Troubled Kaypro Lays Off More Workers

SAN DIEGO — Kaypro Corp., the financially distressed personal computer manufacturer, said Wednesday that it laid off 40 workers at its Solana Beach manufacturing and office facility last Friday, a 17% reduction in its work force.

Kaypro spokesman Joseph Marcello also said Wednesday that Kaypro’s cash flow is now insufficient to finance the company’s operations and that payment of some suppliers has been delayed. As a result, some of those suppliers have refused to ship Kaypro necessary components to make some of its computer products.

Marcello said he could not say how the company was getting cash to fund operations. In the past, Kaypro Chairman Andrew Kay has personally loaned Kaypro more than $2.8 million to pay its bills, but Marcello said he could not say whether Kay has made more loans recently.

Kaypro’s 12-acre manufacturing plant in Solana Beach is scheduled to be sold Feb. 27, Marcello said. Gains from the sale are ticketed to provide the company with cash as well as pay off a $7-million loan from Commonwealth Financial.

Marcello said Kaypro booked $145,000 in orders for its computers Jan. 31, the highest daily total in three months. He held out the possibility that, if the order rate is maintained, Kaypro might hire back some of the workers laid off last week. The layoffs reduced Kaypro’s payroll to 198 workers.

The company has been cutting jobs steadily over the last 18 months. Last Thursday, the day before the latest round of layoffs, Kaypro said in a press release that it had reduced its payroll to 238 workers, from the 577 as of October 1987.

Of the 40 workers let go last week, 20 were manufacturing employees and the rest were spread among technological support and engineering staff, Marcello said.