Montreal, Canada and Bethel, CT -- 04/03/2009
The manufacturer of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT and Mongoose
bicycle brands is closing its Longmont test and design center
as part of a global restructuring plan for the company.
http://www.dorel.com | http://www.cannondale.com
Dorel Industries, parent company of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT,
Mongoose and Sugoi, announced it was consolidating locations
in the United States, while phasing out production in its Bedford,
Pennsylvania factory.
The number of Bedford employees will shrink from 300 to 100 by
late 2010, as Cannondale moves 100 percent of its production to
its new facility in Taichung, Taiwan. The Bedford facility will be used
for final bicycle and Headshok assembly, some CNC machining,
esting and quality control, bicycle warranty repair, inside sales/
service, distribution and customer support/administration (including
a new call centre on-site).
The Lake Forest, California and Longmont, Colorado facilities,
home to GT and its testing facilities for years, will close as part
of the consolidation. All high-end jobs will be based out of
Cannondale's original Bethel, Connecticut facility, with some
current employees being offered jobs in Connecticut.
Pacific Cycles, based in Madison, Wisconsin, will focus strictly on
mass market bikes, where its roots lie since Chris Hornung began
selling bikes from the Orient in the mid 1970s. Dorel bought Pacific
for US$375 million in 2004.
According to Dorel, all North American product development,
marketing and business management functions for all four cycling
brands (Cannondale, Schwinn, GT and Mongoose) will move to
Bethel, within the newly named Cycling Sports Group (formerly
the Cannondale Sports Group).
“Our vision is to create the most innovative and admired company
in the recreation and leisure marketplace, and to become a global
leader, which is why the Dorel segment was established in the first
place,” said Robert Baird, president of Dorel’s Recreational/Leisure
segment. “The strategy for transforming that vision into reality
requires a unified, collaborative, and highly engaged workforce,
relentlessly committed to innovation and supported by management
in rapidly advancing the quality of the products and services we deliver.
“The Cannondale purchase led us to segment our bicycle business
to provide best-in-class service to the distinct retailer categories,"
he added. "Naturally, Cannondale and CSG are key components
of our commitment to our independent bicycle dealers (IBD) as
we realize how critical IBDs are to the cycling community and to us.
"In addition to the plans outlined above, and to ensure we delight
our customers with our distinctive brands, innovative products and
impactful in-store programs, we are also consolidating our North
American CSG operations to two locations from five.”
Dorel has created 'five centres of excellence' around the world, with
each location focused on a specific market segment or expertise.
These centres will be based in:
* Bethel, Connecticut (global headquarters and innovation
centre for high-end and enthusiast bicycles)
* Basel, Switzerland (for high-end and
enthusiast bicycles sold/marketed in Europe)
* Madison, Wisconsin (for global mass market products)
* Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (for active
lifestyle and urban apparel and footwear)
* Taichung, Taiwan (for coordination of sourcing,
testing and quality of Asian suppliers/partners)
Bedford has been Cannondale's domestic bicycle manufacturing
hub since the first model, the ST500, rolled off the line in 1983.
Company founder Joe Montgomery sold panniers and child trailers
in 1971, taking the company public in 1995. A misguided effort into
motorcycle production brought the company to bankruptcy in 2003.
Italian road star and 2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso currently
races a Cannondale SuperSix HiMod carbon road bike with the Liquigas
team. Stars who've raced Cannondales include Mario Cipollini, Damiano
Cunego and Gilberto Simoni (Saeco), Tinker Juarez, Brian Lopes, Missy
Giove, and Myles Rockwell.
Dorel, founded in 1962, is a Montreal-based publicly traded company
with annual sales of US$2 billion. Dorel purchased Cannondale and Sugoi
from Pegasus Partners for nearly US$200 million in early February 2008.
ACC - Dorel's Recreational/Leisure Segment Launches
Worldwide Centers of Excellence Strategy April 02, 2009
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/arch ... c6795.html
