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Industry NewsBriggs & Stratton Consolidating FacilitiesJanuary 26, 2012 Briggs & Stratton said it will move existing manufacturing from its Newbern, Ten., facility to its McDonough, Ga., site and will also close its Ostrava, Czech Republic, plant and shift production to the company's Murray, Kentucky facility. In a related move, Briggs & Stratton will reduce capacity by reconfiguring and idling certain assets at its Poplar Bluff, Mo., facility. The Newbern facility currently manufactures walk-behind lawn mowers and snow throwers for the U.S. market. Ostrava and Poplar Bluff build engines for the outdoor power equipment industry. Operations in Ostrava are expected to wind down by March 15 and operations at Newbern will end by approximately May 15, the company said. "We continually evaluate our manufacturing footprint as we consider productivity and efficiency gains along with changes in the markets we serve,” said Todd Teske, Briggs & Stratton CEO. “Since 2004, the U.S. lawn and garden market has declined over 33%. This significant and prolonged market decline is unlike any other this industry has seen in decades. "In addition, we have taken actions over the past year to reconfigure and reduce our capacity and costs at our Poplar Bluff, Mo., engine plant. The actions announced today to consolidate our manufacturing footprint further, will better align our production capacity to the markets we serve.”
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