Shifting pin production to contract manufacturer offers market advantages for Brunswi

[BubbaRay]

Brunswick Bowling & Billiards announced today that it is shifting bowling pin production from its Antigo, Wis., facility to a contract manufacturer, resulting in the immediate closure of the Antigo facility. Brunswick Bowling & Billiards is a unit of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC).

"The marketplace has evolved, and the industry has more capacity to provide pins than it can support," explained Warren N. Hardie, president of Brunswick Bowling & Billiards. "By utilizing contract manufacturing, Brunswick will be able to better focus its efforts on serving customers in the global bowling products market."

Brunswick has chosen QubicaAMF to make Brunswick's full line of bowling pins at the manufacturer's plant in Lowville, N.Y. "As such, we will continue to provide our customers with a dependable supply of high-quality pins built according to our exacting specifications," Hardie explained.

Hardie added that Brunswick Bowling & Billiards expects that this action will be largely transparent to customers, as Brunswick will continue to offer both its Brunswick and Vulcan brands to the worldwide bowling center market. It also will continue to offer a full line of equipment for bowling center construction and upgrades as well as full lines of consumer and aftermarket products for the bowling industry.

The closing of the Antigo facility will result in the elimination of approximately 70 positions. Antigo employees were informed of this action today, and will receive severance and other benefits. The company will be meeting with local union bargaining agents to determine those benefits for union members. Further, Brunswick will continue to pay employees for the next 60 days, even though the plant will be immediately closed, allowing employees to focus their energies on finding their next job, if that is what they so choose.

Closing the Antigo plant is expected to result in charges of approximately $4.5 million in 2008.

[Rowdy]

Happy New Year,and by the way,you're fired! Brunswick steps in the smelly stuff again. Hope all you Twisted Fury fans remember this when you buy that ball. This would make me think twice about buying anything Brunswick.

[WidowFan]

Surprised they didn't move it to Mexico so they could produce the pins in the same cheap way the are doing their balls now. Wont be long and pins will be coming from China.

[TRIO1STL]

Trust me, Brunswick has taken a lot of heat for going south of the border. They will not be the last. It was either that or get out of the ball business. The cost in margarita ville is less than an hour of U.S workforce for a whole day.

I do agree that production and quality has gone south also. Brunswick=Backorder

[VmsTopGun]

if nothing else, they kept the mfg. in the USA....

[BigDog]

Happy New Year,and by the way,you're fired! Brunswick steps in the smelly stuff again. Hope all you Twisted Fury fans remember this when you buy that ball. This would make me think twice about buying anything Brunswick.

Our Atlanta office is shutting down on 3/15. 3 were let go yesterday, 3 are being transferred to PHX, 4 of us (me included) will work from home, and the other 3 will be let go on 3/15.

[JoshWithrow]

You work for Brunswick?

[BigDog]

You work for Brunswick?

Nope. I'm a software engineer for a company that creates technical publications for various industries (mostly aircraft).

[BubbaRay]

Sorry to hear about the bad news of your company Bigdog. It seems there is alot of that going on the past few years. More money in the CEO's pockets and leave the working class people making an honest living out to dry.


But we are able to send billions to other countries . I better stop here.:confused: :mad:

[Stampy79]

Dont be so hard on Brunswick guys. Its all about the almighty dollar nowdays. There are lots of companies doing the exact same thing.

[BigDog]

Sorry to hear about the bad news of your company Bigdog. It seems there is alot of that going on the past few years. More money in the CEO's pockets and leave the working class people making an honest living out to dry.


But we are able to send billions to other countries . I better stop here.:confused: :mad:

I understand. I've been a developer for 17+ years.

We bought two companies in the past year. The operation is a duplication of what the folks at the PHX office can do (the second company we bought), and since we were the smaller operation, that left this office on the chopping block. The good news is that it will give me an incentive to get the basement finished, which includes a home office, and workshop (where my ball spinner will find a home).

[Rowdy]

Dont be so hard on Brunswick guys. Its all about the almighty dollar nowdays. There are lots of companies doing the exact same thing.

Beg pardon,Stampy. Bowling is an American game. The smart ball,pin,bag,whatever manufacturer would promote their brand as still being "Made in the USA". I'll pay more for gear made here. I still have a feeling of pride everytime I turn a Hammer over and see those words on the ball. Makes me throw it a little bit better after seeing that.

Brunswick took the easy way out and screwed their own employee's and their loyal bowlers. All two of them. I was looking at the Twisted Fury for a backup ball (was gonna put a RICO in it for floods) but not now. I'll do another BWS for the RICO.

[JoshWithrow]

They announced why. Honestly, how can they keep a plant open if it costs more to operate it than what they make from it's production? It's all good and fine to want things to remain the same, but these guys aren't out to make friends... they're out to make a dollar.

All it amounts to is good business. Anybody who's self employed or a business owner knows about these types of decisions. They're never easy, but they are necessary. If it cost you more money to work somewhere than what they paid you then you wouldn't work there anymore... you'd leave for a different employer. One you might actually make some money from. It's the same thing.

[Rowdy]

They announced why. Honestly, how can they keep a plant open if it costs more to operate it than what they make from it's production? It's all good and fine to want things to remain the same, but these guys aren't out to make friends... they're out to make a dollar.

All it amounts to is good business. Anybody who's self employed or a business owner knows about these types of decisions. They're never easy, but they are necessary. If it cost you more money to work somewhere than what they paid you then you wouldn't work there anymore... you'd leave for a different employer. One you might actually make some money from. It's the same thing.

Sorry,it ain't. Say it would cost Brunswick $30 to make a ball in Mexico. Say it would cost $60 here. The quality is way better here than in Mexico. That's a given. The percentage of markup is the same on both balls. The difference in shipping cost's would cut back on the $30 difference in the price of the balls. Probably $5 to $10 per ball. You wouldn't cough up the difference for a better made ball that was made here?

Ebonite is bending Brunswick over the table at every opportunity on this very subject. The show on The Discovery Channel last night made sure to mention that the balls were made in Kentucky.

[JoshWithrow]

Sorry,it ain't. Say it would cost Brunswick $30 to make a ball in Mexico. Say it would cost $60 here. The quality is way better here than in Mexico. That's a given. The percentage of markup is the same on both balls. The difference in shipping cost's would cut back on the $30 difference in the price of the balls. Probably $5 to $10 per ball. You wouldn't cough up the difference for a better made ball that was made here?

Ebonite is bending Brunswick over the table at every opportunity on this very subject. The show on The Discovery Channel last night made sure to mention that the balls were made in Kentucky.

I'm not talking about spending money. I'm talking about making business decisions from a capitalist standpoint. There's no way arguing out of that one.

I'm not condoning what they're doing, but I'm not going to stand around pointing fingers from my high horse while I have no idea what's really going on down in the real world.

Mind you, they weren't talking about balls. They were talking about pins. That's more of a niche market than balls, even.

[slap]

Sorry,it ain't. Say it would cost Brunswick $30 to make a ball in Mexico. Say it would cost $60 here. The quality is way better here than in Mexico. That's a given. The percentage of markup is the same on both balls. The difference in shipping cost's would cut back on the $30 difference in the price of the balls. Probably $5 to $10 per ball. You wouldn't cough up the difference for a better made ball that was made here?

Ebonite is bending Brunswick over the table at every opportunity on this very subject. The show on The Discovery Channel last night made sure to mention that the balls were made in Kentucky.


Brunswick's move was about two major factors. The first being increased labor costs in the states, and the second being the opportunity to build a brand new, state of the art factory at a lower cost. It's a fact that there were QA issues in the first production runs but you can bet those were fixed quickly. The reality is Brunswick made a smart business move. American business at it's finest.

An interesting question is, will Brunswick use their lower production costs to drop prices and create a price war?


I'm not talking about spending money. I'm talking about making business decisions from a capitalist standpoint. There's no way arguing out of that one.

I'm not condoning what they're doing, but I'm not going to stand around pointing fingers from my high horse while I have no idea what's really going on down in the real world.

Mind you, they weren't talking about balls. They were talking about pins. That's more of a niche market than balls, even.

X2

I agree, I'm not condoning their move either. It's a terrible thing when these choices are made and jobs are lost but this is the modern economy. American business is moving away from it's manufactoring/production industries. We can debate wheter that's a good or bad thing. Personally I think it's dangerous but right now "it is what it is."

[jedi47]

Case in point,,,, my mother worked for a semi-large company making electrical & pressure switches & the like, they made all of the parts in the USA with a reject rate of less than 1/2 of 1%..... the company out-sourced 2/3 of the parts to Mexico..... It was cheaper to have the parts made in Mexico with a reject rate of 35% than it was to have them made here!
The company eventually shut down the plant my mother worked at, 300+ people out of a job.... Also, ask a REAL farmer, or a house builder what they thought of that "individual"

[yotamonster]

this ball is made in china i believe and thats exactly the reason i wont own one.

[jedi47]

Might as well erase my whole prior post on this subject,,,, what's left makes no sense...... Seeing how the part of it laying out the root cause has been erased

[BubbaRay]

The only reason I editied it was due to the language and the political subject.