Customer demand prompts Trek moves

By Steve Sharp of the Daily Times staff
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:28 PM CST

WATERLOO - Trek Bicycle Corp. representatives said this week customer product demand was the impetus behind their decision to redesign a portion of their work force at the Trek manufacturing facility in Waterloo and to terminate some positions in Whitewater.

According to Trek Manager of Human Resources Jeff McFarlane the firm is not moving any manufacturing work out of the country but is “realigning the work force” to meet customer demands.

“And that means welding less product and producing more carbon fiber product,” he said. “This affects Waterloo. But no positions are being lost and we are offering transfers within the Waterloo facility at no wage or benefit reductions.”

According to McFarlane, approximately 50 employees at the Waterloo facility will be affected by the internal transfers starting in February and running through early March.

“Those people are mostly from the welding department, but some are in the paint department,” he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

In addition to action being taken in Waterloo, some positions at the Whitewater Trek Bicycle Corp. plant are being eliminated.

“But that is a small number, something like 15 to 20 positions,” McFarlane said. “Most of that is in assembly, so we will assemble fewer bikes in Whitewater and those people being lost are being offered severance packages.”

McFarlane said the staffing reduction in Whitewater is part of Trek's ongoing effort to operate using an efficient business model.

“We've always used the philosophy of making bikes where it makes business sense to do so and our high-end product has always been made in the U.S.,” he said. “We are focusing more on carbon fiber than welded product due to customer demand. Carbon fiber is a lighter material, so a lot of this is weight-related. But carbon fiber gives a ride characteristic that is popular these days.”

He said carbon fiber is used in some Trek mountain bikes but is more popular on bikes ridden on roads.

McFarlane said it is too early to tell how many of the workers from the Trek welding and paint departments will be accepting reassignments within the company in Waterloo.

“We made the announcement of the changes last week in the company and it's hard to say right now who's leaving and who is staying,” he said. “They have jobs here if they want to stay with Trek.”

Trek is a top maker of high-end bikes, which it sells through independent specialty bike shops worldwide. Trek makes mountain, road, children's, tandem, police and BMX bikes. In addition to high-performance bicycles, the company sells gear and clothing.

Trek Bicycle was established by Richard Burke in 1976 and sponsors racing teams and athletes, including Lance Armstrong who is a seven-time winner of the Tour de France.