Europe

Valmet Automotive restarts car production today at the Uusikaupunki, Finland car plant. Production has been suspended since April 3 due to lack of components caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

All Valmet Automotive plants are now operative, as the battery plant in Salo, Finland and the roof and kinematic systems plant in Zary, Poland, have restarted production previously. Special attention is paid to measures to ensure personnel safety.

The pandemic problems of the automotive industry have been reflected at Valmet Automotive plants in component shortages, leading to production halts and furloughs. However, as automotive supply chains have resumed their activity in recent weeks, Valmet Automotive has now ensured component deliveries for all production sites.

Both the Uusikaupunki car plant and the Salo battery plant aim to increase production volumes on a fast schedule after restart. Both plants are scheduled to operate at full capacity from August, after the summer vacation season.

At the production restart, special attention is paid to measures and instructions that create a safe working environment for personnel. The most salient new points include various solutions to ensure social distance, increased cleaning at facilities, mandatory face masks and coronavirus-related training and the possibility to test workers for coronavirus.

Even before the restart, all visits to the car and battery plants had been banned, business traveling restricted, hand-sanitizer commonly available, remote working recommended, meetings arranged online or by phone, and personnel actively informed about the company measures against the coronavirus.

– Valmet Automotive’s production halt was relatively short, which strengthens our outlook for this year. We restart our production with total attention to the personnel safety. Our solutions are in line with those of OEMs or even at a higher level, says Pasi Rannus, SVP, Manufacturing, Valmet Automotive.