Husky ends I/M manufacturing in Luxembourg
Canadian Plastics
Canadian PlasticsHusky Injection Molding Systems has announced plans to end manufacture of injection molding machines at i...
Husky Injection Molding Systems has announced plans to end manufacture of injection molding machines at its factory in Dudelange, Luxembourg.
The Bolton, Ont.-based company describes the move as a final step in its exit from the large-tonnage machine industry to focus on smaller presses for packaging and PET preforms.
Company spokeswoman Alexandra Walsh said about 100 people will be laid off. Husky employs 825 in Luxembourg, she said.
“[The decision] comes after a detailed review of our current and future customer requirements. Despite this decision, we are committed to maintaining a strong presence in Luxembourg,” the company said in a press release.
Dudelange has been Husky’s sole large-press factory since 1999, when the company moved its former U.S. large-machine operation out of GE Plastics’ Polymer Processing Development Centre, in Pittsfield, Mass., over to Luxembourg. Earlier, Epco Machinery LLC had built large Husky presses in Ohio.
Husky will manufacture injection presses at Bolton and at its plant in Shanghai.
Officials of Husky, which is owned by Canadian private equity firm Onex, said last summer the company would stop actively making large-tonnage presses for automotive and other markets. Husky leaders are focusing on Husky’s strongest market, of packaging and PET preforms. Husky also placed its Detroit technical centre up for sale.