Kraft Shifting Some Production to Fullerton
By CHRIS CZIBORR
Kraft Foods Inc.’s Oscar Mayer unit is moving some production from a Madison, Wis., plant to its Fullerton facility.
The move could result in as many as 110 layoffs in Madison, according to the company. But Kraft said it is unsure if the shift stands to add jobs in Fullerton, which counts 500 employees making Lunchables, a line of ready-to-eat lunches.
Kraft spokeswoman Cathy Pernu said the company is making the move because of lower efficiency in Madison, a multipurpose facility that counts 1,700 workers. Some work also will shift to a plant in Davenport, Iowa.
“The Fullerton and Davenport facilities have large Lunchables operations, and this has led to improvements in productivity and line efficiency,” Pernu said. “We constantly evaluate our facilities in terms of quality and manufacturing efficiency to determine where a product should be made.”
Davenport also is a multipurpose facility and counts 1,800 workers.
“The Fullerton plant is well-positioned to absorb the volume from Madison,” Pernu said. “In terms of employment we are currently assessing our staffing needs,it may be that we won’t require any additional employment at our OC facility.”
Within the past year, the 170,500-square-foot Fullerton plant underwent an expansion that added 30,000 square feet of space and upgrades including a new high-speed production line, she said. The facility has churned out Lunchables since 1989. The previous tenant was a Kraft-owned Claussen pickle plant that had operated there since the early 1970s before moving to Woodstock, Ill.
