In Feb 2005 I was selected to plan and execute the closure of the Santa Monica Manufacturing Center and relocate manufacturing process to other locations. The plant was a $45MM budget operation with 250 FT people that had operated at that location for 50 years and had a senior population which required careful team management. The project saved $5MM in annual operating cost.
Closure required production inventory build for all ongoing operations; preparation for manufacturing process relocation; building system decommissioning; excess material and equipment disposal; city permit closure; and hand-off to Real Estate Operations.
Manufacturing process relocations consisted of assembly operations to Mexico; plastic injection molding to US and Mexico; and metal micro-machining to India.
Organized manufacturing support to relocated processes to meet demand for all products.
One of the greatest challenges was to maintain a productive workforce after announcing the closure. We still had inventory build to complete. Some of the most capable employees quickly found other jobs and left our company. I had to identify new players to step into larger roles and keep the project on schedule. We changed some work rules and streamlined procedures to get things done quickly and with reduced staff. It was amazing to see the new ideas that came from a team newly empowered.
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