SKF to close two North American manufacturing plants
SKF announced the consolidation of its manufacturing facilities in North America, including the closure of its sites in San Diego, California and Baltimore, Maryland.
“These activities will strengthen our position in North America, making us more competitive and better able to support our customers, by improving the utilisation of our manufacturing assets," said Luc Graux, president, Bearing Operations. "They also provide the foundation for investments in the further development of our manufacturing processes and technologies.”
Production will be transferred from the Group’s site in Hanover, Pennsylvania, to Flowery Branch, Georgia. The move will consolidate production of spherical roller bearings and large size roller bearings into existing bearing manufacturing operations in Flowery Branch.
Production of rings and seals for the aerospace industry will be relocated to Hanover from SKF’s existing factory in Baltimore.
The company said it will invest SEK 150 million ($18.2 million) to upgrade machinery and manufacturing processes in Hanover and Flowery Branch.
Manufacturing and development of condition monitoring solutions will be moved from SKF’s existing site in San Diego to other sites in Europe. A technical support team will remain in San Diego, but in a separate facility.
The Y-Bearing and Units production channels in Puebla, Mexico, which serve North American customers within the agriculture segment, will be closed, with production transferred to other SKF sites.
Consolidation of the sites in Hanover, Flowery Branch, Baltimore and San Diego is expected to take approximately 18 to 24 months. The closure of the Y-Bearing and Units production channels in Puebla, Mexico is expected to be completed during the summer of 2016.
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