HNI Corp. announced on Oct. 5 that it will close its Richmond, Virginia manufacturing plant during the first half of 2008 and consolidate production into its Cedartown, Georgia and Muscatine, Iowa facilities.
"Rising freight costs and the opportunity to provide our customers with a better, more cost-effective fulfillment process necessitated this realignment. These actions will allow us to better align cost and speed with customer demand to take full advantage of our lean model," said Stan Askren, HNI Corp. CEO.
These initiatives are being undertaken in order to reduce structural cost and streamline customer fulfillment at The HON Co., an office furniture operating subsidiary of HNI Corp. As part of the consolidation, The HON Co. will also transition distribution centers located in Richmond and Cedartown to a third party logistics provider.
The corporation estimates it will save in excess of $10 million annually once fully implemented in 2009.
