Factory Space, Flooring, Drainage, and Workflow Planning

When buying a machine, customers often only ask how big it is. But whether the machine is easy to use and easy to clean once it's installed, and whether it passes inspection, depends on how the whole space is planned. The following only describes the provisions and general practice; whether your premises comply must be determined on-site by the competent authority.

How Much Space Does a Machine Need?

The machine's footprint is just the starting point. The space you actually need to reserve includes:

• Operating position: room for the operator to stand, turn, and bend to pick up pieces.
• Loading and discharge: where ingredient carts park, and the outlet for finished product trays or the conveyor.
• Disassembly, washing, and drying: the removed hopper, screw, and dies need a place to sit and a place to be washed.
• Maintenance space: access doors on the back and sides of the machine must be able to open, and a person must be able to get in.
• Moving route: doorways, aisles, and corners must allow the machine to be brought in, and taken out again later.

Taking Dong-Yih Machinery's DY-528MS Portioning Machine as an example, the listed machine dimensions are 1335 L × 655 W × 1520 H mm. Ask the maker for an outline dimension drawing first, mark the actual area on the floor with tape, and walk through the operating and cleaning routine; that's the most accurate approach.

Do Floors Need to Be Waterproof, with Drains?

For food factories, under Article 6 of the Standards for Food Factory Construction and Equipment (食品工廠建築及設備設廠標準) (last amended September 27, 2018):

• Floors: Raw material handling areas, processing or preparation areas, and inner packaging rooms must use non-absorbent, impermeable, acid- and alkali-resistant, wear-resistant materials, with a good drainage slope and drainage system.
• Walls: White or light-colored; in the areas above, at least the bottom 1 meter of wall must use non-absorbent, impermeable, easy-to-clean materials.
• Drainage system: Complete and unobstructed; drains must have facilities to trap solid waste, and outlets must prevent pest entry.
• Lighting: At least 200 lux on work or preparation surfaces, and at least 100 lux on machinery and equipment surfaces.
• Ceilings: White or light-colored and easy to clean, with no condensation directly above food.

Food service and retail businesses that aren't factories must also comply with Annex 1 of the Regulations on Good Hygiene Practice for Food (食品良好衛生規範準則) (last amended June 4, 2025): walls and floors should avoid standing water; the drainage system must be complete and unobstructed, with drains equipped to trap solid waste; lighting must be at least 100 lux in general work areas and at least 200 lux on work or preparation surfaces.

In practice, machines often need washing with water, so the floor around them should slope toward a drain to avoid standing water, and machine bases should be raised off the floor or movable so the floor can be cleaned.

Do Raw and Cooked Foods Need Separate Zones?

The spirit of the rules is that "areas with different cleanliness requirements must be separated":

• Factory standards Article 6: Areas with different uses or cleanliness requirements must be set up separately or effectively isolated and managed.
• GHP Annex 1: Areas with different cleanliness requirements must be effectively separated and managed, with sufficient space for moving goods.
• GHP Article 12, Subparagraph 1: In food manufacturing, areas with different types of operations must be set up separately or effectively separated, and measures must be taken to avoid cross-contamination.

Separation can be walls or partitions, or invisible separation by time or airflow direction (GHP Article 3, Subparagraph 7). A common approach is to lay out raw material handling (raw meat, vegetable washing), forming, heating, cooling, and inner packaging in sequence, so that raw materials flow one way toward cooked food.

Workflow Planning Principles

• Raw materials and finished goods don't cross: The route by which raw materials come in shouldn't pass through the cooked-food cooling or inner packaging area.
• Staff flow: People must pass handwashing facilities before entering work areas; GHP Annex 1 requires a sufficient number of appropriately located handwashing facilities with handwashing steps posted.
• Restrooms: Must not open directly onto work areas (except where there's a buffer and effective airflow control).
• Waste: Keep the waste exit separate from the finished goods exit.

Tips for Positioning Machines

• Don't push the machine flush against a wall, or you won't be able to clean or repair behind it.
• Keep outlets and distribution boxes away from wash-down areas, or use waterproof types.
• Leave a safety clearance around machines, and before cleaning or repairs, switch off, cut power, and lock out and tag out.

FAQ

Q: How much space should I leave for a steamed bun machine?
A: Beyond the machine itself, add room for operation, loading, discharge, disassembly and washing, and repairs. Get the outline dimension drawing first and mark the area on the floor to simulate it.

Q: What are the floor requirements for a food factory?
A: Article 6 of the factory standards requires floors in processing and preparation areas to be non-absorbent, impermeable, acid- and alkali-resistant, and wear-resistant, with a drainage slope and drainage system.

Q: Are there requirements for drains?
A: Both the factory standards and GHP require an unobstructed drainage system, with drains equipped to trap solid waste and outlets protected against pest entry.

Q: Does a small workshop also need separate raw and cooked zones?
A: GHP requires areas with different cleanliness requirements to be effectively separated and managed, which can be done with partitions, or by time or airflow direction.