3 June 1999: Pilkington PLC, the world“s biggest maker of flat and safety glass, said it plans to close a Sherman, Texas, auto glass plant as part of a reorganisation of its North American operations…
3 June 1999: Pilkington PLC, the world“s biggest maker of flat and safety glass, said it plans to close a Sherman, Texas, auto glass plant as part of a reorganisation of its North American operations. The closure will result in the loss of 400 jobs and will incur about UK 30 million restructuring costs. “Our aim is to eliminate excess capacity and bottlenecks and to create a more cost-effective operation,” said Paolo Scaroni, chief executive. Production of laminated parts will be transferred to a plant in Collingwood, Ontario, while its toughened parts operation will move to Shelbyville, Indiana. Pilkington will invest US$ 22 million to improve capacity at the plants. Last November, Pilkington closed a plant in Lindsay, Ontario, and consolidated its production of encapsulated glass components at two plants in Michigan. The group has cut 7,500 jobs in the past two years around the world as part of Scaroni“s plans to improve efficiency.