SUMMERVILLE -- American LaFrance has temporarily laid off up to 100 hourly production and salaried personnel in an effort to improve production flow, the company said in a statement.

The furlough will begin December 17 and will continue until Jan. 14, 2008. The company hopes to have all employees return to their current positions and wages on January 14. Throughout the furlough period, employees will continue to receive all health insurance benefits and will be eligible for unemployment benefits as well.

American LaFrance’s satellite facilities in Hamburg, N.Y., Ephrata, Pa., and Sanford, Fla., will experience an extended holiday shutdown between December 26-31, 2007. All critical support personnel will be available through this period.

During the temporary furlough, effort will be placed on conducting a complete physical inventory.

Additionally significant effort will be placed on aligning all systems from production, finance, and engineering to produce sustainable results. These actions will be taking place at all Charleston-area locations. Production cells that have manufacturing parts available will continue to operate through the period uninterrupted.

“This temporary furlough is necessary to “re-boot” the company and position American LaFrance for a successful 2008,” says Bill Hinz, President & CEO of American LaFrance LLC. “While it pains me to implement this strategy, this short-term move gives us a chance to reset our work-in-progress priorities and return to an on-time delivery schedule. By having a firm grasp on our manufacturing parts needs, we can better manage our run rate and give our customers and suppliers a more consistent schedule. This effort creates a winning proposition for all concerned parties.”

American LaFrance manufactures and distributes fire and emergency apparatus including chassis, aerials, ambulances, pumpers, rescues, tankers and wildland vehicles. The company also manufactures a line of vocational vehicles under the Condor brand.