A. Schulman, Inc., a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, powders and resins, announced today plans to create an Accounting and Shared Service Center of Excellence (“SSC”) in Akron, Ohio that will be responsible for back office processes for all U.S. and Canada operations.
“The decision to create this SSC is in line with actions we’ve already successfully implemented in Europe, and will greatly enhance our internal processes and productivity. Additionally, this project will contribute to our Smart Savings initiative in the region,” said Joseph Levanduski, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “This program will foster greater efficiencies, harmonization and enhance service levels to our customers as we fully integrate these functions into one center of excellence.” Plans call for a phased implementation and will impact associates responsible for general accounting, credit, collections, accounts payable and payroll transactions. This plan will also systematically complete the conversion of the remaining non-standard ERP platforms at sites in the United States.
The Company expects this initiative will result in the elimination of approximately 25 headcount throughout the United States partially offset by the addition of approximately 15 headcount at the SSC. Anticipated costs of this action are expected to be approximately $2.5 million over the next 18 months. The SSC is expected to deliver annual savings of approximately $2 million when fully operational in the first half of fiscal 2018, and will benefit the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 by approximately $0.3 million.
Source: A. Schulman, Inc.
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