Getting a deadlocked custom-built production line moving again

Illustration of a restarted custom solar panel system with project manager and team in production.

How a plant engineering project regained the ability to act after missing its production start – through clear leadership in one place.

An industrial manufacturing company was faced with a custom-built production line whose planned start of production was already in the past, while assembly and machine acceptance were still outstanding. Interlinked individual machines had not been tested, and the underlying technology was new at this scale. In this situation, the appointed overall project manager took over central control, managed through clear daily targets, and negotiated directly with the suppliers. In the end, there was an operational system with initial positive results – and a team once again working in a coordinated way toward shared goals.

Project at a glance

Project: Director of Supplier Management (role)
Client: A mid-sized industrial manufacturing company in southern Germany
Industry: Solar cell manufacturing
Company data: Around 600 employees, about 80 of them in the project team
Project objective: completion of assembly, start-up of the individual machines in linked operation, and commissioning of the overall system with optimization of performance data
Role: overall project manager responsible for supplier management
Result: operational system with initial positive results, losses contained, coordinated collaboration

Team inspects a partially installed custom system for new modules in a production hall.

Initial situation

At the center was a complex custom-built production line for manufacturing innovative modules. At the time the assignment was taken over, the start of production was already in the past – yet the system had still not been fully installed. The individual machines had not yet been tested for functionality, and machine acceptance in accordance with the Machinery Directive had not yet taken place. To make matters worse, the underlying, completely newly developed technology had never before been implemented at the scale of a full module. As a result, an already delayed schedule collided with a technical task for which there was no prior experience to draw on.

Project and supplier team inspects an idle, partially assembled production line.

The reality behind the target vision

The target state was clear: a completed, accepted system running in an integrated production process. The reality on site looked different. During assembly, there was no coordinated approach, so the individual trades did not mesh with one another. In addition, the individual suppliers were brought in far too late – at a point when delays had already built up. Making matters worse, some machines were already out of warranty. This created a significant gap between the original ambition and the actual condition of the system, one that became harder to close with each passing day.

Wolfgang coordinates a team at the planning board while a supplier negotiation is taking place by video.

Approach and solution

As overall project manager with responsibility for supplier management, the person in charge addressed the decisive issue: control. Instead of fragmented responsibilities, activities were centralized under one lead so that decisions could be made quickly and consistently. The work was structured through clear directives with specific daily targets, so that everyone involved could always understand what had to be achieved and by when. At the same time, negotiations with suppliers were conducted directly to secure the contributions needed for the production ramp-up.

Key measures

Centralization of activities under one responsible management
Clear guidelines with specific daily targets
Direct negotiations with suppliers

Team inspects an operating system in a production hall while finished parts come off the line.

Result

At the end of the project, there was an operational system delivering initial positive results. The impending loss was contained. Equally important: everyone involved was once again working in a coordinated way toward shared goals. What had been a deadlocked situation had become a viable foundation for continued operations.

What exactly was present

The losses were contained
The system was made operational and achieved initial positive results
All parties worked in a coordinated way toward the goals

Client quote

“To ensure the orderly continuation of the project after the PRECI project manager’s assignment, we deployed our two strongest internal project managers together, as the scope and complexity of the task would not have been manageable for a single internal leader.”

Anonymized (NDA)

Team checks stable values on a restarted production system.

What this success story shows about PRECI

The case shows what matters in deadlocked project situations: clarity in decision-making and management that takes responsibility instead of spreading it around. This is exactly the senior executive experience PRECI brings to mid-sized manufacturing companies – with realistic analysis, clear courses of action, and a strong hands-on implementation focus. This case stands for the combination of leadership, operations, and rigorous program execution through to dependable results.

A similar challenge?

If a project in your company has lost its schedule and management is no longer effective, a clarifying conversation is worthwhile. Talk to PRECI about how to make your situation actionable again.