---
title: Change the factory layout in hours, not weeks | OpiFlex
description: Moving a fenced robot cell normally takes 1.5–2 weeks. A fenceless mobile cell moves in 2–4 hours. What that means when your layout changes again.
image: https://blog.opiflex.se/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p17-move-robot-with-machine.png
---

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# Change the layout in hours, not weeks

[flexible robotics](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/flexible-robotics) [mobile robots](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/mobile-robots) [fenceless safety](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/tag/fenceless-safety)

Updated at: 14 October 2026

Every layout plan I have seen changes at least once before it is finished, and again a year later. A new machine arrives, a flow is turned around, or a line has to make room for a product that did not exist when the plan was drawn.

A fenced robot cell is built for the layout it was installed in, and it serves that layout well. When the layout changes, the fence has to change with it.

## What a move takes

In our comparison, moving a fenced robot cell normally takes 1.5–2 weeks. A fenceless mobile cell is normally moved in 2–4 hours, about 30 times faster.

The example calculation in our presentation points the same way. A layout change takes 60 hours with a fenced solution, with production down 90 % of that time. With a fenceless solution it takes 3 hours, with production down 10 % of the time.

The OECD report *Making Life Richer, Easier and Healthier* (2021) lists a layout that can be changed without fences as one of five needs manufacturers describe: to move production quickly and not be locked into a given factory layout.

## Move the robot with the machine

The robot stands on a mobile platform and docks at the machine with high precision. When the machine is moved, the robot follows it, with a pallet truck, manually or by AGV. There is no fence to take down and put up again.

![Change workshop layout fast: move the robot with the machine](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p17-move-robot-with-machine.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=p17-move-robot-with-machine.png)

## Move the robot out of the way

The same mobility helps in daily work. At a press, the robot can be moved aside while the tool is changed, and docked again afterwards. Without a fence, the operator also has full manual access to the machine, for single parts, prototypes or a quality check.

![Move the robot to change tool in the press](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p03-move-robot-press-tool-change.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=p03-move-robot-press-tool-change.png)

## A fence only where it is needed

Some high-volume stations are better with a physical barrier. There, a tight mobile fence monitored by a scanner can be added, only at that station.

![High volume manufacturing: tight mobile fence when needed](https://blog.opiflex.se/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Blog%20Images/p04-mobile-fence-when-needed.png?width=1920&height=1080&name=p04-mobile-fence-when-needed.png)

## Planning a change?

If a new line or a layout change is coming up, I would like to hear how your floor looks today and what you want to change. Send us a sketch of the area or a few pictures of the machines, and we can see together whether a mobile cell fits. [Contact us](https://www.opiflex.se/en/contact/).

Johan Frisk

[Read more from Johan Frisk](https://blog.opiflex.se/opiflex-blog/author/johan-frisk)

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