Closing a site or moving production without breaking the business

Few operational decisions carry more risk than closing or relocating a manufacturing site. Customer deliveries must continue uninterrupted. Trade unions and works councils expect to be engaged properly. Qualified staff need to be retained through the transition. Production lines must be recommissioned in the receiving site with first-time-right quality. An interim manager who has delivered closures and relocations before brings a playbook that protects the P&L on both ends of the move.

When you need this engagement

• Footprint optimisation after an acquisition or group restructuring, where duplicate capacity needs to be consolidated
• Cost repositioning – moving production from higher-cost to lower-cost jurisdictions within or outside the EU
• Reshoring and nearshoring – bringing production back from Asia into the EU, typically into Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Turkey or Portugal
• Customer-driven moves – relocating production to be closer to an anchor OEM customer
• End-of-life decisions where a product line or site no longer fits the portfolio

Each scenario has its own legal, commercial and workforce dynamics. All of them share a common feature: the downside of poor execution is immediate and visible.

What I deliver

A closure or relocation mandate typically covers both sides of the move, the exiting site and the receiving site along with everything between them.

• Transition plan and governance. A detailed plan linking production run-down at the exiting site with run-up at the receiving site, built around customer delivery commitments and contractual obligations. Weekly tracking, monthly board reporting.
• Workforce transition. Engagement with works councils, trade unions and individual employees. Execution of social plans, retention arrangements for critical staff, knowledge transfer protocols and legally compliant termination processes. Familiarity with the specific labour-law regimes in Poland, Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, the UK and China.
• Customer and supplier communication. Structured communication with OEM customers about timelines, qualification plans and risk mitigation. Supplier re-contracting or re-routing where required.
• Equipment decommissioning, transport and re-commissioning. Line-by-line transfer plans, equipment disassembly, logistics (often including specialist rigging and oversized transport permits), re-installation and requalification at the receiving site.
• Regulatory and quality requalification. Customer PPAP, first article approval, recertification against IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 or other industry standards at the receiving site.
• Legal and environmental close-out at the exiting site. Lease termination or site disposal, environmental site assessments, final regulatory filings.

Typical timeline

A plant closure or relocation mandate runs 6 to 12 months end-to-end, depending on the size of the operation, the complexity of the product portfolio and the regulatory environment. Engagements are structured around four milestones:

What clients take away

• Customer deliveries maintained throughout the transition, with no lost orders or penalty claims
• Workforce transition completed in full compliance with local labour law
• Production lines operational at the receiving site with certified quality
• Exiting site fully closed out legally, environmentally and financially
• Clear audit trail of every decision, communication and cost suitable for board, investor or regulator scrutiny