H.B. Fuller, a global adhesives provider, has taken an initiative to integrate the recently purchased industrial adhesives business from Forbo Group. As part of the integration process, the company will shut down six production plants and remove about 130 positions in its North America adhesive business division by mid-2013.
The company is continuing its integration assessment activities in the Asia Pacific regions and the Europe, India, Middle East, and Africa (EIMEA). The assessment will be completed in the upcoming months, and H.B. Fuller will announce any modifications that take place in the organizational structures in these regions.
The plants proposed for closure are located in Dallas, Texas; Jackson, Tennessee; Eugene, Oregon; Kansas City, Kansas; Morris, Illinois; and Pointe-Claire, Quebec. The company will merge its North America operations with its other US manufacturing facilities located in Washington, Texas, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Georgia and California. This initiative will boost the manufacturing efficiency of the company and enable the region to utilize resources and technology in a highly efficient manner and enhance plant processes.
H.B. Fuller will also close the Forbo’s corporate and research facilities in Morrisville, North Carolina. In addition, the technical and field sales teams have been restructured. Traci Jensen, VP of .B. Fuller’s Americas Adhesives division, stated that they have formed a new organization after a comprehensive analysis of the resources, production capacity and potential of the integrated businesses. The effort will help in removing duplication in manufacturing and services and complement and transform raw material procurement. This will turn H.B. Fuller into a more efficient company to better serve its customers and to achieve its strategic growth goals.