InSinkErator plans to transfer production of motors for its food waste disposers out of its Racine facility to other Emerson manufacturing facilities over the next three years.
The company is experiencing growth and needed to free up space to make the best use of manufacturing assets, said Dave Baldridge, a spokesman for InSinkErator.
InSinkErator will shift shaft machining and die casting to suppliers, while the Racine facility will continue assembly and some stamping operations.
“This will be a gradual process and spread out in stages over the next three years, so it’s too early to say what the net effect on employment might be, if any,” Baldridge said.
InSinkErator is a business of St. Louis-based Emerson, a global company with business in industrial, commercial and consumer markets. The company has roughly 65 manufacturing facilities in the United States and another 140 around the world.
In 2014, InSinkErator leased a 160,000-square-foot building in Kenosha to add production and also planned to invest $43.7 million in new equipment and renovations to the Racine facility at 4700 21st St. The $65 million project was to be supported by $15.5 million in Enterprise Zone tax credits from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
Through 2015, the company was eligible for almost $3 million in credits. A total of 226 jobs have been created and 897 retained, according to WEDC, along with $21 million in capital investment.
Baldridge could not say if the production jobs would shift to the Kenosha facility.
Emerson is in the midst of repositioning itself as a company, having sold off two of its business lines and working to focus the company’s efforts. Baldridge declined to say how the shift in production was related to those efforts.
Emerson’s latest earnings report did indicate the company was experiencing growth in its food waste disposers, although the commercial and residential solutions segment was down overall.
