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Eaton to shutter Spencer hydraulic pump manufacturing facility

Diversified industrial product manufacturer Eaton will shut down its plant in Iowa, US, in September 2017, laying off all of the plant’s 140 employees.

The shutdown process of the Spencer plant will begin in January, with the layoffs coming gradually in phases throughout the year.

The Spencer facility, which manufactures heavy duty hydraulic pumps and motors for use in mobile and industrial hydraulic applications, already laid off 70 employees in June 2016.

Jim Michels, an Eaton spokesman, told the Stormlake Pilot Tribune newspaper that the closure was “not a reflection on the employees”, who he said have been working very hard to keep the plant going.

“This decision is the result of the ongoing declines in key markets and demand for the products made at the facility,” Michels said.

Continuing downturn in demand for the products manufactured in Spencer has resulted in a 15.8% drop in sales.

“If we take that one step further, a lot of the products we make here in Spencer are used in combine [harvesters]. North American combine sales from September 2016, compared to September 2015, are down 26.5% and combine sales through the end of September are down 20.4%,” said Michels.

Eaton is planning move some of the product lines manufactured in Spencer to its other plants, or they may end up being outsourced.

No decision has yet been made on whether the physical facility itself will be sold or leased.

Eaton has been hit with layoffs several times over the eight years since 2008m when the company made redundant 103 of its then total of 450 employees.

In July 2015 Eaton terminated 49 positions, 20% of its staff at the time, followed by an announcement of further 20 layoffs in February 2016 and another in June 2016, when the company said 33% of its staff of 180 would be gone by June 2017.

This article was written by Ilari Kauppila, editor at Fluid Handling International





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