More sad news today. Sony Corporation of America (SCA) announced that that its Sony DADC Americas (SDA) subsidiary will shift DVD production from its Pitman, New Jersey plant to its main manufacturing facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. This move will result in the loss of 160 jobs in Pitman, which currently employs approximately 570 people.

According to the company’s statement, “in light of the continued challenges posed by economic conditions and the current competitive landscape, Sony DADC is taking additional steps to manage costs and achieve greater operating efficiencies in its supply chain network. As part of this process, the Pitman facility will transition to a CD manufacturing operation and all DVD production at this location will be terminated.”

Sony DADC in Pitman is a manufacturing and distribution center for CDs, DVDs and video game titles, in addition to housing finance, shared services, procurement and customer services. The roughly 500,000 square foot facility (230,000 manufacturing/270,000 warehouse) began producing vinyl LPs in 1960 (as CBS) and CDs in 1988. Existing CD capacity is around 18 million discs/month and DVD capacity is 15 million discs/month. Blu-ray Disc (BD) production was expected to begin in mid-2009 but never came to fruition.

This move follows close on the heels of Sony shuttering its Dothan, Alabama plant, which manufactured professional and consumer magnetic tapes as well as print media products and coating material for optical discs.

For more information visit: www.sonydadc.com