Lessons in operational planning, communication and environmental stewardship

How do you navigate a seamless plant relocation? David Eakins highlights the importance of meticulous planning, strong internal communication, and a collaborative culture. These factors are essential to executing a complex move while maintaining both performance and trust within its workforce and client base

In today’s manufacturing environment, the decision to relocate or consolidate facilities is often driven by the need to improve efficiency, reduce costs, or modernise outdated infrastructure. But executing such a move, especially under tight deadlines, can pose significant risks to employee retention, customer satisfaction, regulatory compliance, and production continuity.

Due to external circumstances, Arnold Magnetic Technologies needed to quickly move two business units from the company’s original property where they had operated for almost one hundred years. The company had only a few months to secure and retrofit a suitable site, transfer more than 400 pieces of equipment, and resume operations without disrupting service to its customers. Arnold’s experience highlights the importance of meticulous planning, strong internal communication, and a collaborative culture. These factors proved essential to executing a complex move while maintaining both performance and trust within its workforce and client base.

Faced with the challenge of uniting their sand-casting foundry and thin metals re-rolling plant under one roof, Arnold’s Director of Operations for the two facilities, David Eakins, along with campus Facility Manager, Mike Lidman, and Manufacturing Engineer, Chris Oakes, embarked on a high-stakes relocation to Woodstock, Illinois. 

When you are choosing a new facility, decisions about location, layout, and design must reflect the needs of the people who work there. From the beginning of the Woodstock transition,the leadership team considered how the move would affect its existing workforce and future talent pool. They drew a radius around their former facilities and evaluated candidate buildings based on their current employee commute patterns as well as transportation access and proximity to future skilled labor.

Critically, the company chose a location offering better access to public transit, major highways, and proximity to a dense population center, prioritizing both employee retention and recruitment. But location alone was not enough. Arnold leveraged the move as an opportunity to substantially upgrade workplace conditions, modernising facilities that had lacked comfort features for years. Enhanced cafeteria and restroom spaces, increased natural lighting, and a more cohesive layout have all contributed to a revitalized environment that boosts morale and productivity.

This employee-first mindset extended into staffing models. By combining two previously separate facilities into a single campus, Arnold was able to streamline roles, replacing duplicated functions with unified support teams. It also created new opportunities for cross-training, allowing employees to broaden their skills and contribute across departments. Rather than reinforcing a rigid and separate structure, the consolidation empowered staff to grow within the organization and build a shared culture.

Union leadership was approached regarding their participation in the move, most taking on new temporary roles far outside their normal scope of work. All employees remained engaged in the process and no one lost time. The leadership team worked together with union and non-union staff to secure buy-in and keep them motivated through the aggressive transition schedule. 

Designing a functional, flexible plant layout

When integrating two very different manufacturing environments, careful attention to physical layout and infrastructure is essential. In Arnold’s case, the foundry’s dusty environment posed a potential contamination risk to the clean-room-like conditions required for thin metal processing. The new facility had to support airflow zoning, dust collection, and debris control across departments that now shared a roof.

To manage these competing environmental needs, the team focused on collaborative planning. Frontline operators and technical staff worked alongside the leadership team to identify core workflows and design a plant layout that maintained the integrity of each process. The management team stressed the importance of eliminating hierarchy in the room, soliciting input from all levels of the organization, resulting in a layout that reflected real-world production needs rather than abstract planning ideals. 

Importantly, the team also made strategic decisions about which equipment to bring and which to retire. Rather than moving everything by default, Arnold carefully evaluated down-time and capacity on every piece of equipment, and invited operators to confirm high-value equipment based on actual usage. Teams then removed and recycled outdated machines, streamlining inventory and clearing the path for higher-performing, newly specified tools.

For facilities professionals, this approach highlights a crucial takeaway: plant design is not just about square footage or utility hookups, it is about understanding product flow, process requirements, and how small infrastructure decisions affect long-term operational performance.

Planning for continuity in customer and certification processes

One of the greatest challenges of any facility move is maintaining customer trust during the transition. Shutdowns, delays, and inconsistencies in communication can all erode confidence and strain key relationships. Arnold managed to retain its customer base throughout the move, a result of detailed planning, honest forecasting, and proactive outreach.

First, the company communicated early and often, alerting clients well in advance and asking them to submit projected orders ahead of the move. This allowed Arnold to build inventory and minimize order delays. For those unable to meet the early ordering deadline, the company committed to prioritizing their orders once operations resumed. This transparent, customer-forward approach minimized anxiety and strengthened long-term loyalty.

The company built extra time into their project schedule for the downstream effects of relocation, particularly inspections and recertification. By reaching out to governing certification bodies before the move, Arnold gained a clear understanding of the steps required to pass the various inspections required by the new municipality. They also worked with industry regulators to recertify for ISO 9001, AS9100 and Nadcap, and with their customers to revalidate work processes. For other manufacturers, this underscores the importance of anticipating not just the physical move, but the bureaucratic and compliance-related adjustments that accompany it.

Accelerating a complex move without compromising safety or quality

Most major facility overhauls allow a full year or more for permitting, engineering drawings, and utility coordination. Arnold had eleven months total to find a site, design and execute the move, construct a new foundry, and resume operations. Much of the traditional pre-move planning had to happen simultaneously with execution, requiring agility, risk mitigation, and constant on-the-ground problem solving.

With such a tight timeline, vendor delays and backordered supplies repeatedly threatened to derail the project. The team had to pivot frequently to solve major problems like a nine month lead time for an electrical distribution grid, and delays from sprinkler system installers. Critical decisions were made quickly, and Arnold’s parent company, Compass Diversified remained flexible to accommodate the additional investment needed to keep the move on track. 

The company also had to contend with regulatory differences between its previous location and the new jurisdiction. Much of the legacy equipment did not meet updated codes, requiring retrofits or replacements. To ensure operational readiness and regulatory compliance, Arnold heavily invested in new equipment that not only met code but also improved quality and output across both production lines.

By combining technical foresight with real-time collaboration, Arnold was able to transform a condensed timeline into a successful rollout. Facilities managers can take from this the importance of agile project management, particularly the ability to quickly identify issues, adapt workflows, and maintain alignment between engineering, production, and regulatory teams. Transparent communication with executive leadership and investors is also critical for success.

Making environmental responsibility non-negotiable

As sustainability continues to be a growing focus in the manufacturing sector, Arnold used its transition as an opportunity to invest in environmentally forward infrastructure. The company’s new facility sits within an Economic Justice Zone, a designation meant to limit industrial pollution in historically underserved areas. Rather than seeing this as a restriction, Arnold treated it as a mandate to exceed environmental compliance standards.

Cooling systems now use closed-loop chilling circuits instead of consuming municipal water, significantly reducing strain on the local water supply. Water wash stations are supported by on-site processing tanks to limit wastewater discharge. Glycol-based thermal control systems manage temperature precisely, while massive dust collectors, vacuum sand systems, and HEAF air filtration mitigate emissions from the foundry.

In areas with potentially hazardous fumes, like degreasers or finishing lines, Arnold installed dedicated fume collectors and filters. All of these enhancements required significant capital, but the company viewed them as long-term investments in both environmental health and community well-being. For other facility leaders planning upgrades or moves, this example underscores the value of designing sustainability into the foundation of your operations — not just to meet today’s codes, but to lead on future-proof practices.

Relocating or consolidating a manufacturing facility is a high-stakes endeavor, but it is also an opportunity to reset priorities, invest in people, and build smarter, greener operations from the ground up. By putting employees and customers first, embracing collaborative planning, and designing with environmental and regulatory foresight, Arnold not only met its ambitious move timeline but also emerged stronger, with a more resilient, future-ready facility. This experience demonstrates that with transparent communication, empowered teams, and a long-term vision, even the most daunting transitions can become catalysts for operational excellence.

David Eakins is Director of Operations at Arnold Magnetics Technologies.