Westvaco Restructures Consumer Packaging Group
Westvaco Corp. has implemented changes in its consumer packaging operations that include both an expanded commitment to high-end, high-quality packaging markets and consolidation of certain operations. According to R.G. Johnstone, exec.VP and division mgr., "these initiatives will provide improved printing technology and operating efficiencies." He adds that, "equally important, these actions will further enhance our ability to provide distinctive, differentiated products and services to our target markets."
The actions center around the expansion of the packaging division's operations in Richmond, VA, including the installation of a new, state-of-the-art offset printing press and creation of a center for graphic packaging and structural design. These changes are expected to create about 30 new jobs.
"Our objective is to provide even better support to our customers who compete in very demanding, high-end consumer packaging markets such as those for pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and personal care products," Johnstone explains. The press installation and plant expansion will begin immediately and should be completed in December.
The consolidation of the division's operations also involves a reconfiguration of its activities in Newark, DE. Certain administrative support activities presently performed in Newark will be shifted to the division's Richmond offices, a move made possible by recent system enhancements. In addition, some of the plant's equipment will be relocated to Richmond. The reconfiguration of operations in Newark will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed in the next three to four months. During that period of time, it is estimated that the plant's workforce of 270 employees will be reduced to between 60 and 70 employees.
The division has plans in place to meet customer commitments during the transition period in Newark and Richmond. Westvaco personnel will be working closely with the Delaware Department of Labor, other Newark area businesses, as well as an out-placement service company, to help Newark employees whose jobs are effected by this change.
"These actions are part of our overall program to strengthen the consumer packaging division," Johnstone points out. "The changes in Richmond and Newark will make the division more efficient while enhancing our printing capabilities and other resources to better serve our customers. We are also expanding our international operations. We just announced the acquisition of a substantial equity interest in a new consumer packaging plant in Guangzhou, China. Earlier this year, we began a major expansion at our consumer packaging plant in Valinhos, Brazil."
Westvaco's consumer packaging division produces a wide variety of packaging for food, personal care items, pharmaceuticals, tobacco and many other consumer products. The division operates a total of eight plants-four in Richmond and four others in Newark, Cleveland, TN, Svitavy, Czech Republic, and Valinhos. The division employs approximately 2,000 people, about 1,100 of whom work in the Richmond plants.
Westvaco, based in New York, NY, is a major producer of paper, envelopes, packaging and specialty chemicals. The company owns 1.5 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and Brazil and has manufacturing facilities in those two countries as well as the Czech Republic. International business accounts for approximately 25% of Westvaco's annual sales, and the company has customers in more than 70 countries.