Volkswagen reopened the world’s biggest car factory at Wolfsburg in Germany on Monday after the coronavirus forced it to shut down for the longest period in its 82-year history.
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The world’s largest carmaker has made 100 changes to the way its plants operate as it tries to restart business without risking the health of hundreds of thousands of workers. Its experience underscores the daunting task ahead for manufacturers as they resume work in a world still reeling from the pandemic.
“We have never developed, produced and sold vehicles under these conditions before,” said Bernd Osterloh, the top labor representative at Volkswagen (VLKAF).
The gigantic Wolfsburg plant is located on the banks of an equally impressive feat of human engineering, the 200-mile long Mittelland Canal connecting sea and inland ports in Europe. Originally built in 1938 to house workers for Volkswagen’s factories, Wolfsburg isstill home to the group’s headquarters and has produced more than 45 million cars since 1945.
It’s where the iconic Beetle was produced for more than three decades and where the automaker’s bestselling models, the VW Golf series and the Tiguan, are made today.
The plant shut on March 19 as the novel coronavirus tore through Europe, prompting carmakers to halt production across the continent after borders were closed and national lockdowns imposed. Its reopening is symbolic of wider efforts to kickstart economies in Europe, where some 14 million people work in jobs connected to the automobile sector.
The sprawling factory complex covers 6.5 million square meters (70 million square feet). It churned out about 700,000 cars last year, or roughly 3,500 a day. Some 63,000 people work on the site, about half the residents of the city after which it is named.
Reopening Wolfsburg has been anything but straightforward. The plant depends on a supply chain spanning 71 countries and more than 2,600 companies, all dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus. Volkswagen has put in place 100 different health and safety measures, agreed with its workers,with information displayed on more than 8,000 posters at the plant, and explained in booklets.
“Volkswagen is setting a standard for German industry with this agreement,” said Osterloh.
What’s changing at Wolfsburg
The company plans to ramp up production slowly, in line with the availability of parts, government requirements and the demand for cars, which collapsed as the coronavirus spread. It expects to build 1,400 cars at Wolfsburg this week, risingto 6,000 next week, or about 40% of outputprior to the pandemic.
“At Volkswagen, health takes precedence over speed,” Thomas Ulbrich, head of e-mobility for the Volkswagen brand, said in a statementlast week when the company reopened its electric vehicle plant in Zwickau, Germany.
Wolfsburg will restart with one shift of 8,000 production line workersinstead of the usual 20,000. Hours will initially be reduced for some employees, with shift changes arranged so that workers arriving don’t meet those that are leaving. Workers will be expected to check their own temperature and change into their uniforms at home each morning, rather than on site. They will be asked to use elbows to open doors and walk in single file once inside, following markers on the floor to keep space between people.
Social distancing will be enforced during team meetings and over lunch breaks, with reduced seating in common areas and conference rooms converted into office spaces. Canteens will remain closed and workers asked to bring their own lunch. Water dispensers have been temporarily removed to reduce the likelihood of infection and air conditioners set to circulate as much fresh air as possible.
Tools will be disinfected after every shift and workers will no longer pass them to one another by hand, instead setting materials down in containers so that others can pick them up at a safe distance. Several hundred additional hand washing facilities are being installed throughout the plant.
Vehicles will be spaced further apart on the factory floor and workers will complete tasks on the same car separately where possible. Masks will be worn where it is not possible to keep 1.5 meters (5 feet) apart.
Another huge challenge for Volkswagen and other manufacturers will be ensuring that the armies of suppliers entering their factories do not increase the risk of infection. Volkswagen, which also owns the Audi, Porsche and Seat brands, said it has shared its 100-point safety plan with more than 40,000 suppliers and logistics partners throughout the world.
CREDIT: CNN
