HarleyTechTalk

 Is there going to be a Open House at York
this year at Factory
 

Good question

Is there going to be a factory in York? With a new CEO you never know

Might be an open house at the local job service or unemployment office

I'm on vacation and took the factory tour today at the York plant. The tour guide said that there would be an open house at the York facility this September. However, she didn't mention the possibility that the York plant might be closing. She also said she didn't have any idea what models had been canceled for 2010, which seems to be one of the worst kept secrets out there.

It would be a shame if they close the plant. It is quite impressive. It covers more than 200 acres and makes parts not only for its own use but also for other plants to use. The people who work at the York plant are also quite involved in community projects. Closing the plant would be a huge economic blow to the people who work there and those who depend on them.

Thanx guys  Its that its a nice place to go to
The town has grown in the years  Get to other
towns like Hershey Carlisle Harrisburg Mechanicsburg
some of the smaller towns like Lewisberry Boiling Springs
and of corse Hogestown  To head north to New York
south to Baltimore is easy That part of Pennsylvania
has race tracks like Williams Grove Reading all kind of factories
to take tours all kinds of farms and great roads to travel on
is a great part of this country to go to and see
but its the Harley plant that keeps it alive and to grow
I just dont want it to change  Just get better

According to what I've found there will be open house in York, on Sept. 24 through 26.

http://www.yorkopenhouse.com/

Is York the place where they assemble the 96" engines before they install them in the bikes on the line?

I believe the 96" engines are built in Milwaukee then shipped to York.

York is finally assembly (motors shipped from Milw.) for th eSoftail and FLH line.  Dynas and V-Rods are final assembled in plant in Kansas.

 
HARLEY MIGHT CLOSE YORK PLANT-- Company blames cost of doing business in York County. Harley-Davidson is considering moving its local operations out of York County as a possible option to getting the local manufacturing hub's cost structure right.

Spokesman Bob Klein said Tuesday the company has found that the York operations are "not competitive long-term as they are currently structured," and might consider moving those operations to "alternative U.S. locations."

Moving the Springettsbury Township plant is not the only option the company is considering.

Harley-Davidson until recently employed more than 3,000 workers locally but the number has been dwindling as sales have slumped. The total now stands close to 2,650.

Although Klein would not compare local numbers to other locations within the company, Klein said the number of employee hours it takes to make a motorcycle at the Springettsbury Township operations is not cost-effective.

In Hanover, at least two local businesses could be affected if the plant were to close.

Leonhardt Manufacturing, 800 High St., manufactures parts for Harley-Davidson, and Stambaugh Metals, 802 High St., does metal polishing for the plant. Spokesmen for the firms could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Harley employees were told of the possible move at meetings Monday.

A study assessing the options for the York County operations and the best options for the company is expected to come out this fall.

When asked whether the company would seek to renegotiate the terms of the union contract,

Klein said the contract was due to expire in 2010, so contract issues will come up soon regardless. Klein also said the company would "work closely with the union, with our union partners in York" to find options.

Harley-Davidson is already doing consolidation at its Milwaukee facilities, and Klein said the manufacturing operations in Kansas City were built in the mid- to late 1990s with efficiencies in mind.

A spokesman for the union representing workers at Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township operation said Monday's meetings had some question-and-answer format to them and the consolidation or moving options got the most attention, although more options were discussed.

"It was just one of dozens of possible scenarios discussed," said Frank Larkin, spokesman for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

As part of the current wave of job cuts announced earlier this year, the company said it could cut production jobs through production line slowdowns to make fewer motorcyles and by consolidating some currently separate aspects of production into a single location on site.

Mike Smeltzer, executive director of the York-based Manufacturers' Association of South Central Pennsylvania, was dismayed by the Harley news.

The impact wouldn't just be on Harley employees, he said, but would also be on workers in other businesses that supply the plant with everything from sheet metal to office furniture, and on people in service jobs such as the restaurants where Harley workers eat.

"Oh my gosh! It's hard to measure the impact."

The good news, Smeltzer said, is that the skilled workers from Harley would almost certainly be employable in the current economy.

The bad news is that it would likely take a while - a year or more - for all of them to find jobs. Smeltzer likened it to pouring another gallon of water on a sponge that's already wet. They would be entering a market where plenty of other people are also looking for jobs.

-- By BRENT BURKEY
For The Evening Sun

   Now that the free for all engaged by "management, business people and Wall Street" has crapped out they are looking for other ways to contiue living way better than us "middle class". Harrass, threaten and do what ever they can to make sure their obsene pays contiue by screwing someone/everyone else. Can we say Union Busting and contract "give backs"?

mark61

It's strange that they would say this.
Harley-Davidson is already doing consolidation at its Milwaukee facilities, and Klein said the manufacturing operations in Kansas City were built in the mid- to late 1990s with efficiencies in mind.
But they didn't mention the new assembly line and improvements in York just a few years ago.