Toter Inc. will stop manufacturing at an 18-year-old plant in Sanger, but plans to expand two other locations.
Work in Sanger will end in November, and Toter will relocate rotational molding, compounding and extrusion equipment to plants in Statesville, N.C., and Ciudad Acuña, Mexico. Toter also expects to buy more equipment in the October-December quarter.
The Sanger closing will affect 107 employees, although some might retain work when the 120,000-square-foot site is converted to a warehouse and distribution center. Toter plans to lay off 30 workers in August and the remainder by mid-November.
``Our business is as strong as it has ever been,'' said John Scott, president and chief executive officer. ``We have the largest sales backlog in company history right now.''
The company said it is shifting manufacturing assets to improve efficiency.
Scott projects Toter's 2005 sales will exceed $80 million. Toter primarily makes roll-out refuse carts of 32-105 gallons for curbside waste and recycling pickup.
Toter's headquarters plant is in Statesville, and its cross-border unit, Toter de Mexico S de RL de CV, is in Ciudad Acuña.
In Sanger, Toter operates six rotomolding machines. Five are fixed-arm turret units with three arms each, and one is an independent-arm machine with four arms. Currently, Toter has six machines in Ciudad Acuña and five in Statesville, Scott said.
The firm has served some West Coast customers from the Ciudad Acuña facility for more than three years. The change ``will be transparent to our customer base,'' said Scott.