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Parker EMD to end manufacturing at Poole

01 January, 2003

Parker EMD to end manufacturing at Poole

Parker Hannifin`s Electromechanical Division has announced that it is phasing out manufacturing of motion control equipment at its site in Poole, Dorset, and transferring production to its plants in Germany and Italy. The company`s customer service, sales and support departments will remain in Poole, but about 50 of the 72 people employed at the site are likely to lose their jobs.

According to general manager Nigel Allman, the decision to transfer production has been made reluctantly, but was necessary to eliminate duplicate manufacturing capacity at a time when there is increasing pressure to cut costs and to remain competitive globally. He emphasises that the changes won`t affect customer service in the UK.

Production will be transferred gradually from Poole to Parker`s sites in Germany and Italy. The process is expected to be completed by September. Allman says that the company has made the announcement ahead of the actual transition to provide employees with as much notice as possible. Parker will be offering the affected employees assistance in finding alternative employment, including counselling programmes.

Some engineering work will probably continue at the Poole site, which is where the recently launched ViX digital servo drive was developed.

Parker acquired the site when it bought Digiplan in 1987. Operations there have already been consolidated from three buildings into one.