Type
Offshoring/Delocalisation
Country
United Kingdom
Region
West Midlands;
Location of affected unit(s)
Wolverhampton
Sector
Manufacturing
Manufacturing Of Machinery And Equipment
Manufacture Of Machinery And Equipment N.E.C.
28.11 - Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicle and cycle engines
New offshoring locations
France, India, United States of America

203 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
5 September 2014
Employment effect (start)
5 September 2014
Foreseen end date
15 September 2015

Description

UK manufacturer of transmissions for off-highway vehicles, Turner Powertrain Systems, has announced that it will halt its assembly and manufacturing operations in 2015. Owned by Caterpillar, the Turner Powertrain Systems factory is located in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The Wolverhampton facility designs, develops, manufactures and assembles transmissions for backhoes, telescope materials handlers and site dumpers. Sales and support services are also based at the site.

A 45-day consultation process has started with all of the 289 employees at the factory; however a company statement has said that 203 staff was at risk of redundancy. The manufacturing work will be offshored to other Caterpillar sites located in France, India and North America. A smaller number of 86 staff will likely remain at the Wolverhampton site from product development, sales and marketing, warranty and other support functions. In a statement released on 5 September 2014, the trade union representing workers at the site, UNITE said that this announcement went against an earlier commitment given by Caterpillar to retain at least 70 per cent of the manufacturing capacity at Wolverhampton.


Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2014), Turner Powertrain Systems, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 77549, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/77549.