Everett-based Intermec will cut 260 jobs in outsourcing, restructuring moves

Everett-based Intermec said Thursday it will eliminate 260 jobs, 180 of them local, as it outsources assembly work and restructures service operations over the next year. The company also reduced its projected second-quarter revenue.

The 42-year-old manufacturer of data-tracking technologies, such as RFID (radio frequency identification) systems and bar-code printers, said it will shutter its final-assembly facility in Everett.

Those operations will move to Southeast Asia and be run by a contract manufacturer, Singapore-based Venture Corporation Limited.

Venture, whose revenue last year approached $3.9 billion, has performed subassembly and manufacturing tasks for Intermec for at least 10 years, said Dennis Farber, Intermec's senior vice president of global supply-chain operations.

Intermec stock plunged 20 percent Thursday, bottoming out at a 52-week low and closing at $16.08.

A technology supplier like Intermec can get squeezed during economic slowdowns when business clients suspend or delay planned projects, said Eli Lustgarten, an analyst at Longbow Research.

Reik Read, an analyst at Robert W. Baird, said that as Intermec watched some of its slated deals recede, it looked to trim costs by relocating its plant closer to the source of the parts in Asia.

Additionally, Intermec said it will close the service depot adjoining its Everett plant, as well as another depot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Those operations will shift to an existing service depot in Charlotte, N.C.

The service depots were a "natural byproduct" of the domestic manufacturing presence, said Mike Wills, senior vice president of global sales and service, adding their consolidation accompanies the final-assembly operation's move from Everett.

The company also said it will transfer its on-site field-service repair to a third-party supplier.

Intermec revised downward its revenue guidance by about 6 percent for the quarter ended June 29. The revised range is $216 million to $218 million, down from $227 million to $232 million.

The revised figures would still top last year's second-quarter revenue of $210 million.

The company earned $7.71 million on sales of $216.78 million last quarter.

Intermec will report its financial results July 31.

Isaac Arnsdorf: 206-464-2397 or iarnsdorf@seattletimes.com