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NCR says new facility in Ga. won't be affected by job cuts

NCR's Peter Dorsman says NCR's manufacturing presence in the U.S. is strong, and the company expects to add 30 employees to its Columbus, Ga., plant by year-end.

November 9, 2009 by

See a slideshowfrom the grand opening ...

Despite the economic downturn, and a recent announcement to cut the company's global workforce between 5 percent and 10 percent by the end of the year, NCR Corp. says things are good in Georgia.

NCR officially cut the ribbon Oct. 29 to celebrate the grand opening of its new 340,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Columbus, located about an hour outside of Atlanta. The facility's primary purpose: To manufacture and distribute the company's SelfServ ATM line in North America.

Peter Dorsman, NCR's senior vice president and chief operations officer, says job cuts won't affect NCR's new establishments in Columbus and Duluth, Ga., where NCR has based a new development and innovation center. In fact, he says the plant in Columbus expects to add 30 people to its workforce by year-end — bringing the total manpower at the plant to 150. When at full capacity, the facility will employee more than 800. But the company is making cuts in other parts of the world, as it strives to increase efficiency and improve productivity. (NCR's SelfServ ATM plant in Columbus, Ga., is creating jobs)

"Every year we evaluate our employees, and like any company, we cut non-performers and positions that are no longer needed," Dorsman said.

The move down South

In the United States, NCR has a renewed focus, and ATMs are at the crux of it all.

"Back in January, we started to rethink our North American ATM strategy," Dorsman said. "As ATM functionality increases, we wanted to drive innovation and time to market. This move (to Georgia) allows us to improve on all levels, especially with our time to market. Logically, Columbus helped us get closer to a lot of our customers." (NCR's Peter Dorman's says intelligent deposit opens doors)

The move was swift. NCR broke ground on the new facility June 22. Within 90 days, it had revamped an old battery plant to create a state-of-the art manufacturing facility — one that adheres to high environmental standards and optimal production efficiency. The new plant is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified.

"For us, it's about being lean in our design principles," said Rick Marquardt, NCR's vice president of global manufacturing operations. "We've tried to minimize touch; to minimize how far the product and materials have to travel within the plant. Everything in the plant is visible, so you know where each product is along the assembly and production line."

The new facility, for now, will focus production on the SelfServ 34, an exterior through-the-wall ATM, and the SelfServ 38, a freestanding drive-up ATM designed for rugged conditions. Both models offer advanced functions, such as bill payment, funds transfer, mobile phone top-up and mini-statement printing — all of which is facilitated by intelligent, envelope-free deposits. In 2010, NCR says it expects produce other SelfServ models in Columbus as well.

"I like to call it our 90-day journey," said Don Naciuk, director of operations for NCR's Columbus facility. "We were dedicated to getting this facility up and running, to get our ATMs out to market."

One primary factor driving the need to improve time to market in North America is the advent of intelligent deposit. Dorsman says intelligent deposit is the foundation upon which all advanced ATM functionality is built, and NCR is touting its ability to rapidly meet the demands for customized ATMs with advanced functions.

"At the end of the day, the winners in the banking space will be those who offer the channels that their customers and members want," Dorsman said. "Every institution will be different, but they all understand that consumers are demanding more and that the experience, regardless of the banking channel used, must be consistent and integrated."