Minnesota-based H.B. Fuller Company provides adhesives, sealants and specialty chemicals to customers in a wide range of industries – everything from medical and hygiene products to transportation, energy and construction.
Despite the diversity of its end markets, H.B. Fuller’s leaders recently expressed disappointment in its Q4 earnings statement, pointing to sluggish customer behavior, pricing volatility, high material costs and tight margins.
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CEO Celeste Mastin said the company must now "prudently prepare for a challenging volume growth environment in 2025" in order to improve its profitability. She says it also plans to continue with an existing strategic plan that involves aggressively consolidating the company’s footprint.
H.B. Fuller says it hopes to cut its 82-plant production footprint down to 55 by closing or selling 27 plants between now and 2030 – about a third of its global manufacturing network.
Further, the company says its North American warehouse count will go from 55 to 10 by 2027.
The result of these efforts will produce an annual savings of $75 million when fully implemented.
The company said in its earnings report that the footprint consolidation plan, when paired with a “planning and logistic reorganization,” would help drive margin improvements, serve customers better and reduce future capital expenditures.
HB Fuller has an estimated workforce of around 7,200. It is unclear how significantly these closures and divestitures will impact that number.
Editor’s Note: A representative for the company did not respond to our request for a comment.
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