FORWARD TWP — BASF, the chemical company on Mars-Evans City Road, will furlough 17 of its 137 employees over the next six months in a site restructuring plan.

Site manager Judy Brinkman announced on Friday afternoon that the employees were notified Thursday of the situation, which is part of a site restructuring that is meant to improve efficiency and competitiveness at the plant and orient the business for growth.

Brinkman said the employees furloughed are from the operations, supply chain and logistics, business management, maintenance and site services, and quality systems departments. She said the positions eliminated are in all levels, from labor to management.

She would not divulge whether any top managers were furloughed.

The employees will be offered a standard BASF severance package, the details of which Brinkman could not discuss. She also would not comment on whether any of the 17 were offered an early retirement package.

Brinkman said a six-month transition plan has been created and will be put into place immediately. She said the plant will use the expertise of BASF employees from the Florham, N.J. corporate office in the transition process.

The corporate experts, said Brinkman, will help analyze all existing positions, then look at what efficiencies can be employed to improve the site’s overall processes, streamline the plant’s work, and perform it faster.

“We are looking at an overall restructuring of how we do business,” Brinkman said.

She said the move is less a money-saving tactic and more of a measure to improve processes and procedures at the plant, which produces chemicals mainly for the pharmaceutical industry.

“BASF is always looking at strengthening and improving benchmarks, and strives for operational excellence in all sites and functions,” Brinkman said.

She said BASF is looking at the possibility of producing new products at the plant, and the restructuring will help do that.

“We regret the impact this has had on the individuals who are losing their jobs,” Brinkman said, “but this is something that was necessary for the Evans City site to ensure long-term viability of our site and to position us for future growth and maintain our competitiveness.”