Beckman’s Chemical Unit Moving to Carlsbad Plant

Beckman Instruments Inc. of Fullerton said that it will move its production of chemical mixtures from a Brea facility to its Carlsbad plant over the next 12 months.

Most of the 100 employees affected will probably relocate to Carlsbad, the company said.

Beckman said it would try to find jobs for the few who do not move in its other plants in Fullerton and Brea, which will continue to produce diagnostic instruments, company spokeswoman Elke Eastman said. “The company does not expect any layoffs,” she said.

The Carlsbad plant will become one of three Beckman plants worldwide to produce reagents, mixtures formulated to test biological fluids for chemicals useful in diagnosis of disease. The other facilities are in Puerto Rico and in Ireland.

The consolidation of U.S. reagent production came after an internal study showed that the company had “significantly more worldwide reagent production capacity than is required,” said Jack Wareham, vice president of Beckman’s diagnostic systems group.