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Ruukki to Improve Efficiency of Steel Service Center Network

12/14/2009 - Ruukki plans to improve operational efficiency by merging its Puurtajankatu steel service center with the Asponkatu steel service center in Järvenpää, Finland. The steel service centers in Seinäjoki and Raahe will be merged to form one organization, and operations at the Hyvinkää center will be reorganized.

Ruukki plans to improve operational efficiency by merging its Puurtajankatu steel service center with the Asponkatu steel service center in Järvenpää, Finland. The steel service centers in Seinäjoki and Raahe will be merged to form one organization, and operations at the Hyvinkää steel service center will be reorganized.
 
Ruukki has a total of seven steel service centers in Finland.
 
Employer-employee negotiations regarding these changes ended on December 11 and resulted in the loss of 153 jobs. The company says that 15 of the persons affected will be subject to various pension arrangements and that 11 people facing redundancy were found new jobs elsewhere in Ruukki.
 
Ruukki says that it will assist in the re-employment process through, for example, local training programs carried out in association with the Finnish employment services. Data about persons facing redundancy also will be collected centrally, says Ruukki, to ensure that any vacancies arising are primarily offered to redundant employees.
 
Some steel service centers will have to temporarily lay off workers, beginning in March 2010 at the earliest. The extent and duration of layoffs will vary depending on site.
 
In an attempt to save costs, the capacity of plate and prefabrication operations at the Raahe Works will be adjusted to meet demand by using just one pusher type slab reheating furnace for rolling and by changing shift schedules. This move will release around 30 people from prefabrication and maintenance operations, but these people can fill job vacancies at the works to replace fixed-term contracts, says Ruukki.
 
The company plans to review the need for layoffs each month until the start of the summer holiday season.