GE Interlogix reallocates some manufacturing work

NORTH ST. PAUL, Minn. - GE Interlogix recently embarked on a reorganization of some of its manufacturing and other operations, changes that are expected to impact about 300 of the company’s 2,000 employees. While not all the changes will result in job losses, employees at the company’s manufacturing facility here are impacted the most with 185 manufacturing positions set for elimination over the next several months. Instead of the company manufacturing its wireless related products here, that work is now slated to move to a plant in Navajo, Mexico, which will provide economies of scale. “Our job is continuous improvement,” said Jay Pinkert, spokesman for GE Interlogix. “Cost was a driver, but it’s part of an improvement, as well.” It was unclear how much of a cost savings may be involved with the restructuring, but it’s expected the move will provide the company with a financial edge in today’s highly competitive security market. Jeff Kessler, senior vice president of equity research in the business services market of Lehman Bros., said it’s not uncommon for companies to integrate operations at some point after an acquisition. “As integration goes, the moving around of the hard assets, such as the manufacturing and administrative assets, are pretty typical whether it’s Tyco or GE or Siemens or Bosch,” said Kessler. Other changes in the works at press time involve Fiber Options combining its operations with GE Interlogix’s camera brand Kalatel in Calif. As a result, more than 50 people at Fiber Options’ Bohemia, N.Y., headquarters were scheduled to be laid off by the middle of February. The change, said Pinkert, will allow GE Interlogix to integrate fiber technology with video products, a change driven by customer requests for seamless products. In addition to reorganizing Fiber Options, GE Interlogix is also moving manufacturing from a facility in Hackensack, N.J., that made discrete cameras to a plant in Hickory, N.C. That shift, said Pinkert, will allow the company to increase its output of discrete camera product. Another change also involves moving manufacturing jobs from Corvallis, Ore. to Sentrol’s headquarters in Tualatin, Ore.