Cary, N.C.-based Ply Gem Industries Inc. is consolidating its vinyl siding and window production, including shutting down a small plant, in a cost-savings move that will save the building products maker about $6 million annually in operating expenses.
Ply Gem will transfer its vinyl siding operations in Kearney, Mo., to its vinyl siding plant in Stuarts Draft, Va. — the last remaining facility from Ply Gem's acquisition of Alcoa Home Exteriors in 2006 — and to its Variform Inc. plants in Martinsburg, W.Va., and Jasper, Tenn.
About 140 people will be laid off as a result of the siding business consolidation, though officials plan to ramp up siding production once again in Kearney when the market demands it.
The company also will close a 23-employee window and door fabrication plant in Tupelo, Miss. Ply Gem will move all of its window extrusion operations to a plant in Rocky Mount, Va., and realign window and door fabrication plants in Sacramento, Calif. and Auburn, Wash.
“It's tough out there. We just believe that capacity is not going to be there for a while, so we're taking out as much cost as we can until it does come back,” said Gary Robinette, Ply Gem president and chief executive officer, in an April 3 telephone interview.
Since the building industry recession began, Ply Gem has been among the industry's most aggressive companies in cutting costs and scaling back operations to mirror market demand.
In 2007 Ply Gem closed a 110-employee, vinyl siding plant in Atlanta, and in 2008 it closed a 180-employee siding plant in Denison, Texas. Both plants were acquired in the Alcoa deal.
“They're staying ahead of the curve on restructuring,” said John Pruett, director for building and construction markets at Exton, Pa.-based consulting firm Principia Partners.
Ply Gem has a high debt load and has laid off some of its sales and marketing staff, but is ultimately doing the right thing, Pruett said — “right sizing for the state of the economy.”
“Ply Gem has a diversified portfolio of exterior building products. They have injection molded shutters, mounts, vents, shingles, United Stone Veneer [division], windows and doors,” he said. “Apart from the debt load, they're doing the right things.”
Another feather in the company's cap, Pruett said, is a pending agreement with Beloit, Wis.-based ABC Supply Co. Inc. to make and supply Amcraft-brand vinyl siding to ABC's 380 stores in 46 states. An ABC spokeswoman said the deal was still being negotiated and would not discuss details.
Ply Gem is owned by New York private equity firm Caxton-Iseman Capital Inc.