This paper presents a numerical study on the design of side-suction inlet geometry which is used for multi stage centrifugal pumps or inline centrifugal pumps. In order to achieve an optimum inlet geometry and to explain the interactions between the different geometric configurations, the three dimensional computational fluid dynamics and the design of experiment methods have been applied. Geometric design variables describing the cross sectional area distribution through the inlet were selected. The objective functions are defined as the non-uniformity of the velocity distribution at the passage exit which is just in front of the impeller eyes. From the 2k factorial design results, the most important design variable was found and the performance of the side suction inlet was improved compared to the base line shape.