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This will determine the desired flow of material, the most economical arrangement of physical facilities, and will serve as the basis for the building design. Of course, the architect should be consulted in the early planning stages for advice on general building construction, but his actual design work should follow that of the plant layout engineer. In this regard, one prominent architectural engineer has said:Today's factory is no longer simply a consolidation of manufacturing activities it is more commonly a supermachine. Its potential output may be enormous and its laborreducing efficiencies may be impressive. ut this super-machine is also unusually comple!, sensitive, often rather infle!ible, and "uite fre"uently re"uires a substantial capital investment. In many instances, this supermachine will have an unforeseen impact upon sales policy, inventory levels, maintenance and control of downtime, and the work force. These considerations mean that today's industrial manager must, in effect, actively design his manufacturing and distribution facilities to meet the same economic ob#ectives as his marketing strategy. $ere, too, he must call upon the finest professional engineering and architectural team when embarking upon a facilities e!pansion program.