Outcome bodes well for region
HOULTON — Recent changes at the Smith & Wesson facility in Houlton are designed to ultimately lead to upgraded job opportunities in the area. In an article in November of 2013, Houlton Pioneer Times’ staff writer, Joseph Cyr, reported on the cuts of 37 jobs from Smith & Wesson’s Houlton facility.
“This was certainly unsettling news for the region,” said Jon McLaughlin, executive director of the Southern Aroostook Development Corporation in Houlton, “as it is never good news to learn of layoffs.” For the plant located on Aviation Drive at the Houlton Industrial Park, does this mean that the future looks bleak? After taking the time to digest this information and learn more about the facility, McLaughlin believes the answer is a resounding ‘no.’
Smith and Wesson has operated a facility in Houlton since 1966, starting in a one-bay paint shop on Bangor Street where Dickison & London is presently located. Originally the facility made one small part for the Springfield, Mass.-based company. Over the years and a couple of expansions, the company moved to its present location at Houlton’s Industrial Park where it now manufactures handcuffs and law enforcement restraint systems as well as a complete line of metal-framed pistols. More recently, the company announced that it plans to transform the facility.
Smith and Wesson’s business has recently experienced strong growth. Throughout fiscal 2013, orders for the company’s firearms continued to outstrip its ability to produce for most products. The company increased production, but still remained capacity constrained in both the Houlton and Springfield locations. For the fiscal 2014 year beginning April 1, 2013, Smith & Wesson planned to continue to increase capacity.
To increase this capacity requires more manufacturing of parts using sophisticated computerized machining centers (CMC) and a need for more highly trained personnel to run this equipment. The ability to quickly hire employees with the skill needed, or the ability to quickly train a workforce on the required computerized machining skills is much harder to do in other areas of New England, and even southern Maine, as there is a large demand and shortage of skilled machinists. Houlton has shown Smith & Wesson corporate headquarters over the years that it can efficiently accommodate the need for skilled workers. Assembly and all of the ancillary jobs associated with pistol manufacturing, however, can be conducted in Springfield quite easily with the transfer of the assembly equipment back to Springfield. The freed up space, required in the past for assembly and other operations, is intended to be replaced with CMC machining centers.
The Houlton plant, over the next few months, will be converted to a high volume, state of the art machining center that will increase capacity, enhance efficiency, reduce manufacturing costs and lower operational risks.
To make this happen, Smith and Wesson will be investing substantially in computerized equipment as well as major investments in electrical and other renovations.
When the transformation is complete and everything is operational, which is expected to be in late summer of 2014, the net job loss outlined earlier is expected to be only approximately 12, since additional employees with the necessary skill sets will have to be hired to operate the many new machines that will be in place. This result would continue to make Smith and Wesson one of the region’s largest employers.
McLaughlin has worked with Smith & Wesson officials on many of their projects over the past few years and continues to support the growth strategy of the company.
“In total, the movement to a machining center and the reasons behind it seem to bode well for the future security of the plant,” he said. “And furthermore bring continued employment in the southern Aroostook region.”
SADC continues to push forward with its mission to attract and guide new business to Southern Aroostook for the betterment of our area. SADC is a private/public-funded partnership and if interested in contributing to their efforts or attending one of their board meetings as a guest, please contact the office at (207) 521-0157.
