INTERLUX AND AWLGRIP TO TRANSFER TO STRATEGIC MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
AkzoNobel’s Yacht Coatings business has announced that it will cease operations at its facility in Union, New Jersey. Production of the Interlux® brand will be transferred to its strategic facility in Houston, Texas where the company manufactures Marine and Protective Coatings for North America. Awlgrip® production will transfer to AkzoNobel’s state of the art facility at Sassenheim in the Netherlands. These changes are part of the business’s strategic goal of consolidating operations at its major locations to enable better customer service, improved operational productivity and investments in technology.
“This change will position us to better serve our customers in North America and it will leverage the scale and capabilities of AkzoNobel. We had already moved the global headquarters of our Yacht business to Houston and it will now host our laboratory, sales, customer service and marketing departments supporting the North America yacht business. With this move we will complete our integration in Houston," said Ralf Schueler, Global sBU Director, AkzoNobel Yacht Coatings.
“Importantly, our site at Sassenheim in the Netherlands is AkzoNobel’s global center of excellence for color as well as the manufacture of premium topcoats for the Automotive and Aerospace business. We see a very close fit which will also support our ambitions on innovation," Schueler added.
The company is dedicated in its commitment to establishing the Houston site as the primary North America base for yacht products and creating a long term manufacturing platform. By consolidating expertise in the RD&I and Technical support functions, the company seeks to expand the capabilities of the entire business. Concurrent with transfer of operations, all other activities will also relocate to Houston from New Jersey, including Technical Support and Customer Services.
