Deceuninck North America Closes Wilmington, Del. Plant

Group Deceuninck has announced that its U.S. subsidiary Deceuninck North America will be closing its Wilmington, Del. Plant. This decision is part of the consolidation of extrusion sites following the acquisition of Vinyl Building Products (VBP) in July 2003.

The combination of Dayton Technologies, a Deceuninck acquisition in 1997, and VBP resulted in plant locations in Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware and Arkansas with Wilmington as the smallest facility, employing 34 workers. Employees will have employment opportunities at the Ohio and New Jersey facilities, according to the company. Deceuninck added that the closing is expected to be completed within the next two months.

Michael Hutfless, chief operating officer of Deceuninck North America, said the decision to consolidate operations is based on the higher efficiencies of the larger plants.

"Today's competitive climate demands the most efficient structure and we are positioning our company to compete in the global market," he said. "We anticipate minimal or no disruption of deliveries during this transition period. Being a production relocation, this closure will not involve any loss of sales for Deceuninck North America.