Northrop Grumman is shutting four plants as part of its continuing effort to consolidate and streamline operations. The move, which will result in a charge of $90 million, will eliminate 2.5 million ft2 (232,000m2) of excess capacity and make 755 workers redundant.
The largest cuts come within the company's Electronics and Systems Integration division (ESID), which is to close its Combat Support Systems plant in Hawthorne, California, by the end of the year. Most of the work will be shifted to the Rolling Meadows site in Illinois, which is to become the centre for ESID's new Electronic Systems business unit. The Hawthorne site employs 770 workers, of whom 240 will be offered transfers.
The Combat Support Systems plant at Great River on Long Island, New York, will also be closed, with 120 of its 450 employees to be offered transfers. Commercial operations in Stuart, Florida, and Perry, Georgia, will also stop. The group says it will also shut its large Perry plant, set up to build the cancelled Tri-Service Stand-off Attack Missile. The 450 employees will be moved within the next 18-24 months to a smaller site in Georgia if new commercial business can be won.
Source: Flight International