Machinery Disassembly and Reassembly by the Crew That Puts It Back Together
Documented, match-marked teardown of production lines and heavy machinery. Load planning and transport coordination. Reassembly, precision alignment and startup at the new location. One AK crew owns the equipment from the first bolt out to the first part off.
AK Industrial Contractors disassembles, moves and reassembles production equipment for manufacturers relocating, reconfiguring or decommissioning machinery in the United States and Mexico. Our millwright and rigging crews survey and document each machine, match-mark and tag every sub-assembly and connection, prepare it for transport, then reinstall, align and support startup at the destination. Because the same self-performing crew handles both ends, the knowledge of how the equipment came apart travels with it. We have done this work since 1981 on all types of industrial machinery, including CNC machinery, presses, extrusion lines, furnaces, conveyors, packaging lines and process equipment, for more than 500 industrial projects.
Reassembly Is Where Relocations Go Wrong. So We Start There.
Taking a machine apart is not the hard part. The hard part is a press or a machining center arriving at the new plant as forty crates and a stack of photographs, six weeks after a different crew took it down, with a startup date already on the calendar.
AK Industrial plans the teardown around the rebuild. Before a wrench moves, we record baseline alignment readings, run data and as-found conditions. Every sub-assembly, cable, hose and pipe spool is match-marked and tagged to a disassembly register that becomes the reassembly checklist. And the crew that fills in that register is the crew that reinstalls the machine: the same AK millwrights, the same project manager, the same accountability.
No handoff between "the guys who dismantled it" and "the guys who are supposed to make it run".
Our Disassembly Method
Survey and baseline
Site walk with your engineers and, where useful, the OEM. Photographs, alignment and level readings, run parameters, utility points, weights and dimensions of every major component. Identify what ships as one piece and what has to come apart.
Isolation with your team
Lockout/tagout, de-energizing, draining and depressurizing carried out to your facility's procedures. Fluids, lubricants and any hazardous materials handled and documented to site rules.
Match-marking and tagging
Every mating surface, fastener set, coupling, cable and line is marked, tagged and logged against the disassembly register. Torque values and shim packs are recorded, bagged and labeled with the component they came from.
Controlled teardown
Sub-assemblies are removed in a sequence that protects precision surfaces and preserves alignment references. Machined ways, spindles, slides and platens are covered and blocked.
Rigging and load-out
Components are rigged by AK crews to skids, cribbing or crates built for the load, with blocking, bracing and protection specified for the route. We produce packing lists and a load plan for the carrier.
Transport coordination
We plan the loads, prepare the equipment and coordinate carriers and receiving at both ends. Heavy-haul carriers move under our load plan; for cross-border moves we work with your customs broker and forwarder so paperwork matches what is on the trailer. See cross-border industrial relocation.
Reassembly, Alignment and Startup
At the destination, the register runs in reverse. AK riggers set the base to the new foundation, millwrights rebuild the machine from the tagged sub-assemblies, and every mating surface goes back to the recorded torque and shim values. Then the part that separates a reassembly from a repositioning: leveling and precision laser alignment to the manufacturer's tolerances, shaft and coupling alignment, bearing checks, guarding, and anchoring to the new floor.
Before power goes on we run pre-start checks against the baseline readings we took at teardown. We support the OEM technician or your maintenance team through first runs, and we stay until the punch list is closed and the turnover package, with the register, alignment records and anchor records, is in your hands.
Equipment We Disassemble and Reassemble
AK disassembles, moves and reassembles all types of industrial machinery. The categories below are the ones we see most often, not a limit on what we handle.
CNC machining centers, lathes and machine tools
including large-bed and multi-axis machines where geometry has to be re-verified after the move.
Stamping, hydraulic and forging presses
crown, slide, bed and bolster handled as engineered lifts; industrial press relocation is core work for us.
Extrusion presses and aluminum extrusion lines
press, runout, handling and stretcher as a sequenced rebuild; extrusion press relocation is routine work, including the disassembly and relocation of a large UBE extrusion press in Ohio for Hydro.
Pipe and tube mills
forming presses, welding and inspection lines, finishing and coating systems and material handling relocated as a complete mill, stand by stand to the new centerline.
Injection molding machines
clamp, injection unit and auxiliaries.
Furnaces, ovens and heat-treat equipment
with refractory and burner components protected in transit.
Rolling mills, pipe mills and metal-forming lines
multi-stand equipment rebuilt to line centerline.
Conveyors, material-handling and automated systems
sectioned, labeled and rebuilt to match controls.
Packaging, filling and bottling lines
the machines and the interconnecting handling.
Process equipment
pumps, tanks, vessels, skids and piping for chemical, food, pharmaceutical and industrial facilities.
Transformers, generators and electrical equipment
moved intact under engineered rigging plans.
AK has the experience, equipment, and skilled personnel to handle industrial machinery and assemblies ranging from 10,000 pounds to 1.5 million pounds; the heaviest move on hydraulic gantries under engineered critical-lift plans. Equipment-specific installation notes are on the industrial equipment installation page.
Decommissioning and Equipment Removal
Not every machine is going somewhere. AK Industrial also handles equipment decommissioning and removal: isolation, controlled dismantling, rigging out of tight or elevated positions, preparing assets for sale, storage or scrap, and coordinating with your facility team on the space left behind. When a line is being replaced, we decommission the old equipment and install the new on the same schedule, so the changeover is one project rather than two.
Part of a Bigger Move? We Run Those Too.
Disassembly and reassembly is one phase of a plant relocation. If you need the whole scope, from planning and sequencing through logistics coordination, reinstallation and commissioning under one contract, see plant relocation services. If you only need experienced trade crews for a teardown your own team is managing, see rigging and millwright services.
Safety Is the First Line of Every Lift Plan
Safety is the first line of every AK lift plan. OSHA-trained crews, documented job safety analysis and pre-task planning on every scope, lockout/tagout and fall protection as standard, qualified riggers and signal persons on every pick, equipment certifications kept current, engineered critical-lift plans where the load or the environment demands it. EMR 0.91. TRIR 0.00 since 2019. ISNetworld Member Contractor, and we meet client-specific safety requirements as a matter of course.
Disassembly and Reassembly FAQs
Both, and we recommend both. The AK crew that documents and match-marks the teardown is the crew that reinstalls and aligns the equipment at the destination. We will take on one end alone when a project needs it, but the fewer handoffs in the chain, the fewer problems at startup.
With a disassembly register. Every sub-assembly, fastener set, shim pack, cable and line is match-marked, tagged and logged, with torque values and alignment readings recorded before teardown. Reassembly runs from that register, and we verify alignment against the baseline readings before startup.
Yes. CNC machining centers, machine tools, stamping and hydraulic presses, extrusion presses and injection molding machines are routine work for our millwright and rigging crews, including engineered lifts for press components and geometry re-verification after the move.
We plan the loads, prepare and block the equipment, produce packing lists and coordinate the carriers and the receiving crews at both ends. Heavy-haul carriers move under our load plan. For moves between the United States and Mexico we coordinate with your customs broker and freight forwarder.
It depends on the equipment count, the distance and how much of the line can move in phases. A single machine can typically be down, moved and running again within days; a full production line is normally sequenced over several weeks. We build the schedule from your production calendar and tell you where the critical path is.
Yes. We isolate, dismantle and rig out equipment at end of life or at line replacement, prepare it for sale, storage or scrap, and coordinate the changeover when new equipment is being installed in its place.