SKF announced on October 27 plans to transfer the manufacturing of automotive seals products from its facility in Elgin, Ill., to other SKF seals factories in Mexico and the United States. The company said that the consolidation is necessary to remain competitive in the U.S. automotive market.
The total cost of these activities amounts to around SEK 60 million, whereof SEK 35 million will be taken as restructuring expenses in the fourth quarter this year and SEK 25 million during 2009. The annual benefit of the program, fully implemented from 2010, amounts to around SEK 30 million.
The consolidation process is expected to take place over a period of 12 months and will affect about 160 employees out of 430 employees in total at the Elgin site.
SKF is a leading global supplier in the areas of bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. The group’s service offer includes technical support, maintenance services, engineering consultancy and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. The group’s annual sales 2007 were SEK 58,559 million. The number of employees was 42,888.