As lockdown measures across the world begin to ease and global markets re-open, we are starting to see operations at some of our bigger manufacturing plants get back into action. On Monday, PSA’s Luton plant will begin van production, as will Ford’s engine factories, while several car plants are also making a tentative return to business.
Three factors are critical for any current restart to be successful. First, supply chains and the logistics networks to support them, second, reopening of the automotive retail sector to help unlock demand, and third, implementing safe working practices to give staff the confidence to return to work – an extraordinarily challenging task as each sector and, indeed, company, has its own working practices and cultures.
That’s why, this week, SMMT, together with other industry bodies, published a series of sector-specific best-practice guidance covering automotive retail, aftersales and manufacturing. The tailored advice to how to create safe working and customer-facing environments is based on government guidelines and you can find it here.
