Andrew Corp. announced that it will restructure its business, resulting in plant closings and the layoffs of approximately 800 employees. In addition, the Orland Park, Ill-based manufacturer said it would exit several business sectors, including equipment building, wireless accessories and satellite modems.
The discontinued businesses have four facilities in the United States, one of which houses shared engineering activities serving other Andrew businesses. Those facilities will be closed and the engineering staff will be moved to a smaller location in Addison, Ill. Five other plants in the United States and four facilities overseas will be closed and replaced by new manufacturing facilities to be located on the United States-Mexico border and in Europe. The company will initially lay off 1,200 employees but expects to add 400 as it adds new facilities.
Andrew, which originally announced its intentions to restructure in July, says that it expects to save more than $40 million in fiscal 2004; due to certain costs of relocation and consolidation, net savings for fiscal 2003 will be in the $10 million range.
A company spokesman said about 30 people are expected to be laid off in Andrew's broadcast division, which represents about 8-10 percent of the company's revenues. Revenues for the company's latest fiscal year (ending Sept. 2001) amounted to close to $1.1 billion. For the first nine months of its current fiscal year, Andrew's revenues were down 23 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
Other than Europe, sales were down in all major geographic areas compared to last year. Coaxial cable products and terrestrial microwave antenna systems were down, while sales of power amplifiers and wireless accessories were up. The spokesman says broadcast sales over the past several years have been "relatively flat."
