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Maytag Carolina facility all washed upMaytag Carolina facility all washed up

November 17, 2005

2 Min Read
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On Nov. 7, Maytag Corp. announced that it will close its Florence, SC Laundry Products assembly plant early in the first quarter of 2006. The shutdown will impact approximately 60 employees. The plant manufactured Maytag''s Neptune brand of top-loading washers.

"Closing a plant is never an easy decision," says Steve Ingham, Maytag senior vice president supply chain, in a prepared statement. "Unfortunately, we have too much manufacturing capacity, and we need to reduce it."

The closing could impact one of Maytag''s major plastics components suppliers, Kamco Plastics (Schaumberg, IL). In 2004, Kamco opened up a molding facility in 45,000 sq ft of Maytag''s site-a "plant-in-plant" operation-that supplied the company with 32 molded parts, 11 of which were molded at the facility in Florence, including the washtubs. Kamco has 10 molding presses ranging from 500 to 2450 tons at the facility.

When contacted concerning the Maytag announcement, Doug Mulay, president of Kamco Plastics, said that it is too early to comment but that Kamco is in discussions with Maytag on the matter.

In addition to the Florence facility, Maytag has three other laundry manufacturing plants located in Arkansas, Illinois, and Iowa. Earlier this year, Maytag concentrated its production of vertical-axis washers at its plant in Herrin, IL, and dryers in Searcy, AR.

Restructuring charges associated with the plant closing are expected to be in the range of $40-$50 million, primarily for asset write-down and accelerated depreciation. The cash portion of these charges is expected to be approximately $10 million related to severance and fulfilling purchase commitments.

Maytag Corp. is a $4.8 billion home and commercial appliance company focused in North America and in targeted international markets. The corporation''s primary brands are Maytag, Hoover, Jenn-Air, Amana, Dixie-Narco, and Jade.-Clare Goldsberry; [email protected]

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