The Timken Company (Canton, Ohio) has revealed which facilities will be eliminated in the recently announced 2-year program which will globally restructure manufacturing operations.

In the restructuring announcement, Timken said two plants would be closed and a third would be sold.

The bearing plants in Duston, England and Columbus, Ohio will be closed. A tooling plant in Ashland, Ohio will be sold. No buyer for the Ashland facility was named. Losing their jobs will be 950 from Duston facilities, 219 from the Columbus Bearing Plant and 115 from the Ashland tooling business.

The future of the Duston facility was called into question six months ago when Timken announced that all of the product testing and development activities being performed at Duston were being pulled out and moved to a new facility in Colmar, France. Earlier this year, Timken received the Invest In France Agency award for building the Colmar facility. The aging Duston factory, which primarily manufactures automotive bearings for the European market, came on line in 1942.

Karl Kimmerling, President - Automotive, said, "The decision to close this plant did not come easily. We very much regret the impact this action will have on the lives of our associates who work at Duston. They have made innumerable contributions and have earned our respect."

Timken's Columbus, Ohio, bearing plants have a long history with the company. In fact, Timken used to have two manufacturing plants in Columbus.

The original Columbus Bearing Plant came on line in early 1920. As Timken's various wartime products became critical resources, the Defense Plant Corp. built an addition in 1943 which doubled its size. That plant was closed in 1986 as part of a previous restructuring program.

The Columbus bearing factory now being closed, the Columbus Railroad Bearing Plant, opened in 1958. Timken Rail still maintains four other manufacturing facilities in the U.S.: Carlisle, Illinois; Knoxville, Tennessee; Lenexa, Kansas and Ogden, Utah.

"To operate competitively in this continuing weak rail equipment market, our rail business is taking aggressive action," said Vinod Dasari, President - Rail. "By restructuring our manufacturing operations, we position the business for long-term success and at the same time strengthen The Timken Company's financial performance. Over the last year, we have challenged ourselves to improve our competitiveness in the rail market. Our rail business associates, especially those in the Columbus plant, have worked hard to accomplish that. But after much analysis, we concluded that the aging infrastructure and high fixed costs could not be sustained in today's market conditions."

Timken's Tooling and Rebuilding business in Ashland, Ohio makes specialty tooling and gauging equipment, in addition to rebuilding manufacturing equipment. Timken maintains a similar facility in Canton which will not be closed. No buyer for the Ashland facility was named.

Jim Griffith, Timken's President and COO, said, "The decisions on these plants did not come easily. We deeply regret the disruption these actions will cause in the lives of the associates who work in these plants. These associates have made innumerable contributions and have earned our respect. We are very grateful for all of their efforts. We will be providing assistance to them as their employment with Timken ends."

Timken said their intention is to continue operating the Columbus plant for 6 to 12 months and the Duston plant for up to 20 months. During that time, production will be gradually transferred to other facilities.