Enforcing employees participation in the factory planning process

Changing conditions for manufacturing enterprises force an increase of the participation of the employees. Main goals are the usage of the tacit knowledge and the experience of the employees. Furthermore the motivation may be raised, if the requirements and wishes of the workforce are taken into account. The participation is a basic element in the continuous improvement process, but also in projects like factory planning the participation will lead to better results in shorter time. In this paper the possibilities of an increased participation in the factory planning process are described.