CommScope, Inc. is to continue the consolidation of its manufacturing locations as well as the outsourcing for the manufacturing of some its antenna, cable and cabinet products.
The savings from these new initiatives are incremental to the previously announced intention to create $90 million to $100 million in merger-related savings within two years of the December 2007 Andrew Corp. acquisition, of which $50 million to $60 million are expected to occur in 2008.
Microwave antenna operations at three locations in the Stratford area of England are to be shifted to existing Andrew antenna manufacturing facilities or outsourced resulting in the closure of the Stratford, Bidford and Long Marston facilties.
Machine shop operations in Lochgelly, Scotland will be consolidated into other Andrew facilities or outsourced while cable re-roll processes and some support functions also are being reviewed. Other operations in Lochgelly would not be affected.
Base station antenna production in Brno in the Czech Republic is to be discontinued and moved to existing Andrew antenna plants or outsourced. In addition, the connector, cable, and accessory assembly operations in Brno are under consideration for relocation to other Andrew locations or outsourcing. Other operations in Brno would not be affected.
Enterprise cabling operations in Brisbane, Australia will be discontinued by early 2009, with production moved to other CommScope facilities.
The proposed changes are expected to result in a net reduction of at least 85 employees across the company. In total, more than 700 existing jobs could be affected by these planned actions, with the majority of these positions potentially relocated to other existing company locations.
Combined with our previously announced actions that affected manufacturing locations in Belgium, Brazil and Italy, these proposed moves are expected to enable CommScope to have a much more highly efficient and properly utilized manufacturing footprint around the world," said Brian Garrett, CommScope president and chief operating officer.
The proposed changes at facilities in Europe are subject to completion of the appropriate employee consultation processes. When plans are finalized and approved later this year, the company will provide overall expected costs and savings.
In April CommScope said it plans to close its Jaguariuna, Brazil facility which employs approximately 200 people and primarily produces broadband cable products, is expected to close by the end of September, with most equipment redeployed to other facilities elsewhere in the world. These changes do not affect the company's other Brazilian facility located in Sorocaba.
Separately, CommScope Europe S.P.R.L. notified its works council of the company's intention to discontinue production activities at its facility in Seneffe, Belgium and also notified employees of its intent to proceed with the closing of its Capriate, Italy facility, which was acquired as part of the Andrew acquisition. Some Capriate activities will be centralized in the company's Agrate, Italy site.
