Electric car manufacturer Tesla is struggling to produce enough of its Model 3 cars to meet the high demand. To address the issue, it has been expanding their factory.
It has now built a huge tent behind its factory to house an additional production line. Over 400 permits from the local authority have been granted for Tesla to build extensions to its factory and to renovate existing buildings.
Since 2016, the company owned by Elon Musk has spent $21.4 million (£16.2m) reconfiguring the inside of its factory. This includes constructing a mezzanine floor located above the main factory floor. The $21.4 million construction budget does not include the extra cost of machinery.
Tesla is facing an issue that many businesses have when they expand, how to find extra space in their business premises without the cost and time of relocating. After installing as much extra warehouse shelving that will fit into any spare space, the next solution is to build an extension or a mezzanine floor. Tesla has used a tent for extra space which is fine for the California climate where it is located, but this may not be practical for the British climate.
One problem that can occur when storing more goods or building mezzanine floors is that the existing floors may not be strong enough to support the weight and could start sagging. Geopolymer injection processes has been developed to strengthen and raise sinking floors. This operation can be done with the minimum interruption to work operations.
