Before you can manufacture anything, you need some land, a building, and a layout. Your decisions about these elements are extremely important, especially the first two. Once you buy land and erect a building, it's usually too late to change your mind without incurring a stiff penalty. So, in this lesson, we'll explore the ins and outs of facility selection and layout. We'll begin by discussing the influence of forecasting, long-range planning, and capacity planning. Then we'll identify the numerous factors you need to consider for a general and specific location and look at a way to evaluate them. We'll also examine plant layout and review a few options for it.