P&G SHUTTING DOWN THREE MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
P&G SHUTTING DOWN THREE MANUFACTURING FACILITIES and shifting some production lines at four additional plants over the next 30 months, the firm announced May 19. The closures include a throat drop manufacturing facility in Torshalla, Sweden, a health and beauty care products manufacturing plant in Hatboro, Penn. and a pharmaceuticals factory in Manati, Puerto Rico.
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P&G SHUTTING DOWN THREE MANUFACTURING FACILITIES and shifting some production lines at four additional plants over the next 30 months, the firm announced May 19. The closures include a throat drop manufacturing facility in Torshalla, Sweden, a health and beauty care products manufacturing plant in Hatboro, Penn. and a pharmaceuticals factory in Manati, Puerto Rico. The plant closings are part of a major manufacturing restructuring program announced by Procter & Gamble in July ("The Tan Sheet" July 19, p. 7). The program, expected to save $500 mil. after taxes by fiscal 1996, will ultimately cut a total of 6,500 jobs and approximately 30 manufacturing plants. Combined with previously announced plant moves, the plant and production line closures comprise about three-fourths of the plant positions to be reduced under the restructuring program, P&G said. To date, the firm has closed or targeted for closure 16 factories and has shut down or identified for shut-down some production lines at 11 others. The recently announced closings will affect about 1,100 employees, who will either be transferred, take early retirement or receive a "supportive" severance package that includes career counseling, retraining and financial assistance, the firm stated. P&G also is transferring production of certain products from four facilities to other P&G sites. Three of the production lines being moved are for skin care products. Production of stomach remedy products will be moved out of the Naucalpan, Mexico facility. P&G's factory in Cayey, Puerto Rico will cease production of Vicks Vaporub by early 1995 but will continue to manufacture skin care, respiratory care and analgesic products. The company anticipates that the production transfers will have "minimal, if any, impact" on employment. Skin care product manufacturing will be halted at the company's Mississauga, Ontario, Naucalpan, Mexico and Hunt Valley, Md. plants by early 1997. After the transfers, the Mississauga factory will still manufacture cosmetics and fragrances. The Naucalpan facility will keep producing H&BAs, and the Hunt Valley site will "continue as the company's largest producer of cosmetics products," P&G stated. P&G is planning to centralize its domestic customer service operations into a new customer service center in Cincinnati. Currently, P&G maintains six customer service centers throughout the U.S. The shift is expected to be complete by October 1995. P&G customer service center employees will be given the opportunity to transfer to Cincinnati, the firm commented. |