Stanley Black & Decker Closing SC, TX Plants in Network Changes

On March 20, toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker announced it will close plants in South Carolina and Texas as part of ongoing plans to slash costs significantly over the next several years.

The New Britain, Connecticut-based company said changes to its manufacturing and distribution network will include U.S. site expansions, site transformations into manufacturing centers of excellence and site consolidation. SBD said it will transfer its Cheraw, South Carolina operations to its facilities in Jackson and Gallatin, Tennessee. The company also will discontinue operations in Fort Worth, Texas.

Losses include approximately 175 employees at the Texas facility and 182 employees in South Carolina, while the move will add 80 jobs in Tennessee, the company said.

“The company is focused on providing a smooth transition to impacted employees including options for employment at other Stanley Black & Decker facilities, as well as job placement support services,” SBD said in a statement.

The changes are part of the company’s transformation strategy to deliver $2 billion in savings over the next three years — announced in early January this year, and SBD said these actions reflect the current economic climate, which calls for changes in its distribution network.

On Feb. 2, SBD reported its 2022 fourth-quarter earnings, which included $4 billion in revenue that was “in line” with the same period a year prior. The flat quarter-to-quarter earnings followed a 9% annual increase the company reported in 3Q 2022, as many industrial distributors and manufacturers saw slowed growth to end the year. Lower volume (down 10%), currency ( down 3%) and the company’s previously-announced Oil & Gas divestiture (down 1%) contributed to a flat 4Q, SBD said.

In July 2022, the company completed a $3.2 billion sale of its Security Business. At the time, the company launched a series of initiatives that were expected to result in $1 billion of cost savings by the end of 2023 and about $2 billion within three years. The company also said it was aggressively slashing inventory to support reducing its working capital by $1 billion to $1.5 billion. Stanley Black & Decker said it planned to consolidate more than 30% of its manufacturing facilities from its current count of 120. SBD estimates that action alone would net $300 million in savings over the next three years.

SBD’s shares closed 1.2% higher on March 20, aligned with major U.S. indices, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The company’s announcement follows similar cost-cutting plans of other manufacturers, including 3M, which said in January it will cut 2,500 jobs.