Shelbyville auto glass manufacturer closing plant for two weeks for most workers

By B.J. Fairchild-Newman, The Shelbyville News staff writer

Pilkington, 300 Northridge Drive, sent an e-mail to employees on Thursday, advising them that the plant will close for two weeks for approximately 180 of 263 employees from Jan. 19 to Feb. 2 due to slow sales and lowered demand for its automotive glass.

Pilkington human resources team leader Dan Eckstein confirmed on Friday that January orders for the company's back and side windows and sunroofs were reduced to 360,000 parts, down from a projected 1.2 million. He added that shipping, maintenance and salaried employees will continue to work during the two-week period, so the plant will not be completely closed.

The announcement of the upcoming closing follows a two-week closedown during Christmas, which is customary for many automotive parts suppliers and is a paid holiday for Pilkington employees.

A year ago, Pilkington's work force stood at approximately 400, and Eckstein said that the company has largely dealt with the reduction in force through not replacing workers who retired or left their jobs. The non-management employees at the plant are members of the United Steel Workers Union.

Approximately 50 percent of Pilkington's business is with General Motors, but it also supplies automotive glass to Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan.

Pilkington is a subsidiary of NSG Group, one of the world's leading manufacturers of glass and glazing systems with headquarters in Japan. The acquisition of Pilkington was completed in 2006. The flat glass business of NSG trades under the Pilkington brand and has operations in 27 countries on four continents and sales in 130 countries.

NSG employs approximately 36,000 people worldwide and reported sales of $5.7 billion in 2007.