This paper examines how knowledge properties of a manufacturing activity transfer in international manufacturing network impact performance during the transfer itself and after steady state has been reached. With the aid of survey data from 178 companies, we use hierarchical regression to test the relationships. It is found that knowledge properties as a group significantly affect both performance measures when controlling for the effects of sender unit experience, sender unit size and receiver unit experience. The activities transferred thus impact the success of the transfer. The control variables of sender unit experience and receiver unit experience have their relatively strongest performance effects after steady state has been reached. Testing the performance effects of single knowledge property dimensions, we identify independency to have the strongest relative performance effect, which validates and advances previous research. This is one of the first survey studies to cover both the performance of the transfer itself and after reaching steady state of manufacturing transfers. Several strands of further research are therefore identified.