Fisher & Paykel Appliances announced plans last week to consolidate its three manufacturing operations in California, Australia and New Zealand into the Reynosa factory, which includes two buildings with more than 350,000 square feet combined. The company should retain much of the workforce.
The move comes four months after Whirlpool, which has 750 employees at the Reynosa factory, made public its plans to move its operations here to Coahuila. The factory is expected to cease production under Whirlpool in July.
Later that same month, the facility is slated to resume production under Fisher & Paykel, which is expected to employ about 400 people here by the end of the year.
“We moved primarily because of (Reynosa’s) competitive labor force and the proximity to the North American markets,” said Scott Davies, a spokesman for the company.
Fisher & Paykel plans to bring over a manager from New Zealand to oversee the operations.
The factory will make side-by-side refrigerators, cookers and DishDrawer dishwashers.
Fisher & Paykel is spending about $100 million to move to Reynosa, but it will save about $50 million a year from consolidated operations and cheaper labor, according to a company news release.
It plans to begin producing its DishDrawer line at the Reynosa facility by January.
With Fisher & Paykel’s new factory, it’s hoping to expand its presence in North America, Davies said.
Whirlpool has been one of the largest manufacturers in Reynosa since the company purchased Maytag in 2004.