FAIRLAWN, OH — OMNOVA Solutions announced Sept. 23 that it will immediately suspend coated material production at its Taicang, China plant and consolidate the operation into its Shanghai, China facility, pending future improvement in the domestic and export furniture and automotive upholstery markets.

Coated material falls under OMNOVA's Decorative Products business segment, which also includes laminates, 3D laminates and release liners for the wood products market.

"By consolidating all coated fabrics manufacturing into our well-established and larger Shanghai facility, OMNOVA will improve our capacity utilization while continuing to provide quality products and timely service to our customers in China," said Kevin McMullen, OMNOVA Solutions' chairman and CEO. "Since the production processes at both facilities are largely redundant, the transition period will be very brief. Importantly, as the local and export markets regain momentum, our Taicang site remains an attractive option to support future growth."

The idling will affect approximately 95 employees at OMNOVA's Taicang plant. Some employees will have the opportunity to transfer to the company's Shanghai facility, the company said.

Annual sales from products manufactured at the Taicang plant were approximately $8 million. Cash costs to idle the facility are estimated at $0.5 million, which will be incurred during the fourth quarter of 2011. Cost savings from idling the plant are forecasted to be $1.2 million in 2012.