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.
Additional information:
Mikael Mäki, Manager, Corporate Communications, Valmet Automotive
Mobile: +358 50 317 4308
mikael.maki(at)valmet-automotive.com
Image bank available at https://www.valmet-automotive.com/media/
www.valmet-automotive.com
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The Valmet Automotive Group is one of the largest vehicle contract manufacturers in the world, Tier 1 systems supplier to roof systems and a key development partner to the global automotive industry. In its strategic development, Valmet Automotive Group focuses on electromobility with developing and supplying modules as well as battery systems. The activities in the group are divided into the four business lines: Manufacturing, Engineering, EV Systems and Roof & Kinematic Systems. Since its founding in 1968, Valmet Automotive has produced more than 1.5 million vehicles at the Uusikaupunki, Finland plant. In Salo, near the Uusikaupunki plant, Valmet Automotive opened its first volume production of batteries for the automotive industry in autumn 2019. The company has locations in Finland, Germany, Poland and Spain. The largest shareholders in the Valmet Automotive Group are state-owned Finnish investment company Tesi and the Pontos Group, each with a stake of 38.46 percent. 23.08 percent is held by the Chinese Contemporary Amperes Technology Limited (CATL), the world’s leading manufacturer of batteries and battery cells for electric vehicles.