Werner Company Closing Manufacturing Plants as Part of Consolidation

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The Werner Company (Greenville, Pennsylvania) will close its Anniston, Alabama and Carrollton, Kentucky plants as part of a restructuring and downsizing plan that was initiated in early 2004. The company’s Anniston plant ceased manufacturing activities in October of 2004. One of the plant’s four extrusion lines was moved to a new Werner manufacturing plant built in Juarez, Mexico, which became operational in the third quarter of 2004. The Juarez plant will manufacture aluminum and fiberglass ladder components and accessories and is expected to be at full capacity in 2006. Two of the extrusion lines have been sold and the fourth is in the process of being sold. Werner continues to operate its distribution operations in Anniston, but those operations will cease late in 2005. The distribution will then be handled out of a new 572,000 square foot warehouse that the company recently leased in Erlanger, Kentucky. The company plans to sell the Anniston facility, which is approximately 567,600 square feet.

Werner’s Carrollton, Kentucky location is scheduled to close in the first or second quarter of 2006. In 2004, the plant stopped producing wood stepladders and outsourced this production to a third party. Wood attic ladders are still currently being made, but this will also cease late in 2005 and be outsourced to a third party. Once the plant is closed, the company will try to utilize the equipment at its other plants, if possible, and the rest will be sold. Werner also plans to sell this facility, which is approximately 200,000 square feet.

The Werner Company is one of the largest producers of ladders in the world. Werner makes attic, step, extension and platform ladders. Its ladders are constructed of aluminum, wood and fiberglass. The company also makes aluminum-extruded products and fabricated components primarily for the automotive, architectural, electronics and construction industries.

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