Incap concludes plant determination

In year 2006 Incap has invested strongly into future growth and internationalisation according to its strategy, and approximately EUR 0.9 million was used into development of functions. The most significant investments included the start-up of the new factory in Kuressaare and the production transfers from Vuokatti to Kuressaare as well as the examination of new business opportunities in India. Further, the organisation was strengthened especially in materials management and sales. Incap has today concluded the co-determination negotiations that began last May at its factory in Vuokatti. A total of EUR 0.5 million will be booked as non-recurring expenses in the result of year 2006, and this is included in the above-mentioned operating profit estimate. Most of the planned production transfers from Vuokatti to Kuressaare were implemented in 2006 and there will not incur any significant expenses in 2007 for them. Prototype fabrication and manufacturing of pre-production series will remain at Vuokatti, along with volume production suitable for the unit's capacity. The capacity at Kuressaare can then be used for new products for both current and future customers. As a result of the industrial co-operation procedures, 53 people will be made redundant, of whom 48 are blue-collar workers and 5 office staff. After ending fixed-term employment contracts and redundancies made due to the co-determination procedure, the amount of personnel at Vuokatti factory will be 137 persons. Operations at Vuokatti factory have been reorganised and a development program has been initiated to markedly improve working efficiency. Ms Vuokko Piirala, B.Sc. (Eng.), has been appointed Director of both the Vuokatti unit and the development program on a fixed-term basis. She has previously worked as Business Controller at Incap Group, and has prior to that for many years worked in electronics industry in different management positions both in production and materials management, among other things.