New Symmetry Medical owner Tecomet has announced the closure of facilities in Avilla and in New Bedford, Mass.
The company notified the 129 employees at the Avilla plant March 30 that they will lose their jobs when the plant closes by the end of December, according to Tecomet’s filing with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Another 190 workers will be laid off at the New Bedford facility.
The two plants are operated by Symmetry Medical’s Original Equipment Manufacturer Solutions business segment, which Tecomet acquired for $450 million in December 2014. No cuts were announced at the time of the acquisition, and both companies were said to be operated in parallel.
“The decision came after careful deliberation and review of the current financial performance, capabilities, space and machine capacity utilization,” states the filing, signed by Tecoma CEO Bill Dow. “The New Bedford plant, like the Avilla plant, has consistently struggled to make a profit. By transferring the work from the two facilities to other Tecomet manufacturing locations, we believe we can improve quality, delivery times, profitability and overall value to our customers. Although we expect the results of the decision will be positive for our customers and the company, the decision was not made lightly as we know it will mean that we must part ways with the majority of our valued employees in this location.”
Workers in Avilla will be laid off in three waves, in June, September and December, according to the filing. Employees in New Bedford will be laid off in four waves between June 2015 and March 2016.
Tecomet, owned by private equity firm Genstar Capital, is a contract manufacturing, engineering and metal fabrication technology company based in Wilmington, Mass.
OEM Solutions has about 600 employees at its Indiana facilities in Warsaw, Claypool and Avilla, and operates other plants in the U.S., the U.K., France, Ireland and Malaysia.
(Story By The Times Union)
