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Eli Lewis

Project in 2 parts · 2026

Ely Tool shop reorganization

Role
Team
Tools
sketchup, chatgpt-codex
Skills
facility-layout, 5s-lean, stakeholder-coordination, project-planning, inventory-systems, workflow-design, prototyping, human-centered-design
  1. Final plan for the main floor, modeled to scale in SketchUp. I discussed with the lead engineer to establish large moves and location for the new CNC machine (large upper left profile). I worked out everything in between--exact orientation, storage cabinets, worktables, manual machines. Colors: green = in final position, orange = planned, not yet moved, red = remove, purple = review, brown = work surface, yellow = keep contents. Large shaded margins = space needed to service a machine; white circles = 12, 8 and 5 ft gauges for checking the new hallway widths.Part 1

    Manufacturing & shop · Jul–Sep 2026

    Ely Tool Full Shop Floor Reorganization Plan, Avoiding a Shop Shutdown

    5S layout planning in SketchUp for a working custom-tooling shop

    I modeled Ely Tool's main floor to scale in SketchUp and designed the detailed layout management adopted, fitting existing machines, benches and storage around space needed for new CNC machines and for a concrete pad installation. The plan revolved around a large flexible central area, which allowed a forklift to fit onto the shop floor to enable continuous reordering of machines, spreading the moving work over a longer timespan and avoiding a full shop shutdown, which would have cost an estimated $5,000

    ~$5,000 estimated shutdown labor avoided, 400+ square feet of floor space made availableRead part 1 →
  2. Searching "6203 bearing" finds the part, its total stock and both bins it's linked to (sample data).Part 2

    Engineering · Summer 2026

    Detail room: $0 storage plan and barcode lookup prototype

    Room layout in SketchUp and a working inventory mockup (React, SQLite, Code 128 labels)

    I planned a small detail room for dense bin storage using only equipment the shop already owned, and designed a barcode workflow so any employee could find a part. Management approved the layout and agreed with the barcode approach, room construction kept it from being installed before I left. Part finding is easy: fuzzy search by SKU, size, type, description, with filters available. Part locations are indexed by Unit-->Row-->Column-->Bin color for quick retrieval of parts. System was designed to be intuitive and naturally error-resistant: every action starts with scanning a part, every time. Every action requires a deliberate button press on the scanner, accidental scans will not change data. The user is always in charge, the system will not make forcing decisions: Parts can be linked to multiple bins or multiple parts to a bin, just with a warning; overdraw is allowed in case of previous count error, unlimited labels can be made with no location links at all

    $0 base layout using owned equipment and finalized scanning workflowRead part 2 →

My part I was responsible for the detailed layout and for coordinating between management and getting feedback from employees; management made the major relocation decisions and I put it all together into a concrete plan

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