HB Fuller to close six adhesives sites in US, Canada
HB Fuller will close six manufacturing facilities and eliminate approximately 130 positions across its North America adhesives business segment as part of its integration of the recently-acquired business of Forbo Group, the company said on Thursday.
HB Fuller described the move as an opportunity to eliminate duplication in manufacturing and redundant services and to harmonize raw material procurement.
Fuller said it is continuing its integration assessment work in the Europe, India Middle East and Africa (EIMEA) and Asia Pacific regions and, upon completion of the analysis in the coming months, could announce changes to the organizational structures in those regions.
The facilities scheduled for closure by mid-2013 are: Pointe-Claire, Quebec; Morris, Ill.; Kansas City, Kan.; Eugene, Ore.; Jackson, Tenn.; and Dallas, Texas.
These facility closures will be staggered over the next 15 months and will result in approximately 90 job eliminations.
HB Fuller will consolidate its North America adhesives business segment operations within its remaining US facilities in California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas and Washington, it said.
These actions will increase manufacturing efficiency and enable the region to improve plant processes and use resources and technology more efficiently, according to the company.
In addition, Fuller says it will close the former Forbo corporate and research offices in Morrisville, N.C., and has restructured its field sales and technical teams.
These actions will eliminate approximately 40 positions in business management, customer service, finance, information technology, research and development, and sales.
Selling, general and administrative positions that have not been eliminated will move to other HB Fuller locations, and the North Carolina offices will be vacated by February 2013.
"We are confident that the integration of our businesses will make HB Fuller an even stronger company," said Traci Jensen, vice president of the Americas adhesives business for HB Fuller.
"After a thorough analysis of the talented resources and manufacturing capacity and capability of the combined businesses, we have designed a new organization that will enable us to realize the full potential of the acquisition,” Jensen added.
“The actions we are taking to remove duplication will make HB Fuller a more efficient company that is able to better serve our customers and well positioned to achieve our strategic growth goals."
Comments