TimesLeader.com

November 12, 2008

Fairchild plant closing for week

Lower demand is forcing a temporary shutdown in November of the Wright Twp. semiconductor facility.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer

WRIGHT TWP. – The Fairchild Semiconductor manufacturing facility will close temporarily the week of Thanksgiving as part of a nationwide shutdown in response to lower demand for its products.

Patti Olson, a spokeswoman at the company’s headquarters in South Portland, Maine, said employees will return the following week.

Olson on Tuesday was unable to provide the number of people affected locally.

Workers will be paid for Thanksgiving and the Friday after, she said. Some will take vacation days for the other time off. Others can borrow vacation time against next year.

A small number of workers will perform maintenance at the local facility during the shutdown.

The company, which employs 9,300 people around the world, reported a solid third quarter for the period ended Sept. 30, but adjusted its guidance lower for fourth quarter revenue.

On Monday, Fairchild projected revenue between $338 million and $360 million, a 16 to 21 percent drop from the previous quarter.

The company needed “slightly more than 10 percent” in fill orders to meet its guidance for the fourth quarter, said Mark Frey, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Fairchild. “Our customers and distributors are coping with reduced orders while at the same time trying to rapidly reduce their inventories,” he said.

The company has shut down sites in the past when business has flagged. According to The Times Leader archives, Fairchild temporarily idled approximately 330 workers at the facility in the Crestwood Industrial Park for two weeks in November 2004 because of reduced demand for its semiconductors.

“It’s not uncommon at all,” Olson said. She acknowledged the upcoming closing was “prompted by current market conditions.”

In addition to the Mountain Top facility, the company has manufacturing operations in South Portland and West Jordan, Utah. It also has design centers in San Jose, Calif., Colorado Springs and Loveland, Colo., and South Portland and a customer response center in Irving, Texas.

Fairchild Semiconductor manufacturing facility’s “customers and distributors are coping with reduced orders while at the same time trying to rapidly reduce their inventories,” a company executive said.

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570 829-7237.