips, or methodologies for making this sketch before I put into CAD?  Please assume you are teaching someone with the knowledge of a 7th grader in this area but the learning capability of a college graduate.  Any resources would be helpful.

-Jason Nicholson
 

Can you get the blueprints?

We do this sort of thing with a rolling measurer.   Not accurate to the last inch but pretty good.

Don't forget to add in legal requirements for aisles, aisle marking and machine guarding.    

Thomas J. Walz
Carbide Processors, Inc.
www.carbideprocessors.com

Good engineering starts with a Grainger Catalog.    

Measure each room/space from wall to wall, and corner to corner.  Amazing how out-of-square interior walls in buildings can be.

Pick one wall/corner to use as a datum, and measure distances from there to other fixed points in the building (columns, doors).  As you go from room to room, estimating the thickness of walls, and due to issues such as above, it's amazing how quickly the errors creep in.  Having a directly measured point to compare to helps figure out where the errors came from.

Done this a lot, easy.  My best friend was a long reel-type tape measure (and a younger flunky to help me).

Put your different architectural elements on different layers with different colors.  Walls, doors, windows, columns, electrical (& electrical panels!), water, HVAC, pneumatic, sprinkler, fire control, telephone, network, parking lots, sidewalks, underground transits, sewer, access ways, as applicable.

Comments and annotations on separate layer.

Develop and assign a grid system on columns if they exist, or some other reference distance (10 feet, 20 feet, whatever).  A-Z on one axis, 0-100? on the other axis.  Later you'll be able to locate things.  Also a grid pattern will help when you populate the floor.
 

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering
www.bluetechnik.com

Tom Walz,
No I am not able to get blueprints.  Thanks for the info on the rolling tape measure.  I will have to pick one up.



btrueblood,
Excellent suggestions about out of square rooms and locating error! Thank you.  


tygerdawg,
Thanks for the suggestions.  Your post is helpful.

-Jason Nicholson
 

If you're laying out the positions of machines/equipment, think about access for maintenance/repairs. Good practice, in my opinion, is 3 feet all round with 2 feet minimum. If it is at all possible, hard points above anything heavy. Makes it much simpler to remove and replace/repair. If not then you will need that access space to bring in a crane/lift. If there are going to be pipe/valve manifolds, controls or any other units requiring regular maintenance/replacement in the overhead, then catwalks. That way they won't have to shut down production when something needs doing up there. Yes, catwalks cost but they also save money,time and possibly lives.
 Talk to some industrial mechanics/millwrights, plumbers/pipefitters and electricians etc. The old hands will have all kinds of horror stories about hard to maintain equipment. ie: It took me 2 hours to remove 2 nuts because there wasn't enough swing for a ratchet, on my side and upside down. What fun!!  

Take into acct the flow of material from incoming dock, stock storage, material prep, machining, welding, sheet metal processes, heat treat, paint, assy, storage, and shipping. There may be other processes.

Try automated lines if possible. Think efficient flow of materials, parts, assys, and final products. Early coniderations will help avoid setting up the plant differently in the future. One expert commented that the flow of material should flow smoothly from incoming dock to shipping dock. If only one dock exists, then one end for incoming and the other end for shipping.