By Chris Nicholls

AUCKLAND: Fisher & Paykel will split production from its closing Dunedin, Brisbane and California plants between its Thailand, Italy and new Reynosa, Mexico plants.

In its global manufacturing restructure announcement, Fisher & Paykel said they would move DishDrawer production from its current Dunedin home to Thailand for all non-North American sales, while North American units would come from its newly purchased Reynosa, Mexico plant. The cooking plant will be split between Mexico, Thailand and Italy.

Brisbane’s refrigeration plant will close by 31 March 2009, with manufacturing moving to Thailand. The move would necessitate a third production line, on top of the second DishDrawer line announced today.

Fisher & Paykel Australia national marketing manager, Peter Russell, said the second DishDrawer line would now go up “pretty quickly”, while the refrigerator line would be added after that.

In its ASX announcement, Fisher & Paykel said they would manufacture extra stock during the slower winter months to provide sufficient stock to deal with any changeover issues.

The DCS cooking range plant in California will move progressively throughout the year to Reynosa, Mexico. Individual production lines will be shifted separately to reduce impact on inventory builds at the warehouse. The move is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Fisher & Paykel said the Dunedin relocation would save approximately $14.5 million per annum, at a one-off cost of $26 million, both at the pre-tax level. Capital expenditure is expected to be in the region of $7.8 million.

The Brisbane plant closure, which Fisher & Paykel Australia categorically denied would happen as little as two weeks ago, despite staff hour reductions in the weeks previous, will save the company approximately $28.6 million per annum, with a one-off cost of $19.5 million, both at a pre-tax level. Capital expenditure is expected to be around $20.4 million.

The DCS plant shutdown will save Fisher & Paykel $6.6 million per annum, with a one-off cost of $7 million, both at a pre-tax level.