No. Installing and running a production process is work that requires authorization, and time in the United States does not count toward the year abroad. File first and travel after approval or port-of-entry admission.
Cheese can wait for status; status cannot wait for cheese
New owners of a plant want the process running quickly, and the technician may be told to go as a visitor and sort out papers later. Hands-on installation and operation of ripening rooms is productive employment and is not permitted on a visitor entry; a refusal at the border or a later finding of unauthorized work follows the technician into every future application. The right sequence is to assemble the specialized-knowledge evidence and the acquisition documents, file Form I-129 or prepare the port-of-entry package, and travel once admitted in L-1B.
Short preparatory visits to inspect the facility and meet staff, without productive work, are ordinary business-visitor activity, but anything involving batches is not. Because the U.S. dairy is an operating business, the initial approval can be up to three years, comfortably covering a two-year installation.
Diary the five-year L-1B maximum from the first admission in case the assignment grows.