How the work actually runs
The kinds of projects we take on
Three shapes of project, described honestly. These are not client stories. We do not publish a customer's closure, their site or their numbers, and a page of anonymous outcomes with no way to check them would not tell you anything anyway.
Why this page is not a set of case studies. Most of what we buy comes from plants that were closing, and the people who ran those closures did not want it published at the time. Named case studies will appear here only if a customer is ever willing to have their project described by name. Until that happens, here is the honest version: the shape of each kind of job, what it needs from you, and the part that usually goes wrong.
Shape 1: the single surplus line
A plant that is trading perfectly well has a line it no longer runs. A product was discontinued, or new equipment replaced it, or a contract ended. The machines sit in a bay somebody now wants back.
What it involves. A list and photographs, usually built in an afternoon. A valuation in writing. One visit, if the line is worth seeing run. Then a removal window agreed around the production schedule, because the plant is still earning and nothing may interrupt that.
What decides the number. Whether the line can be demonstrated, whether the tooling and controls are complete, and whether it can be sold as a working line rather than as a pile of machines.
Where it goes wrong. Shared services. A machine on a shared electrical panel, a shared compressed air ring or a shared extraction system cannot simply be cut out. Have maintenance identify those before the crew arrives, and the removal is uneventful.
Shape 2: the announced plant closure
A site is closing, the announcement has been made, and there is a date on the lease. The equipment is one workstream among several, and the people running it are also running everything else.
What it involves. A full equipment list across every building. A valuation split by route, because a floor like this almost never suits 1 route. Outright purchase of what fits our buyer network, placement of what does better with an end user, and an honest recommendation to auction the rest where that is faster and more complete. Then a removal plan built against the utilities schedule and the handover date.
What decides the recovery. How early it starts, and whether machines stay connected and demonstrable until they are sold.
Where it goes wrong. Utilities canceled on the production calendar rather than the removal calendar, and the last person with keys leaving 3 weeks before the last machine.
Shape 3: the confidential wind down
A decision has been made but not announced. The site still runs. Only a handful of people know, and the equipment work has to happen without anybody on the floor drawing the conclusion.
What it involves. A mutual non-disclosure agreement before any detail moves. A list that carries region and industry but not the site name or the address. Photographs checked frame by frame for wall signs, notice boards, customer product and shipping labels. Valuation and contracting done quietly, so that removal can begin the day after the announcement rather than 6 weeks after it.
What decides it. Discipline about who knows, and taking the notification sequencing advice from your own counsel rather than from an equipment dealer.
Where it goes wrong. Photographs. A phone photograph carries the location in its file data, and a shot of a machine often carries something in the background that identifies the site.
What we will not publish
No customer name without written permission. No site address, ever. No figures for any machine, any lot or any project, because this site publishes no prices at all. When the named case studies go up, they will carry industry, region, the constraint, what we did and what happened in units of time and completeness. Not money.
Want a reference?
Ask for one. If your project is serious we will put you in touch with somebody who has been through the same thing with us, once they have agreed to take the call.
Which shape is yours?
Tell us in 3 lines and we will tell you what the project looks like from our side, including how long it takes and what your team would have to do.
Or call (864) 574-0404 and ask for the asset recovery desk.