The Manufacturing Systems Laboratory (SIMAN), Industrial Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Industrial Technology (FTI), Islamic University of Indonesia (UII), held the 2025 Facility Design Big Project EXPO on Thursday (18/12). This event was the culmination of a series of practical sessions for the Facility Design (PF) course. A total of 63 teams of Industrial Engineering students from FTI UII showcased their best proposals at this event. The participants presented various innovative and applicable factory and MSME layout designs. They integrated facility design theory with real world industrial conditions. These proposals resulted in efficient and optimal solutions to increase productivity.
Academic Innovation
The event featured an exhibition and assessment of student innovations in the form of prototype layouts, which were evaluated directly by SIMAN Laboratory assistants. One of the most interesting works was that of the TD-9 group. This team redesigned the factory layout for the ginger extractor production process to make it more efficient and structured. The layout was changed because the initial layout was deemed suboptimal. This resulted in longer distances, increased time, and higher material handling costs.
This innovation was based on in-depth research and observation of the actual conditions at the factory. The TD-9 team mentioned that limited space, varying component sizes, and the number of work stations were the main challenges in designing an efficient layout.
“We want to improve the production flow of the ginger extractor machine to make it more organized and linear. The main focus is to reduce material transfer distances, reduce material handling costs, and optimize the proximity between work stations,” explained Helda Noor Prameswari, as the team representative.
The proposed layout is capable of creating a neater production flow and significantly reducing material handling costs. Layout evaluation process is also supported by software, making the results more measurable and objective. Helda’s team hopes that this proposed layout can serve as a reference for factories in organizing their production areas in a neater, more efficient, and safer manner. Layout can be implemented gradually according to the conditions of the factory without requiring major changes to existing facilities.
Words from the Organizing Committee
From the committee’s side, Dinda Meilia Rhepon, SIMAN Laboratory assistant and PIC for this activity, expressed her enthusiasm for the participants. Dinda also shared her impressions of preparing for the EXPO. She particularly enjoyed the process of finalizing the details of the expo. There are from selecting vendors, choosing backdrop and gate designs, to coordinating with fellow SIMAN lab assistants.
“Although the SIMAN Laboratory has frequently held the Gamtek EXPO every year, the Facility Design EXPO is something new for the SIMAN Laboratory assistants, so it actually presents its own challenges,” she said.
Dinda expressed her high hopes that this EXPO would have a long-term impact on the participants. She hopes that the participants can apply the knowledge gained during the practicum and EXPO, both during their work practicum and when they enter the workforce. She also hopes that the EXPO can run smoothly next year.
“Hopefully, next year’s EXPO will be even more lively and inspiring for the assistants and participants in the future!” she said.
Visitor Experiences and Messages
The 2025 Facility Design Expo received positive feedback from visitors. One of the visitors was Nilam Atika Sari, a student at the Faculty of Industrial Technology. She expressed her excitement, saying she felt motivated by the enthusiasm and ambition of the EXPO participants, which was evident in the attractive models they had created.
Nilam also emphasized that this EXPO event serves as a learning platform for visualizing and presenting analyses, calculations, and recommendations to others. She also views this event as an opportunity to practice pitching or convincing clients in the future. In closing, she hopes that future EXPO events will be even more lively.
“Hopefully, it will be even more lively, not just from FTI students but even beyond,” she said.
Thus, the 2025 Facility Design EXPO is a testament to the ability of FTI UII Industrial Engineering students to apply layout theory in the real world. Various layout designs demonstrate their ability to analyze, their creativity, and their readiness to present innovative and applicable facility design solutions for development in the industrial sector.
Nisrina Nur Masrefa
