Minebea Co. Ltd. (Japan) announced it will close the NMB-Skegness UK ball bearing manufacturing plant after a mandatory 90-day consultation period. In the meantime, Minebea has pledged to pursue viable alternatives to keep it operating.
The Skegness facility, in England's Lincolnshire industrial area, is vertically integrated and manufactures high-volume semi-commodity small ball bearings for the European and North American markets.
When it was built in 1990, Skegness operated as Rose Bearings Ltd., the name Minebea kept using in the UK after its 1988 acquisition of the iconic company and its precision rod-end bearing plant in Lincoln.
In 2003, the 118-year-old Rose company name was retired and the Lincoln and Skegness operations were renamed NMB Minebea UK Ltd. Minebea kept Rose branding in the market, however.
The sister plant in Lincoln will not be affected by the Skegness closing. It manufactures high-precision rod-end and spherical bearings, primarily for aerospace and military applications.
Minebea said: "The severe economic downturn worldwide since the financial crisis in the U.S. last autumn has dramatically decreased demand from automobile-related industries in Europe and the U.S. - the principal customer base of the plant. The factory has faced a sharp decrease in demand for ball bearings that are being produced by it, and has been placed into a difficult position of maintaining its redundant manufacturing capacity."
The company also said that it has, "significant, long term surplus capacity within Minebea Ball Bearing Division," hinting at more cutbacks in other ball bearing production facilities.
Managing Director, Mark Stansfield, said: "We are determined to get the most out of the consultation period. We will explore ways of preserving the operation. It will be business as usual for the next 90 days."
Not long ago, Skegness had employed nearly 400 workers and produced 10 million bearings per month. Now less than half, 176 workers, are remaining to be laid off when the plant closes.
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