Electrolux will consolidate its Asia-Pacific refrigeration production and close its refrigeration plant in Orange, western NSW.
Electrolux Home Products A/NZ managing director, Dr. John Brown, said the plant will close in mid- to late-2016. Until then, it will continue producing large refrigerators and chest freezers, under the Electrolux, Westinghouse, and Kelvinator brands.
The plant has been a major employer in the area since its construction as a small arms munitions factory in 1942.
"But the company's exhaustive investment study, announced earlier this year, concluded that Electrolux is able to manufacture refrigerators currently made here more cost effectively in other factories in Asia and Eastern Europe," Brown told Appliance Magazine.
He said efforts had been made to cost-justify continued manufacturing in Orange.
However, at the end of the day a compelling business case could not be made for investing the necessary funds to upgrade the Orange plant for the company's future manufacturing needs in the Asia-Pacific region.
Brown said that a consultative process between management and the workforce would be established and the 544 employees affected by the plant closure would get their full entitlements under existing workplace agreements.
He said manufacturing operations will be wound down "in a gradual and orderly manner," starting in late-2015.
The research and development centre in Orange is expected to continue operating for as long as two years after the plant closes.
Once the Orange plant closes Electrolux will have more than 1,100 employees in Australia and New Zealand. It will continue to operate the Electrolux Cooking Products plant in Dudley Park, Adelaide.
- with Appliance Magazine
