The situation
Close a site cleanly — for the people and the customer
Closing a site is the hardest kind of move there is. The machines are the easy part — the harder work is protecting every delivery and treating the people leaving it with respect. That is what I lead: the closure end to end, from the board decision to a clean final handover. I have done it from four different chairs.
A closure is a people problem before it’s an exit problem
Closing a site touches everyone attached to it: the workforce, the receiving sites inheriting the volume, and the customers waiting on next week’s delivery. Get the sequencing or the announcement order wrong, and the people feel it as disrespect before the customer feels it as a gap.
I take operational charge of the whole closure — the board case, the plan and the sequencing, the people and risk track, and the customer-continuity that has to hold throughout. On the union and workforce side I work alongside HR: I bring the operational plan and the delivery continuity, not the labour-law lead. The work runs from the floor and connects straight up to the board decision, so the close lands without a gap the customer or the workforce can see. I have led closures like this from different chairs — the operator who ran the site, the plant director who owned it, the board director who presented the decision — and I have once been on the receiving end myself, when the role being cut was my own.
What I own
- The board case, the plan and the sequencing
- The people and risk track, first
- The announcement, in the right order
- Delivery continuity through the wind-down
- The union/MBL and workforce track, alongside HR
Over roughly 18 months I held overall responsibility for one site’s closure and cross-European transfer — a 150+-person site, production moved to five receiving factories in four countries, deliveries protected throughout. On another closure, I presented the case to the board myself, as a board director, before leading the post-decision phase.
The method
How I run a closure, end to end
Every closure is different; the method isn’t. Six phases, from the board case to the last day — the same spine whether I built the case as the site’s operator or presented it as a board director.
The case and the decision
One decision-grade case that weighs what can be fixed against what can’t, with the cost, the savings, the payback and the timing of the legal process laid out openly. I have built this case as the site’s operator and presented it from the board seat.
Done when the board or steering group has voted to close — with the announcement plan ready before the vote leaves the room.
Governance and sequencing
The decision becomes a running operating system before day one: work-streams for the customer, the people, the industrial move, the facilities and the finances, one weekly go/no-go rhythm, one status format. A closure runs on cadence, not on heroics.
Done when the streams are staffed, contracted and reporting on the same weekly rhythm.
People and risk, first
Protect the workforce and the critical skills before anyone outside a small circle is told: who is at risk, who the receiving sites need most, and the retention and transition designed with HR — including bonus terms that give people a reason to stay and deliver to the last day.
Done when critical roles have cover plans and the retention framework is agreed with HR.
The announcement
Announce once, in the right order, with no leaks: board, union, then the people face to face, then customers and suppliers — most of it the same day. I have stood in front of a full workforce and delivered that message myself.
Done when every group has been told before the next, and nothing has leaked.
Wind down with deliveries protected
Buffer stock is built ahead of the ramp-down, made-to-order lines are converted where they must be, and when production continues elsewhere the move runs on the full transfer discipline — wave-by-wave gates, competence moved with the equipment, receiving sites proven before the sending site lets go.
Done when customer continuity tracks green through the wind-down, and each wave holds its numbers before the next one leaves.
The last day, and a clean close
Production runs to the final order with safety and quality held to target on the last shift, and the site closes with a structured, documented handover — assets, obligations and people all accounted for. The people who stay to deliver the ending deserve the same discipline as the ones who ran the start.
Done when the closure is complete and documented, and nothing was left open.
Across all six phases, two things never move: deliveries stay protected, and the people are treated with respect all the way to the last day — the two things a customer and a workforce feel first.
Two kinds of ending
Every closure has one of two ends
The people side is identical in both. What changes is where the volume goes — and how much transfer discipline the closure carries with it.
Production continues elsewhere
The closure and the transfer run as one programme: buffer stock built ahead, competence moved with the equipment, receiving sites proven wave by wave before the sending site lets go. This is the pattern behind the proven record — a 150+-person site moved to five factories in four countries, deliveries protected throughout. The transfer side, in depth.
The line ends with the site
No receiving site — so the discipline points at the ending itself: deliveries run to the final order, obligations are closed out properly, and the people leave with respect and a plan. A shorter programme, the same method, the same standards held to the last shift.
Common questions
Closing a factory, answered
How do you protect customers and staff through a closure?
With method on both fronts, not luck. For customers: buffer stock built ahead of the close, made-to-order lines converted to make-to-stock, a dedicated customer track on a weekly rhythm, and competence transferred together with the equipment to the receiving side. For the people: critical roles mapped early, retention and bonus terms negotiated with the unions so people have a reason to stay and deliver to the last day, and a communication sequence that tells everyone face to face before the market hears a word. I can promise the governance and the experience, not a guarantee that nothing will ever wobble — that would be dishonest. Done this way, a 150+-person site’s entire production was transferred to five factories in four countries with deliveries protected throughout.
How are the people handled?
With respect, and with a plan. Critical roles and skills are mapped before anyone outside a small circle is told, retention and bonus terms are negotiated with the unions so people have a reason to stay and deliver to the last day, and I work alongside HR on the union and co-determination process — I bring the operational plan and the delivery continuity, not the labour-law lead. Where receiving sites need people, competence is transferred with the equipment, not left behind. Everyone hears the news face to face, from someone accountable, before it reaches the market.
How long does a closure take?
It depends entirely on the case — how many receiving sites are involved, how many product lines have to be qualified elsewhere, and how the workforce and union process is scoped. My own reference programme ran about 18 months end to end, from the board case to the last receiving site holding verified performance. There is no generic timeline I default to; I scope it honestly upfront, and protect the people and the deliveries throughout, whatever the duration.
Do you stay to the final day, or hand it over?
I own the decision, the announcement and the negotiation phases myself, and I stay hands-on through preparation and the hardest stretch of execution — that is where a closure is actually won or lost. Once every track is agreed, contracted and running to plan, a dedicated execution lead can carry the final closure through to the last operating day. I have led closures from the board seat and from the operator’s seat, and the discipline is the same either way: nothing is handed over until it is decided, negotiated and moving.
Related situations: Factory relocation & transfer · Post-acquisition integrationAll services · About Soheil
Let’s talk
Facing a closure or consolidation?
If you are facing a site closure, a consolidation or a wind-down and need it done with method — protecting the people and the customer — let’s have a conversation. Fifteen minutes is usually enough to see whether I can help.
I reply within 24 hours.