If you have the luxury of designing a brand-new plant ("greenfield"), you have an opportunity to avoid issues that I have found in the many retrofits ("brownfield") which I have worked at.
Tribal knowledge
"Tribal knowledge" is passed down from person-to-person. If you document procedures and keep that information available, you can professionalize the site and get better results from employees. You also have less to fear from old-time employees who make themselves untouchable by being the only one who can do something.
Spot checks
Managers should do regular spot checks on employees. These managers need to know how to do things, but they also need to regularly be checked.
Defined boundaries
Different teams need their expectations and requirements covered individually. Management may need to knock heads together behind closed doors. Expect some disagreements between IT and other departments.
Standardize on vendors
Pick a few, large equipment manufacturers and standardize on them. If you are doing pumps, PLCs, servers, instruments, etc... Pick a few and keep them. It make maintenance's job feasible with far less training.
Lifecycle management
Get a plan to replace all gear before it fails. Rank and file employees should not be held accountable for problems caused by management trying to pinch pennies. Management needs to make plans for how long gear will last, how you will replace it, what to do if it fails, etc.
Continuous improvement
This is a cultural standard that needs to be imposed from the beginning. Why would you not want year over year improvements? Think about how far Toyota came over the decades, and compare it with Ford.
Training
You need constant training. Training should include testing your staff's knowledge and potentially sending staff for additional training on their weak spots.
Unique equipment numbers
Everything should have a unique, plant-wide number. I have seen a single plant with three different LIT 101s. I cannot tell you how many times I see multiples of the same equipment tag at a given plant. This makes your other documentation less useful.
These are just a short list to start with. You could obviously do more, depending on your budget and schedule. You should consider implementing as many of as you can at any site you service.
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