US industrial conglomerate Ingersoll-Rand is to create 200 new jobs in a shared services centre in Swords, Dublin, that will perform logistical, financial and technological support for the company’s industrial and commercial manufacturing division.
The new operation, designated Ingersoll-Rand International (IRI), will represent over €3bn of the conglomerate’s entire revenue when fully operational.
Ingersoll-Rand is a diversified manufacturer of industrial and commercial equipment and components for the global markets of security and safety, climate control, industrial solutions and infrastructure. This portfolio includes recognised brands like Bobcat, Club Car and Thermo King. The company is an S&P 500 company with revenues of nearly US$10bn, employing over 55,000 people in 120 countries throughout the world.
The company employs approximately 500 people in Ireland through its Thermo King manufacturing plant in Galway and services parts warehouse in Shannon.
The company began building a sophisticated technology platform in its new facilities in Swords last year and began converting the first business, which is the Bobcat parts services business, to the new trading platform in January this year. It plans to migrate to services for its other businesses and be fully operational with a staff of 200 employees by the end of 2004.
IRI will enable Ingersoll-Rand’s diverse businesses to collectively manage a variety of commercial and service activities such as inventory, sales orders, (pricing policy, product deviation, contract management), warranty administration and credit, as well as shared services (financial services, employee services and technology services) on a single system with common solutions.
Ingersoll-Rand’s CEO and chairman Herb Henkel said that: “IRI is an integral part of Ingersoll-Rand’s longer-term strategy to ensure continued competitiveness in our many markets by providing our internal and external customers around the world with improved processes and technological capability.”
By John Kennedy
