GOTEBORG, Sweden, Dec. 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- SKF USA Inc. has announced a plan for consolidating its Chicago Rawhide seal plants to improve the company's long-term competitive position. The plan includes the closure of the Franklin facility in North Carolina and the outsourcing of the stamping operations from the plant in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Production from the Franklin plant will be transferred to other Chicago Rawhide facilities in North America. The plant in Franklin manufactures standard line seals for various industrial customer segments in North America.
In CR Mexico the component stamping operations in the manufacturing of seals will be outsourced to a local manufacturer.
The process for phasing-out is expected to take place over a period of at least 12 months and some 170 employees in the two plants will be affected.
The cost of this consolidation will be included in the provisions to be taken for the fourth quarter, which were announced in the nine-month report in October this year.
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/11/20031211BIT00080/wkr0001.doc
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/12/11/20031211BIT00080/wkr0002.pdf