Demag to cease U.S. machine production

Injection machine manufacturer Demag Plastics Group is ending machine production at its Strongsville, Ohio plant and will rely on its manufacturing facilities in China and Germany.

The company estimates that approximately 100 employees could be laid off as a result, at either the end of August or end of September 2007.

In future, the Strongsville operation will focus on sales, service and technical support for the machines that it has supplied into the North American market.

Demags manufacturing structure now comprises plants at Schwaig and Wiehe, in Germany; and in Ningbo and Chennai, in China. In June 2007, the wholly owned Chinese operation, Demag Plastics Machinery Company, moved into a new, larger facility at Ningbo.

According to Dr Klaus Erkes, Demags CEO, the companys decision is the result of a dramatic fall in the size of the U.S. injection molding machine market, which has plummeted from 7,500 to 3,400 units a year. Erkes also noted that electric machines now make up half the market, to the detriment of the hydraulic units manufactured at the Strongsville facility.

The companys official press release also noted that service and support of Demag machines installed in North America would continue as before, and with the same team.