diff --git a/playbook/shopfloor-setup/common/lib/Install-FromManifest.ps1 b/playbook/shopfloor-setup/common/lib/Install-FromManifest.ps1
index 428eff6..04ea5ae 100644
--- a/playbook/shopfloor-setup/common/lib/Install-FromManifest.ps1
+++ b/playbook/shopfloor-setup/common/lib/Install-FromManifest.ps1
@@ -416,6 +416,33 @@ foreach ($app in $config.Applications) {
         continue
     }
 
+    # --- InUseCheck (partial Stage 2b): ForceClose / CloseAndReopen ---
+    # Before install, if the entry declares processes that would block the
+    # install, close them. Stage 2a supports ForceClose: polite WM_CLOSE
+    # with a timeout then hard Kill. "CloseAndReopen" is currently treated
+    # the same (Stage 2b will add the user-session relaunch trick). No
+    # reopen happens today; operator relaunches the app or the enforcer
+    # leaves it for Windows Explorer / Start-Menu shortcut behavior.
+    if ($app.InUseCheck -and $app.InUseCheck.Behavior -in @('ForceClose','CloseAndReopen')) {
+        foreach ($p in ($app.InUseCheck.Processes | Where-Object { $_ })) {
+            $procs = Get-Process -Name $p.Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+            foreach ($proc in $procs) {
+                $timeout = if ($p.GracefulCloseTimeoutSec) { [int]$p.GracefulCloseTimeoutSec } else { 10 }
+                try {
+                    Write-InstallLog "  InUseCheck: $($p.Name) (PID $($proc.Id)) asked to close (timeout ${timeout}s)"
+                    $null = $proc.CloseMainWindow()
+                    if (-not $proc.WaitForExit([int]($timeout * 1000))) {
+                        Write-InstallLog "  InUseCheck: $($p.Name) did not exit gracefully - killing" 'WARN'
+                        $proc.Kill()
+                        $proc.WaitForExit(5000) | Out-Null
+                    }
+                } catch {
+                    Write-InstallLog "  InUseCheck: close/kill of $($p.Name) threw: $_" 'WARN'
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     $result = Invoke-InstallerAction -App $app
     $rc     = $result.ExitCode