KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

TE Connectivity will be moving production of select product lines from Tullahoma to Mexico, impacting several of its employees in Tullahoma.

According to an email obtained by The News from Luis Navarro, Senior Vice President and General Manager at TE Connectivity, in order for TE Connectivity’s Industrial & Commercial Transportation (ICT) business to maintain its market leadership and the competitiveness of its product lines, the company needs to continually evaluate how it produces its products, as it will ensure the long-term benefit of all of the stakeholders, including employees. He continued and said after careful review, it was determined that TE Connectivity will be moving production of select product lines from Tullahoma and Empalme, located in Mexico, to Querétaro, also located in Mexico.

 “This will allow ICT to be more agile in meeting the evolving needs of our customers in the region, also providing the needed capacity for future localization and product launch,” Navarro said in the email to ICT employees. “Rebalancing our portfolio, while simultaneously upgrading processes, technologies, and capacity, will allow us to move closer to our goal of TEOA (TE Operating Advantage) Star Level 5 performance, and to operate at the efficient, optimal level required by our customers.”

Navarro added since production will be reduced, the workforce will be affected for both sites.

“We realize this is a difficult time and we take this opportunity to recognize out teams in Tullahoma and Empalme for their service as this action in no way is a reflection on their collective performance,” he said. “We will be providing severance benefits to the impacted colleagues, including outplacement services to assist them in this transition.”

In a statement to The News, a TE Connectivity spokesperson confirmed the move of certain production lines.

“As a result of a continuous analysis of our operations, TE Connectivity’s Industrial & Commercial Transportation business unit has decided to transfer the production of selected product lines to other TE locations so that we become more agile in responding to the evolving needs of our customers,” the spokesperson said. “We will provide affected employees with severance pay, benefits continuation and outplacement services to assist them in their transition. Tullahoma remains an important location for TE. Our manufacturing plant there, along with our Customer Fulfillment Center, will continue to play a crucial role for our business.”

When asked how much of the workforce will be impacted, the spokesperson referred to the previous statement for the extent of information they were able to provide at this time.