11.07.2008

Genie lays-off 120

Aerial lift manufacturer Genie has laid-off 120 full-time employees and an undisclosed number of temporary workers at its Redmond and Moses lake plants.

Genie spokeswoman Melinda Zimmerman-Smith is quoted in the local press as saying: "Our business is a cyclical one. We're responding to the industries we serve, particularly construction which has been hit by rising fuel and raw-material costs.”

Vertikal Comment

These layoffs follow adjustments at most other equipment manufacturers as lead times have moved from being excessively long to being relatively short. In Genie's case the fact that the company has also added significant extra capacity overseas in the past 12 months also needs to be taken in to consideration.

With most, if not all Genie Z45/25 series models destined for Europe now being built in Italy and the small electric scissors being built in Coventry, UK, even in a static market this would have freed up capacity at the Washington state facilities.

The fact that manufacturers are scaling back in a world market where growth is slowing, if not taking a breather, is good news for the industry as a whole. In past slow downs manufacturers have tried to tough it out by continuing to pump out product at the same levels and win a larger market share by discounting sales prices or funding those rental companies that should not be funded.

This strategy rarely works and causes more serious problems later on.

Current aerial lift production is not massively out of tune with the market, and the underlying demand is still growing, so sensible cut-backs by each manufacturer will hopefully keep supply and demand in balance and keep the market healthy for both producers and rental companies through this period of slower growth.