Foreign Food Manufacturing Business Relocation

Background

A major US-based food company acquired a complete business with multiple product lines that was supported from a single 150,000 sq. ft. European manufacturing location. Foth was hired to gather required information and develop the necessary documentation to remove, relocate and start up all production and support equipment. This equipment had to be split and relocated to (2) existing US based manufacturing locations in under (1) year.

Approach

Initially, Foth found that the existing processes that were maintained by operators and maintenance/engineering personnel were poorly documented.  P&ID’s, Balance and Flow Diagrams, Assembly drawings, and Power and Controls drawings either didn’t exist or were limited in their capacity to document the existing equipment. Foth conducted short, intense data gathering sessions to Europe for acquiring information. Appropriate documentation was then developed which allowed for a smooth facilitation of the relocation.

Results

Foth was able to develop a cost and time effective approach to manage foreign voltages and frequencies. The main product destination was now located in the US which allowed for significant savings in shipping costs. Foth was not only able to support relocation, but also a smooth installation and startup process within budget.