Date: 4 November 2003
Approximately 150 employees will be affected.
The approximately 300,000 square foot glass container facility located at 100 Chisholm Drive contains three machines and one furnace that manufactures beer bottles.
The decision to close the Milton facility is part of a capacity utilization review recently announced by the Company. The review includes efforts to bring capacity and inventory levels in line with anticipated demand.
Robert Smith, vice president and general manager of the company''s glass container operations, said, "We sincerely regret having to make this decision. However, due to the expectations of glass container demand in 2004 we have concluded that we can continue to provide good service to our customers by consolidating operations and transferring capacity to our other North American facilities."
The company will work with the United Steelworkers of America union and with government agencies to help employees search for new jobs and in dealing with other employment related issues.
After the closing of this facility, Owens-Illinois will have 23 glass container manufacturing plants in North America, 18 of which are in the U.S.
The Milton plant opened in 1980 and was one of six glass container plants acquired by Owens-Illinois from Consumers Packaging Inc. in 2001.
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