There many different areas in a factory, different areas have different functions and thus the method of control for each are also different.
- Large office areas
Many employees who work at the factory office are often not at their desks and instead roaming the factory; thus, the office lighting should be divided into department sections, this way, each section can be controlled separately and only as needed. There should be a single switch to turn off all the lights so that the last person to leave the office can simply press one switch to turn off all the lights. - Small offices or work rooms
Press once to turn on, press again to turn off; for both the lights and air conditioning. - Small meeting rooms
Press once to turn on, press again to turn off; for the lights with the option to control the air conditioning as well. - Warehouse, equipment rooms
These have large areas, and should divided into sections for control, each area would be controlled by a sensor with delayed auto off. If the lights are required to remain on for prolonged periods, then there should be a switch in the vicinity to control the lights in that section, a long press would then force the lights the remain on and disregard the sensor. Another press would restore the auto off mode. Or digital switches can also be installed in several places which would then allow for access from multiple locations. - Corridors
Different methods can be used depending on the space. For hallways adjacent to windows or with natural lighting, lux sensors can be used to turn on the lights when daylight is not enough and automatically turn the lights off. Or multiple switches (with auto off capability) can be placed strategically along the length of the hallway that allow multiple access and also can be integrated into the control center. - Outdoor lighting
There should be scheduled control with different preset times for each month that change with the seasons. They can also be integrated into the control center. - Centralized control over all lighting and air conditioning, and area scheduled control
- Large conference rooms
Digital switches should be used with pre-assigned patterns for instant recall depending on the event. Digital switches would also control the air conditioning. - Workshop and machinery rooms
Digital switches would be installed in the workshop, these switches carry signal only and not the actual power to the machines, the switches are linked to the control panels though a digital bus cable. These switches allow the operator to operate the machines from the workshop instead of having to go back and forth to the machinery room. - Workshop lighting
The lighting would be placed into circuit groups according to their task, the lights would be divided into sections with sectional control, and would also be centrally controlled. There is no need for an all-on and all-off switch. - Air conditioning blower fans
There would be local switches for control with central control as well. - Emergency power control
When the power is out, to maximize the utility of the generators, there would be a priority in what equipment to power. Once normal utility power is restored, each load would be switched over in the right sequence. - Emergency help button
When something unexpected occurs, the emergency button can be pressed which would then flash and sound the alarm simultaneously in different places and also display the location of the emergency to allow for immediate action.