Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. will close two plants – one in Pennsylvania and another in Kansas – by the end of the month, spokeswoman Claire Ho said Tuesday.
The offset and gravure printing plant in Atglen, Penn. printed Sunday magazines and retail inserts for Parade, USA Weekend and CVS. Ho said employees were informed of the decision Thursday and called the move “a strategic business decision.” The 455,000-square-foot facility employed roughly 150 people.
She said the company has open capacity in its retail insert platform, driven in part by ongoing challenges in the print industry and the economy that have reduced retail advertising insert volumes.
The company is also closing the web offset retail insert plant in Lenexa, Kansas. The 95,000-square-foot plant employed approximately 90 people. Employees were informed of the decision last week.
“It makes sense to eliminate excess capacity in our platform by consolidating work into plants where we believe we can achieve the greatest manufacturing and distribution efficiencies,” Ho said. “Our goal is to create the strongest, most competitive retail platform to continue serving our clients well into the future.”
Ho said the work from the Atglen plant would be moved to one of Quad’s east coast gravure and offset facilities in Martinsburg, W.V. Work from the Lenexa plant would be moved to other non-Wisconsin facilities.
Quad/Graphics announced a $100 million cost reduction in plan in November after it reported a net loss of $772.1 million or $11.50 per diluted share. The plan included plant closures to reduce excess manufacturing capacity in Loveland, Colo.; Enfield, Conn.; Augusta, Ga.; and East Greenville, Ga. In January, the company announced it had completed the plan ahead of schedule and sales were within expectations offered in November.
The closures in Pennsylvania and Kansas were not part of the initial $100 million cost reduction plan, Ho said.
