At Finnish company Uponor (Vantaa; www.uponor.com), words are quickly being followed by deeds: the pipe manufacturer has announced the closure of its German assembly plant in Ehingen on 30 March 2023, with 30 jobs being lost. The factory in Ehingen has so far been producing heating distributors, primarily of stainless steel, for the European market. Production is now to be shifted to the Polish site of Swiebodzice. In Ehingen, 70 jobs will remain in customer service and marketing.

It was only in mid-February that Michael Rauterkus, president and CEO of the company, announced a “global transformation programme” (in plain language: cost-cutting programme) for 2023 and 2024. The aim was to reduce annual costs by EUR 30 mn. Around 400 of the global 4,000 workers would be laid off, he said.

The 2022 financial year presented a mixed picture for Uponor: although sales increased 5.6% to EUR 1.39 bn, net earnings fell 5.8% to EUR 97.5 mn. For the European business, Building Solutions, of which the assembly plant in Ehingen is a part, the operating profit fell by as much as a third to EUR 44 mn.

Related: Uponor's infrastructure business to close pipe plant in Denmark

Another reason for the unexpectedly fast implementation of the savings plan was the cyber-attack in November 2022, a spokesperson from Uponor told Plasteurope.com. As a result of the attack, parts of the EDP system in Ehingen were still not functioning. The spokesperson was unable to say whether sections of the plant would be taken from Germany to Poland and whether the workforce there would be increased.

The Finnish group has since given up its business in Russia completely. The relevant activities had been transferred to a local management team, said a report from Finland. By the change in ownership, 51 employees were affected. The company says it had taken the decision in July 2022 to withdraw completely from Russia.