Approximately 200 hourly production employees at Zimmer Inc. will be laid off over the next 18 months as Zimmer's fracture products manufacturing moves to Puerto Rico, it was announced Wednesday.

Beginning in April, Zimmer's Warsaw facility will begin phasing out its fracture manufacturing, and the layoffs will occur in phases over the next 18 months, said Brad Bishop, Zimmer spokesman.

Fracture products include plates, screws, pins and other hardware used to treat broken bones.

While hourly employees will be affected immediately, the company said salaried and administrative positions "associated with the manufacturing activities" will be evaluated.

Besides the 200 hourly employees, the company said approximately 40 production/maintenance positions in Warsaw will be eliminated.

Zimmer has about 1,800 employees in Warsaw, Bishop said.

Known as one of the highest paying orthopedic manufacturers in the area, Zimmer said fracture products manufacturing is moving to the company's Caribe plant in Puerto Rico as a cost-cutting measure: "... Future growth depends on our ability to meet customer requirements for lower prices on fracture and soft goods production. To meet those requirements, production is being shifted to sites where labor and overhead rates are significantly lower."

Bishop said no figures are available for how much Zimmer hopes to save by moving fracture manufacturing to Puerto Rico.

The "restructuring" effort also will include stopping manufacturing operations at Zimmer's facility in Statesville, N.C., which will affect about 125 hourly and 30 salaried employees.

A Zimmer Career Transition Center has been set up in downtown Warsaw to help laid-off employees develop job-seeking skills and to help them find other jobs.

A statement from the company did not rule out moving other departments in the future: "We have no current plans to move other manufacturing, although we are always assessing our production requirements and how we can best address them." [[In-content Ad]]