GenCorp Inc. [GY] on Monday said its Aerojet Rocketdyne business has launched a competitive improvement program aimed at cutting costs and boosting operational efficiencies, which it expects will result in annual cost savings of about $145 million by 2019.
In a rebranding move, the company also said it is changing its name to Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., and will adopt the stock ticker symbol “AJRD” with the NYSE, a change it expects will occur in late April.
Aerojet Rocketdyne is GenCorp’s largest business. The company also has a real estate segment that handles its excess property assets.
“Aerojet Rocketdyne has made a commitment to our customers and to the government to improve the affordability of our products, products vital to our nation’s defense and continued access to space,” Scott Seymour, president and CEO of GenCorp and Aerojet Rocketdyne, said in a statement. He said the improvements are part of a long-term strategy and will result in being “better positioned to deliver our innovative, high quality and reliable products at a lower cost to our customers.”
The four-year competitive program includes facilities optimization and footprint reduction, product affordability, and reduced administrative and overhead costs. Some of the details and activities include a 10 percent reduction in its 5,000-plus workforce, lean manufacturing initiatives and implementation of shared services, and factory consolidation.
“We believe that these actions are essential to improving both the near and long-term health and performance of our business, in the context of a highly competitive and resource-constrained market environment,” Seymour said. Additional options will be reviewed, he added, “to increase operational efficiency across all sites, achieve additional savings and improve our overall market competitiveness.”
GenCorp had $1.6 billion sales and a $53 million net loss in 2014. Aerojet Rocketdyne accounted for all but $6.2 million of the sales.