Troubling news from Findlay, Ohio-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., which has a 1,200-worker plant in Tupelo.
The company said it is conducting a capacity study of its U.S. operations over the next 90 days to “determine how to optimize manufacturing capacity in relation to developing market and customer needs, and will likely result in restructuring, including capacity consolidation or geographical shifts to production.”
Cooper said all of its U.S. manufacturing plants “are included for review and will be analyzed based on a combination of factors, including long-term financial benefits, labor relations and productivity.”
Cooper Tire CEO Roy Armes said the process will be “transparent” and that the company “will communicate openly with those who may be affected in either manufacturing or administrative positions.”
The Daily Journal is following the story and will have more in tomorrow’s edition. Also, if any updates are available, you can check them out here at tupelobizbuzz.
And this from The Courier in Findlay, Ohio, courtesy of the Associated Press:
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. says it will likely close one of its four U.S. manufacturing plants in the coming months because of slumping demand for tires.
Ohio-based Cooper said Tuesday that it has not decided which plant will be closing.
It has factories in Findlay, Ohio; Albany, Ga.; Tupelo, Miss.; and Texarkana, Ark.
Cooper spokeswoman Pat Brown says the company has more production capacity than it can afford in the U.S.
The tire maker also has been hit this year by higher costs of raw materials.
The story failed to mention the plant they have in China. I guess they are keeping it and just considering consolidating the U.S. facilities.
Indeed, the company only mentioned capacity cuts in the U.S.
The plant in Kunshun, China, was built to serve customer demand in Asia and Europe, from what I understand.
texarkana is one of the worst towns ive ever had the pleasure of passing thru….im pulling for them to lose out!
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.’s commercial division has undergone some big changes. For starters, several years ago Cooper transferred all of its medium truck tire production from the United States to China. The company’s truck tires are now made at Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Truck Tire Co. Ltd., of which Cooper owns 51%.
Then in 2006, the company dropped its Cooper truck tire brand, making Roadmaster its flagship truck tire line. “We had a plan in place to have tier two and tier three products, but for several reasons that didn’t work out,” says Bill Hoban, national truck tire sales manager for Cooper’s North American Tire Division. “Right now we have Roadmaster, and it’s a full commitment as far as time and energy.”
How many truck tires are you shipping back to the U.S.?
We’re shipping close to 400,000 units per year.
Cooper also has a plant in Mexico and is shipping tires from both China and Mexico to the Tupelo plant warehouse. 50,000 were shipped in from China last week and about that many from Mexico. These tires have a number on them starting with an R. They are also heavier and smell stronger!
Cooper and Mastercraft Tires last year said the new Mastercraft Avenger Touring LSR would be added to the production line in Tupelo. Anyone know if that production has started?
And, if you want to read more of our Cooper Tire coverage on Biz Buzz, go here:
http://tupelobizbuzz.wordpress.com/?s=cooper+tire
Yes, it is being made here in Tupelo. I’m not sure about Albany.
It was scheduled for Albany and Tupelo when the original anouncement was made in June of 07.
Interesting. Anyone know what the buzz is with the employees? Is this new news or was it expected?
They have been cutting employee hours for a few years now at the one in Tupelo. Recently it has gotten worse though, from what I know. My Dad works there and I’ll ask him about it later.
Everybody knew something was up, but they kept blaming it on gasoline prices and the economy. Now at least it is in the open. Stock at Cooper is low and has been for quite awhile. We’ve been having meetings all day. My meeting’s at 8:00 p.m. tonight. We’ll know what they want us to know then, I suppose.
The hours have been cut back for October, from 12 hours to 9 1/2 hours. The Cooper plant in Tupelo is one of the stronger plants of the 4. We make production and are lean on waste. I’m banking on they’ll be keeping us on.
All this because of a few greedy fatcats on Wall Street.
Today we here at CDF have been in touch with the State MDA , TVA, the City of Tupelo, the NMHS, the Lee Board of Supervisors and Three Rivers PDD and have mobilized a local committee to help the Cooper internal committee. We will work fast and hard to save these jobs and help Cooper find many reasons to stay and prosper in Tupelo. We are also encouraged with the company statements of an open process and that the remaining plants will get a chance at production as it is cut elsewhere. Management here in Tupelo has been working on cost cutting and Lean Manufacturing for some time and that will help in the overall picture. This effort will be our highest priority for the next 90 days.
I just talked to an employee. All they know about is the 90 day “capacity study”. BUT, she did tell me the plant in Albany hasn’t shown a profit for years. The only thing, Albany has union.
I thought only Texarkana and Findley were Union. Maybe Albany is, though. I know Tupelo’s not.
All this is making me wonder if Toyota will even be coming to Tupelo after all.
Albany is not unionized.
And I wouldn’t worry about Toyota.
Toyota is now starting to having problems in this tough economy. Now back to Cooper i hope there is a way that all the plants can be saved but that seems unlikely.
My husband works at Cooper and is very fearful of losing his job. Our concern is that there is no union to protect the employees, unlike Texarkana and Findley. Those plants would most likely receive severance pay if closed. Our guys, due to no protection from the union, could be left out in the cold. Hopefully this won’t be the case but it just seems unfair and leaves us now wishing for the union that we so adamently voted against.
I’ve been an employee of Cooper Tire for 20 years. After the meeting last night, I’m still betting that we will remain open here in Tupelo. We have an outstanding labor force at the Tupelo plant and exhibit pride in our work and making our product the best in the business. Our upper management is looking out for us and our best interests. I was also glad to hear that the CDF (David) is on the job. I have great faith that all concerned will work together to show Cooper Tire why they need us(Tupelo) to help them prosper and grow in the world markets.
If Albany has no union, then they’ll be on the chopping block. You have to show a profit.
Teach1,
Seems you are very misguided about unions. Unions do not keep plants from closing. Unions do not pay severance. Unions do not provide jobs for employees. The lack of a union, as you said that most employees adamently voted against, is one of the positive factors that will help to keep the Tupelo facility open.
Maybe I am misguided. I understand that unions do not provide jobs or keep plants from closing, however, from everything I have read about other tire factories, the unions negotiated severance pay, insurance options, and other rights of the employees when a plant was closing. In the worse case scenerio in Tupelo, we have no one to negotiate on our behalf. We just have to accept whatever (if anything) is offered. I wish you would explain how the lack of a union would help keep the Tupelo facility open. I hate to seem so negative, but this is scary to alot of us and right now I need some encouragement!!!
Locally we must maintain union-free workplaces to avoid the kind of contractual costs that threaten many American industries like the Big Three domestic automakers (Cooper said workplace relationships would factor in its consolidation decisions).Work place relationships are with employees, not unions. The last thing we want in here is severance pay. We want to keep the good work force at Cooper gainfully employed with excellent benefits that they currently have here locally. As far as someone negotiating on our behalf, I don’t want someone speaking for me, I can speak for myself. The good work ethics of the employees to produce a quality product at a reasonable cost at the Tupelo facility will also give them a major advantage in the decision of which facilities will survive.
Well said, jr85reb. And don’t forget that a longtime employee in a union company will probably have paid more in union dues over the course of his career than what he’d get in severance.
There’s a good reason that a lot of manufacturing moved to the South after northern regions went union. Unions drive up costs to companies, and all other things being equal, a company will locate to a non-union area a lot faster than it will to a part of the country where the AFL/CIO is the big dawg.
That makes me feel a little better. I hope you are correct and the lack of a union will be a leading factor with Cooper staying in Tupelo. The last thing I want is for my family or this area to lose this great employer!!
Great discussion points by all participants. The union/non-union
debate has raged for many decades now. However, the bottom line for companies is simple: which of our operations are the most productive and cost efficient, and which are the least ? Once that question is answered, they take the appropriate action. Businesses today clearly prefer a non-union environment because it so much simpler to manage. In fact, why do you think states such as Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama have been able to lure companies like Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes Benz down to the deep south ? After all, the “experienced, trained and knowledgeable” automobile workers (a.k.a. United Auto Workers) up until only a few years ago resided in places like my home state of Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. And if you want to see what effect that unionization had in these geographic areas, I urge you to look at the most recent unemployment data, and see exactly which states are at the top of the list. So..long story short. Given a choice, companies prefer to open and operate in states that have little union representation. There are far fewer hassles to contend with. But the bottom line decision for businesses will ALWAYS be about the money. If they must consolidate and cut costs, the most efficient and cost effective plants will be kept open, union or not, and the under performers will soon have their doors shuttered like so many steel and automotive plants in the Midwest now find themselves today.
fredster
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Cooper Tire & Rubber Company will likely close one of its four U.S. plants.
One of the plants in jeopardy is in Albany.
Findlay Ohio is where the Cooper Tire headquarters are located, so that plant has an advantage of staying open there. But Albany has some advantages, by far the best, the Albany plant uses a lot of water, and it is sitting on one of the biggest acquifers in the world. The Albany plant also is non union, and is bigger and with more land surrounding the plant than most of the other Cooper plants. Also most of Cooper’s Research and Line Development testing is done in the Albany plant.
Here’s the story from today’s Journal:
http://djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=280881&pub=1&div=News
TUPELO – State and local officials hope to make Cooper Tire’s decision whether or not to close one of its U.S. plants a little easier.
David Rumbarger, president of the Tupelo-based Community Development Foundation, said he is working with city and county leaders, the governor’s office, the Mississippi Development Authority and utility giant TVA to look at what it can do to help the company stay in Tupelo.
“We’re going to take a look at the cost centers involved and see what we can do,” Rumbarger said. “We do know that Cooper Tire’s plant here has one of the highest production rates of its four U.S. plants, but costs are costs. So, if we can get a general sense of where the money is going, maybe we can come up with some options.”
I’ll tell you where the $$$ goes if you promise not to get mad.
They pay the employees too much.
Probe about wages, you’ll be surprised. In its heyday, Cooper could support those wages. It hasn’t been that way for YEARS.
Because of their expenses, they’re not competitive anymore. This happened BEFORE the oil crisis, so don’t use that excuse.
I know Cooper employees buying tires from Sears, because even with an employee discount, Cooper tires are too expensive.
High overhead + Lower sales = TROUBLE
No matter how high quality the product is.
Cooper Tire will make their decision before the 90 days and it will be the plant that can produce all types of tires with out installing new equipment. All i can say is that we need to pray that our plant keep the doors open and improve in all ways to produce a better product (loose the scrap), and don’t bash each other but we know that one of us must go and I pray it’s not us. To all I hope the best.
Cooper Albany is not unionized and never has been.
We have many things to our advantage in this:
Our quality is higher that that of the other plants because of our conformity and commitment to our ISO certification. We are following the provisions we set forth to the letter.
We are the only plant with the potential for expansion.
We have the capacity to make anything from 13 inch tires up to LLT tires, we are very diverse.
We have been profitable with the introduction of the LSR4 touring tires.
We are making gainshare every day.
Since we are not union, we are more cost efficient than the union plants on a per employee basis.
After our meetings last week, I can tell you that the people here are rallying to fight for our plant. We will cooperate with whatever Cooper needs to keep us going and we will come back stronger that ever!
You are only defeated when you accept defeat and that is unacceptable.
I am a 15 year Cooper Albany employee.
Your quality is high, and you’re plant is diverse, because research and development is done in Albany. To say you’re the only plant with potential to expand is misleading. Cooper Tupelo has open land across the street. Its also located on a train track. Don’t mislead.
Good luck to BOTH of us.
Hopefully the powers that be, use ACCURATE info to make the decision.
If Cooper in Albany don’t have anything to worry about then why are they firing good workers for made up reasons, trying to save jobs for their buddies because it’s a buddy buddy system out there. Their having meetings telling Leaders to get rid of employees for made up reasons, unethical management, and kiss butt job. As far as I am concern Cooper in Albany is getting exactly what they deserve.
God don’t like ugly and God knows everything. God Luck Cooper Tire.
And exactly how long have you been at Cooper Albany?
how does anyone at cooper tire corp. sleep at night? the lack of a belt wedge killed my child… and the tires were in “excellent condition.” it’s called tire tread separation… ever heard of it? strangely it’s happening by the hundreds. shame on you for knowing your product is absolute crap. we’ve never seen more tires with cracks and chunks out of them in our lives (in your parking lots at malls, grocery stores, you name it) i hope every plant is shut down for good!
p.s. this is for the people who KNOW about the dirty little secrets… for you workers that may or have already lost your jobs… i hope you can find a great job somewhere. but please find one where there are good, honest people running the place, with excellent morals and standards. what has america come to?
why do innocent people have to die such a horrific death due to poor workmanship/craftsmanship…
good grief how many more have to die?