Kinematic Moving Its Manufacturing To Minnesota

Sonora, CA — A longtime Tuolumne County technology company is moving its manufacturing operations to Minnesota.

Kinematic Automation was founded in 1980 and is located on Longeway Road in the Mono Vista area. After being owned locally for decades, it was sold to parent Company Burke Porter, out of Michigan, three years ago.

Kinematic employs around 50 people, and those impacted by the restructuring were notified this week. Only the manufacturing division is moving to Minnesota (a majority of the workforce) and the sales and engineering will remain local.

One of the longtime manufacturing employees laid off relayed to Clarke Broadcasting that company officials announced the changes to staff this week and cited the rising cost of fire insurance (and difficulty in getting coverage) as a big factor in the decision.

Replying to an inquiry about the relocation, Burke Porter has put out a statement, reading, “In response to a strategic change on the part of Kinematics’ parent company, all manufacturing operations will be consolidated in Minnesota effective immediately. This change has unfortunately led to a reduction of the Kinematic workforce in Sonora. The company is working hard to assist the employees in finding new employment opportunities and our thoughts are with the affected workers and their families during this transition.”

It goes on to read, “Despite the workforce reduction it’s important to note that sales and engineering will still remain operational in our region.”

Kinematic makes high-end custom machinery for businesses. Explaining more about what it does, its website notes that it is a “worldwide leader partnering with manufacturers wanting to automate their production processes.” It continues, “No matter your diagnostic device composite, shape or purpose, we provide the absolute best end-to-end automation solutions to increase your manufacturing productivity while lowering your manufacturing costs.”