Aluminum Plant Sees Silver Lining in Kaiser Cutback

An Oxnard forging plant will benefit from the struggles of an Eastern counterpart.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. has announced plans to shut down its aluminum forging operation in Erie, Pa., with manufacturing jobs previously handled by the plant to be consolidated into the company’s remaining forging facilities in Oxnard and Greenwood, S.C.

Richard Hayes, general manager of the 75-employee Oxnard plant, said he was saddened by the pending closure and loss of jobs in Erie, but he acknowledged the opportunity for more work and jobs at his operation.

“No one likes to close a facility down, but based on the age of the facility and the equipment and layout, the closure was the best thing,” Hayes said.

Kaiser officials cited the Erie plant’s lack of return on capital investment and the age of the 43-year-old facility and its machinery as primary reasons for its closure.

Increased competition in the aluminum forging industry, they said, made it critical for the company to streamline its operations. The Oxnard and South Carolina plants, officials said, could handle the additional workload.

How much the workload at each plant will increase and how many additional employees may be needed remain to be seen, Hayes said.

“There are still details that need to be addressed,” he said. “But at this point, we envision a significant increase in both revenue and production volume.”

The 150,000-square-foot Oxnard plant, which opened in 1968, has traditionally forged aluminum for clients in the commercial truck, aerospace and military industries.

With the decline in the defense segments of the market, the operation in recent years has leaned more heavily on commercial transportation and has expanded to other products, such as sporting goods.

Hayes said much of the work being transferred from Erie probably will be in the commercial car and truck segment. He expects his plant to be up to speed by the beginning of 1998. “There is a fairly aggressive timetable to close down the Erie operation,” Hayes said. “Over the next six months, we will be assimilating our portion of the business. We will be relocating equipment and materials and there will be facility upgrades that will need to be made.”