DOVER - Pressure from a new global manufacturing demand have led to a tentative decision to shut down a major manufacturing facility in Dover.
ElectroCraft, formerly known as Eastern Air Devices, told its employees Monday it has made the tentative decision to phase out production in the Dover facility within six to 18 months, President and CEO Jim Elsner said.
"This is all about global competition, not the performance of people here," Elsner said. "Because many of our customers have moved to China, we have been forced to move more and more production over there."
Elsner said one of the company's largest customers decided to outsource from China in 2001, a major indication of a trend that started in the late 1990s and has accelerated during the past four years.
"The thing that has gone on here is pressure, like all manufacturing plants, with foreign competition and pricing," Elsner said.
About 75 people working manufacturing, machinist and customer-service jobs will be affected by the closure, Elsner said.
But the corporate headquarters, research and corporate staff will remain in Dover, he said.
Some of the manufacturing work currently done in the Dover facility will be moved to ElectroCraft's Gallipolis, Ohio, plant and some employees may have the option to relocate, Elsner said.
The company also has facilities in Searcy, Ark., Crewe, UK, Stuttgart, Germany, and Hong Kong with an assembly plant in Zhuhai, China.
The decision still hinges on negotiations from the union that represents about 60 employees in factory production, Elsner said, but it will likely be difficult for the union to come up with a compromise that would be financially viable for the company.
"You can't go in and say 'we made the decision and you can't talk,'" Elsner said. "In good-faith bargaining you have to give them a chance to hear what they have to say. But based on the numbers, it's unlikely they could find a way to avert this."
Elsner said ElectroCraft is still working out some of the details of the change, but came to the employees early on in an effort to include them as soon as possible.
"We are trying to be really responsible and not just spring this on people," Elsner said. "We want to sit down with the union and work out the details of it and make sure we have covered all the things we need to cover in a responsible way."
ElectroCraft specializes in the manufacture of high-end motors for specialized items such as semiconductors, medical instruments and satellite dishes.
The company, then known as Eastern Air Devices, relocated to a downtown mill building in 1952 from Brooklyn, N.Y. It moved to its current location at 1 Progress Drive in 1977.
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