Procter & Gamble to cut 180 jobs at oldest plant, sell operations

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Procter & Gamble Co. said yesterday it will eliminate 180 jobs at Ivorydale, the oldest manufacturing plant in its system, by contracting out some manufacturing operations there and moving another.The changes are to take place during the first half of 2003, reducing P&G’s manufacturing employment at the suburban Cincinnati complex from 525 to about 345 workers. It is part of the continuing effort in recent years by P&G, maker of Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and Folgers coffee, to reduce operating costs.The company told workers at Ivorydale during a meeting yesterday morning. The plant, located in St. Bernard, Ohio, makes Ivory soap and has operated continuously since 1886.P&G said it is negotiating to sell its bar soap manufacturing operation at Ivorydale to Trillium Healthcare Products Inc. P&G said it expects that, by April, Trillium will take over making Ivory, Zest, Olay, Safeguard, Camay and Old Spice soaps at the plant. P&G will continue to own and distribute the brands.Trillium makes liquid and bar soaps and also provides contract manufacturing services to Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies at plants in Canada.Cinergy Solutions Inc., of Cincinnati, is negotiating with P&G to take over operation of the generating plant, which provides electric power for Ivorydale’s operations. The transfer to Cinergy should be done by April, P&G officials said.By July 1, P&G intends to relocate production of its facial wash cloths from Ivorydale to a P&G plant in Belleville, Canada.The reductions still will leave a P&G work force at Ivorydale and adjacent plants of about 1,400 people at a technical center and a laundry detergent and chemicals plant. A new fabric and home care innovation center is also being built on the site.Some of the affected workers at Ivorydale will become employees of Trillium or Cinergy Solutions, while others will be laid off. P&G will try to reduce the number of layoffs by offering some workers transfers to other P&G sites, company spokeswoman Linda Ulrey said.It is the latest round of changes at Ivorydale. In February, P&G sold the plant that makes olestra, P&G’s fat substitute product used in Frito-Lay’s Wow! snack chips, to Twin Rivers Technologies, L.P., of Quincy, Mass. And a Crisco plant at the complex is now operated by the J.M. Smucker Co. under a deal completed in June in which P&G sent its Jif peanut butter and Crisco cooking products brands to Smucker.