Finnish RFID powerhouse UPM Raflatac has announced plans to reorganize a number of its production facilities. The changes shift some production of RFID inlays and tags to plants in North America and Asia, while creating a new research and development center in Finland.
According to the plan, UPM Raflatac’s facility in Jyvaskyla , Finland, will be transformed from a production plant into a development center. The center will be equipped with a variety of special resources to facilitate global product and process development as well as the piloting of new products.
The production work of the Jyvaskyla plant will move to UPM Raflatac’s new facility in Guangzhou, China, and a U.S. plant in Fletcher, North Carolina. Production rates at these plants can be scaled according to market demand. According to the current plans, these changes will increase the size of the workforce at the Guangzhou plant, though the overall number of employees in UPM Raflatac’s RFID division will be reduced by about 25 people; UPM Raflatac currently employs 2,600 people in a network of 14 factories, distribution facilities, and sales offices worldwide.
The changes dictated by the plan are expected to be completed by March of 2010. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/archive-4.gif)
