Published: April 30, 2008 10:18 pm            

Pliant to close Dalton facility

The Pliant Corp. plans to move the production of its Dalton plant on Poly Pac Drive off the North Bypass to other Pliant facilities before the plant is closed by July 31, 2009, officials said Wednesday.

A spokesman for Schaumburg,Ill.-based Pliant (www.pliantcorp.com) said he could not say how many jobs would be affected.

Pliant Corp. is a producer of film and flexible packaging products with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, according to its Web site. It employs approximately 2,900.

The company said in a press release that a series of moves, including the consolidation of its Dalton, Deerfield, Mass., Harrington, Del., and Newport News, Va., locations, “will lower its financial leverage to the lowest in its corporate history.” During the past five years, Pliant has consolidated seven of its highest cost locations “to improve operating scale and reduce fixed costs.” The Dalton consolidation is the next step in the company’s modernization plan.

“This effectively completes the company’s current consolidation plans,” the press release said. “The consolidation of facilities will accelerate the pace of inventory reductions through improved vertical integration of value-added products within the converting plants, in addition to the natural benefits of raw material and finished goods being produced in fewer locations.”

The press release said Pliant will be able to reduce its debt by $80 million over the next 14 months, increasing shareholder value.

        

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