They work together at two levels. Footprint Optimization answers the network question of where sites should be and what each should do. Facility Design answers the single-site question of how a given plant is laid out for flow, cell design, safety, and capacity. Footprint sets the network strategy; Facility Design executes the layout once a location and role are set.

Common triggers include rising landed or freight costs, tariff and trade-policy exposure, capacity constraints or underused sites, aging facilities, a shift in where demand sits, and duplication after an acquisition. If your network was designed for a market that has since changed, a review will usually surface trapped cost and capital worth acting on.

The decision is grounded in data. VDS models each option for total landed cost, capital required, service-level impact, risk, and time to benefit, then compares them side by side. The right answer depends on your demand geography, existing assets, capacity headroom, and available incentives, and it is often a staged combination of moves.

Protecting delivery, quality, and customer relationships during a transition is the core of the work. VDS stages moves to minimize disruption, builds detailed transition and risk plans, and deploys experienced interim operators through 360° Client Alignment® to manage the closure, startup, or ramp on the floor. Production and shipments keep running while the change is executed.

That depends on your cost structure, customer proximity, and risk tolerance, and it is exactly the kind of question the modeling answers. Reshoring, nearshoring, and best-cost-region options are each scenario-tested for landed cost, lead time, tariff exposure, and resilience. Often the strongest move is regional: placing final assembly or configuration closer to customers while keeping upstream production where it is efficient.

Savings vary with the size and shape of the network, so VDS quantifies the specific opportunity during the Diagnostic before committing to a target. Footprint programs are capital-heavy and staged, so quick wins such as inventory rebalancing and lane optimization can land early, while larger consolidations or startups deliver their full return over a longer horizon.

Yes. Relocations, expansions, and greenfield projects frequently qualify for state, county, and local incentives that improve the business case. VDS structures moves to capture that value and works with its Incentive Management Group partner on US expansions that add new jobs, so incentives are built into the plan from the start rather than pursued after decisions are locked.

Yes, and it is a frequent engagement. After a platform grows through acquisition, it often carries duplicate plants, warehouses, and capacity. VDS rationalizes the combined footprint for private-equity-owned companies, targeting EBITDA and working-capital gains that hold through the hold period and stand up to the next buyer's diligence, with interim operators available to execute inside the timeline.