Manufacturing companies often refer to their manufacturing plant transfer, consolidation and closure activities as physical restructuring. This can be done by moving production or services overseas, a process known as offshoring. Such projects began in the United States during the 1960s and by 2009 had showed little sign of having ended. Such corporate behavior has taken its toll on the manufacturing base and continues to do so.

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

planned a phase of physical restructuring with the sale of its "good assets" to Fiat in 2009.Wall Street Journal
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Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

has executed numerous physical restructuring programs in the years prior to 2009, as a direct result of changes in the drug pipeline and an outdated and inefficient manufacturing and distribution network.

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

announced a large wave of physical restructuring associated with their June 2009 bankruptcy filing. While the sell-off of assets is necessary in cases of bankruptcy, the costs associated with physical restructuring need to be managed by experts. Firms able to advise and oversee a program of physical restructuring include;

PA Consulting Group PA Consulting Group (formerly Personnel Administration) is a professional services firm that works with public, private and third-sector organisations. It was founded in 1943 by Ernest E. Butten, Tom H. Kirkham and Dr David Seymour, who used a n ...

Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by re ...

, Bestshore Partners,

AlixPartners AlixPartners is a financial advisory and global consulting firm best known for its work in the turnaround space.Merx, Katie. "Thinking Big Thoughts." ''Crain's Detroit Business'' 19.36 (2003): 18. ''Regional Business News.'' Web. 29 May 2013. J ...

and BOOZ and Company.

Notes

Business terms {{Business-term-stub