During the electronics industry's past 15 - 20 year period of explosive growth cycles, Motorola's U.S. and off-shore manufacturing facilities have grown dramatically.

Since 1976, PM's managers have completed over 10 facility studies for Motorola's semiconductor operations. One or all of these tasks were completed in each:

Working directly with Motorola's Worldwide construction managers, PM team members began most assignments with the completion of a new or updated site facility audit, identifying current site capacity and utilization patterns.

Projected facility requirements were developed with business line managers, using product-specific manufacturing plans, scheduled productivity improvements, and established management policies. Developed as custom automated planning models, these were designed for Motorola's on-going use.

Acceptable recommendations on new relocation and/or building plans were made to senior managers in the form of proposed facility strategies and corresponding project requests.

As facilities within one region expanded over 450% during the past 12 years, these planning efforts helped pace facility growth, keeping those rate well below increases in output and sales. Balanced building additions and occupancies were planned to keep utilization rates on all sites above 90% despite considerable churn and new construction.