COLLINS & AIKMAN
Integration of TAC Trim / Restructuring of European activities along US lines
A new broom sweeps clean, goes the well-known saying, and, in his first three months as president and CEO of Collins & Aikman (C&A, Troy, Michigan / USA; www.colaik.com) Jerry Mosingo has instigated a comprehensive restructuring of the company´s loss-making European activities. The US facilities of this expanding automotive supplier are serving as a model here, having gained three places amongst the top ten factories nationwide, setting a new record in the benchmarking competition held by the renowned “Industry Week” journal. Yet the mergers and optimisations are also continuing on the company´s US home territory following the acquisition of the Trim division of Textron Automotive last year (see Plasteurope.com 17, 2001).
Collins & Aikman reported a loss of USD 39m in Europe in the first nine months of 2002. All the company´s facilities are now to be upgraded to its (high) US standard. One of the first measures was the closure of an injection moulding site in the Belgian Genk, with production relocated to Born in the Netherlands and Karpfenberg in Austria. The French distribution office has additionally been shut down, and jobs cut back at the three Swedish facilities. A plant in Newcastle/UK is to be shut down in the fourth quarter of the year, and production of acoustic damping and carpets in Sweden discontinued. The European HQ of this ambitious “mega tier-2” at the Höchst Industrial Park (Tor Süd, F 821, D-65926 Frankfurt) is to be slimmed down and reorganised along US lines.
Mergers, closures and relocations are still the order of the day in the US too. According to Mosingo, the company is conducting intensive negotiations on delivery terms with key account Johnson Controls (JCI, Milwaukee, Wisconsin / USA; www.johnsoncontrols.com) from whom C & A acquired the American Becker Group in 2001). Negotiations have even reached the point where facilities representing a sales volume of some USD 12m have been given back to JCI. All in all, Collins & Aikman expects sales of almost USD 4 bn for the current year, with an operating margin of 6%, excluding once-only charges.
Collins & Aikman reported a loss of USD 39m in Europe in the first nine months of 2002. All the company´s facilities are now to be upgraded to its (high) US standard. One of the first measures was the closure of an injection moulding site in the Belgian Genk, with production relocated to Born in the Netherlands and Karpfenberg in Austria. The French distribution office has additionally been shut down, and jobs cut back at the three Swedish facilities. A plant in Newcastle/UK is to be shut down in the fourth quarter of the year, and production of acoustic damping and carpets in Sweden discontinued. The European HQ of this ambitious “mega tier-2” at the Höchst Industrial Park (Tor Süd, F 821, D-65926 Frankfurt) is to be slimmed down and reorganised along US lines.
Mergers, closures and relocations are still the order of the day in the US too. According to Mosingo, the company is conducting intensive negotiations on delivery terms with key account Johnson Controls (JCI, Milwaukee, Wisconsin / USA; www.johnsoncontrols.com) from whom C & A acquired the American Becker Group in 2001). Negotiations have even reached the point where facilities representing a sales volume of some USD 12m have been given back to JCI. All in all, Collins & Aikman expects sales of almost USD 4 bn for the current year, with an operating margin of 6%, excluding once-only charges.
12.12.2002 Plasteurope.com [15278]
Published on 12.12.2002