Production lines start rolling again

FACTORIES in Shanghai are returning to full production while guaranteeing the safety of employees amid the coronavirus epidemic.

Yanfeng Adient Seating Co, a joint venture by Adient and Yanfeng, one of the largest automotive suppliers in China, says most of its employees are back at work.

All the company’s factories in Shanghai have resumed operation.

By February 20, 86 percent of white collar and technical staff were eligible for work, 10 percent were at home for 14-day quarantine, while the remaining 4 percent had yet to return.

Among the plant’s workers, 84 percent were eligible for work, 1 percent were in quarantine and the other 15 percent hadn’t yet returned.

The company is facing challenges in restoring production capacity as some suppliers had not yet resumed work, but it will be able to resume full capacity by mid-March, according to Zang Chungao, the company’s executive vice president.

Zang said sales were only affected in the short term, and would be made up in the next few months as demand remained solid.

Zang was thankful for the city government’s support for enterprises amid the epidemic.

“The 28 measures launched recently, together with other preferential policies and actions, have helped us a lot,” Zang said. “In addition, authorities have clarified relevant information and knowledge and gave detailed explanations, enabling us to better understand the policies and measures that we can benefit from.”

Siemens Healthineers, a leading medical equipment manufacturer, said its Shanghai plant had generally resumed work.

The company provides staff with hand sanitizer and face masks, and takes the temperature of workers and visitors before they enter, said Wang Hao, president of Siemens Healthineers in China.

Siemens was among the first batch of companies to support prevention and control of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the hardest-hit city.

It has donated 15 million yuan (US$2.13 million) worth of medical equipment to help fight the epidemic, including computed tomography machines and mobile digital radiography equipment which can be used in diagnosing coronavirus pneumonia.

More than 6,200 Siemens employees have donated 2.2 million yuan for prevention and control of the epidemic.