Factory relocation may be necessary to increase available workspace, account for business growth or align with long-term business plans. While there’s no one-size-fits-all way to get from point A to point B, businesses can benefit by using a factory relocation timeline that includes common checkpoints to streamline the process.

Preparing for Relocation

The first step of any factory relocation is planning. While it may be tempting to start the move as soon as new factory construction is complete or pre-existing building purchases are made, beginning without a plan can lead to supply chain disruptions, inventory management errors or damage to essential equipment.

Instead, start by defining how much you expect to spend and how long you want relocation to take. Understand that both of these values are subject to change but are worth defining to establish a ballpark. 

Next, make sure you obtain all necessary permits and documentation required to move equipment cross-city, across the state or across the nation. In addition, create a comprehensive list of all machinery and parts that will be making the move. Finally, disassemble and label all machine parts. While this requires more time upfront, it streamlines the reassembly process.

Transporting Critical Machinery

With planning complete, the next step is defining a clear logistics strategy. This includes contracting experienced heavy machinery moving providers capable of specialized equipment transportation that accounts for optimal routes to reduce the risk of equipment damage or loss.

Transport itself comes next. Reputable providers are key to ensuring equipment safety, but it’s also important to have in-house staff on hand to supervise the loading and unloading of equipment. Before partnering with any transportation firm, businesses should ask about their transport process — what type of vehicles do they have available? What processes are in place if a problem arises? Is temporary storage an option if factories aren’t quite ready?

Once machinery arrives at the new location, carry out a walkthrough to ensure necessary utilities and infrastructure are in place. Then, work with your transport provider to reassemble and install machinery.

Getting Up and Running

With equipment moved and reassembled, the next step is testing. Turn on and run all machinery to ensure it works as expected and verify functionality with more in-depth testing. Once this is complete, take the time to fine-tune machinery and ensure optimal productivity. For example, cities at different altitudes have different air pressures, which can impact machine functions.

As companies begin to restart operations, employee training sessions are essential to ensure productivity. While machinery may remain the same, locations within new factories may be different than those of old buildings — staff need to learn new layouts before they can deliver optimal productivity.

The last step in your relocation timeline? Final checks and feedback. Maintenance teams should carry out in-depth checks of all machinery and systems to pinpoint and address any potential errors. Consider a machine that had one part replaced inaccurately. While the machine still works, its safety is compromised. Left unchecked, it could cause serious harm. Final checks help find and resolve these issues before they become big problems.

Feedback, meanwhile, comes from both front-line staff and stakeholders. Front-line staff understand the impact and efficiency of operations on the floor, giving them valuable insight to help maximize process efficiency. Stakeholders, meanwhile, may be able to recommend ways to optimize operations without going over budget.

Staying the Course

Factory relocations are complex, time-consuming and have a habit of going over budget. While it’s impossible to account for and avoid every relocation risk, businesses are better prepared to stay the course with a comprehensive factory relocation timeline that prioritizes planning, pinpoints transportation needs and improves operations with testing, training and feedback.

Author Bio

Kelly Zurawski is a Part Owner of Equip Trucking & Warehousing, LLC, which transports heavy equipment, industrial machinery, metalworking machinery, and much more. She has a master’s degree in leadership development. Her brother and husband are also Part Owners. The family’s passion for heavy equipment moving began with Zurawski’s grandfather and father, who also worked in the industry.