Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA) plans to shutter its plant in Auburn, Maine, and consolidate its operations into other facilities as it gears up for an anticipated recovery for the orthopedics industry.
The Warsaw, Ind.-based orthopedic implant maker said the move is aimed at streamlining the business and reducing costs. The consolidation is slated to be complete by the middle of next year; the company did not reveal how many employees would be affected.
Symmetry, which also has operations in Whitman and New Bedford, Mass., said it will move production, including equipment and machinery, from the Auburn medical case manufacturing plant as part of the consolidation. Closing the plant is expected to save the company about $3.4 million a year and will cost between $2.4 million and $2.8 million total, most of it during the fourth quarter.
Symmetry posted third-quarter sales of $87.2 million during the three months ended Oct. 3, down 22.2 percent compared with $112.1 million during the same period last year. Net income surged 113.5 percent to $5.4 million, compared with $2.5 million during Q3 2008.