Overall, the company said, the restructuring phase will focus on four measures:
Creation of more efficient operational production and procurement processes;
Improvement of pricing and price-setting processes;
Reviewing and, if necessary, determining if changes within the portfolios of businesses are needed and if adaptations within the production sites are necessary; and
Stabilisation and sustainable improvement of operational earnings.
Semperit's first measures within the Sempertrans and Semperform businesses primarily will be focused on pricing and continuing to create world class manufacturing with more efficient production, the spokeswoman said.
That, she added, will ultimately help lead to both businesses becoming more profitable.
Sempertrans produces conveyor belts used in everything from mining to heavy industry. Semperform makes construction and industry profiles, handrails, ropeways, rubber foils and sheeting, pipe seals, membranes for expansion vessels, and a variety of other products.
In addition to the current optimisation steps being made, the company will focus on accelerating the implementation of any necessary investment projects quickly and profitably within the firm's Semperflex and Mixing operations, the spokeswoman said.
The Semperflex segment manufactures and sells hydraulic hoses and industrial hoses, while the mixing business produces compounds that are then applied to machines to extrude an intermediary or final product. All of the company's mixing activities are based on secret recipes, she said.
Semperit already has said it will close its Sempertrans' belting plant in Argenteuil, France, and is in the process of moving the facility's production operation to its large complex in Belchatow, Poland, which has been expanding its capacity with the addition of new equipment, the spokeswoman said.
Its Belchatow plant, which produces belts for the North American market, has grown about 50% with the addition of new steel and textile presses and another calender, she said. Those additions were part of phase one of the project.
In addition to the facility in Poland, Sempertrans operates a textile belt factory in Roha, India, and a textile belting site in Taierzhuang, China.
Focus on growth