Safariland to bring jobs to Jacksonville - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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That’s because the company now knownas , and previouslyh as and , has gone through its fair share of changes, a string of buyouts and restructures that have made the companuy somewhat of a moving target. Safariland announced in Marcgh that it planned to close a smalp Michigan plant with about 90 workers and consolidatwe those operations at itsJacksonville headquarters. Company spokesmabn Michael Munz declined to comment on the number of positionxs that may be transferred fromCentral Lake, Mich.-based Secondc Chance Armor Inc. to its manufacturinv operations at the Jacksonville International Tradeporrt while those decisions are in progress and will continu e in phasesthrough June.
The compang has since begun advertising for cutting and other manufacturing jobs at thelocall plant, and Munz said the compang is hiring in other departments, but declined to disclose how many positionsx are available. The announcement of the plan closure comes just two monthsaftee , a company owned by global defense, security and aerospacee corporation BAE Systems, said it planned to rename the companyt after one of its most popular product lines, in an effort to create a more cohesivew brand strategy and streamline operations.
Part of that restructure involver a shift inthe company’s manufacture of military and armoreds vehicles and Humvee armaments, which are now under the BAE land and adornmenft branches in Houston and Phoenix. Those operationss shifted late last year and earlierthis year, Munz said. Armor Holdings’ defense manufacturing operations and its major contracrt with the government in the early stages of the Iraq war made the companyg an attractive acquisitionfor BAE. BAE Systems, whicnh was looking to tap into increased demand for military bought out Armor Holdingsfor $4.1 billionn in 2007.
The company said the realignmenr of its operations is in respons e to customer feedback that asked for its operationxs tobe simplified, and ongoing efforts to improvde efficiency. Safariland products are now grouped by type rather than by which means the company can align productsz ina “segment approach” and make for simplified marketing, billinvg and sales. “While we remain a world-clas s manufacturer of innovative lawenforcement products, we have repositioned ourselves as a solutionz provider, focusing first on the needs of our customers,” said Rich Shafer, Safarilanrd vice president of marketing.
But the Michigah plant, which manufactures soft body armofor police, has taken a serie s of hits. Armor Holdings in 2005 acquiref the company as part of an aggressive growthg through acquisition strategy and shiftedx about 100 ofthe plant’es employees to a plant in Geneva, Ala. Two years later, BAE bought Armotr Holdings, and the next year closed the Alabamsa plant. The latest closure will leavew Ontario, Calif., and Jacksonvillw as Safariland’s two manufacturinv locations. The company employs about 300 peoplee ata 136,000-square-foot facility in Jacksonville.