Cross-Country Product Line Relocation: 7,900 Components Resourced in 5 Months

The Challenge

A global OEM manufacturer decided to relocate an entire aerial work platform assembly line from the Pacific Northwest to the Southeast — over 2,500 miles. The existing supply base was entirely West Coast–based, so every one of the 7,900 components in the bill of materials needed new, locally qualified suppliers.

The original plan called for two 4-month phases, but corporate headquarters compressed the timeline to 5 months total. Three new product launches, an ERP migration, and full current production all had to continue at the same time — against a hard shutdown date.

Our Approach

A 3P stage-gate plan with go/no-go milestones and risk barriers drove the program, with weekly cross-site coordination and daily communication on critical-path items across roughly 12 stakeholders up to the CEO.

All 7,900 components were evaluated, quoted, and sourced from new suppliers meeting quality, delivery, price, consolidation, and lead-time criteria. Three strategic suppliers were negotiated to co-locate a shared distribution facility less than one mile from the new plant.

A Plan For Every Part, FIFO supermarkets, and a barcoded Kanban system were established, and ten Kaizen events optimized materials setup and line-side flow.

Measurable Results

• First unit produced on the new line in Week 1 of Month 5 — on plan despite the compressed timeline
• $100K+ annual cost savings versus Pacific Northwest BOM costs through local sourcing
• 7,900 components successfully resourced from a new supplier base
• 10 Kaizen events completed for kanban setup, SWIP, and visual flow controls
• 3 suppliers co-located a distribution hub within 1 mile of the plant for multi-daily VMI delivery
• Zero disruption to existing production during the entire relocation
• 3 new product launches and an ERP migration managed during the move