Owens-Illinois Inc. plans by the end of 1995 to close a North Riverside, Ill., plant that employs about 185 and injection molds trigger sprayers for bottles of household, automotive and industrial cleaning products. ``It is no longer possible to operate the plant at a reasonable profit,'' said Harry Dunn, manufacturing manager of specialty products for the Toledo, Ohio-based firm.
The company informed employees of its decision Aug. 25.
The closing of North Riverside will be the second involving a facility from Owens-Illinois' 1992 acquisition of Specialty Packaging Products Inc. Declining business led to the shuttering in late 1993 of a Minneapolis plastic closures plant employing 97.
Owens-Illinois will relocate operations at the 100,000-square-foot North Riverside plant to other manufacturing facilities in Erie, Pa., and El Paso, Texas. Teamsters Local 743 represents about 165 hourly workers, who will be given job-search assistance and training. The firm said it will transfer some salaried employees.
Owens-Illinois reported 1994 sales of $3.6 billion and profit of $78 million after a $100 million pretax charge to write down asbestos-related insurance. The firm reported sales of $1.9 billion and profit of $92 million for the six months ended June 30. The company employs 16,000, operates 56 other plants and is a leading producer of glass and plastic packaging products.
Owens-Illinois tied for eighth in Plastics News' April 17 ranking of North American injection molders, with estimated 1994 sales of $300 million from molding operations.
The North Riverside facility is part of the company's plastics and closures operating segment, which reported 1994 sales of $976 million.
