Mcleod Automotive

[Brinda]

Automotiveproduction shut down across the U.S. in mid-March as cases of COVID-19 were increasing across the country. Some facilities have transitioned to making essential items like ventilators or face shields, but the companies have been working to figure out how and when they can restart automotive production.

The workforce, being asked to clock in and interact with coworkers or customers as a disease with no cure spreads across the world, is voicing concern. Workers have organized at Instacart and Amazon to demand higher pay and greater protections, according to The New York Times.

At a Smithfield meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota more than 200 cases spread. The Centers for Disease Control issued more than 100 recommendations to the facility as a result of the outbreak. Smithfield now faces a lawsuit brought by employees.

As automotive factories remain shuttered it is not just the big three companies that are trying to figure out operations, but an entire network of suppliers that feed the just-in-time supply chain. And it's not just supply issues companies have to navigate: stay-at-home orders across the country have been a significant hit to demand.

"If you're on home lockdown nobody's going out and shopping and buying vehicles," Sigmund Huber, a senior managing director at Conway Mackenzie told Supply Chain Dive in an interview. But as the industry grapples with an unknown demand forecast, it has to figure out how to operate factories safely, Huber said.

One automotive supplier, Lear, has released an edition of its Safe Work Playbook to provide guidance for operating safely during a pandemic. "While this is not a one-size-fits-all approach, we are sharing these potentially helpful recommendations with other companies as they develop their own plans for resuming operations," Lear CEO Ray Scott said in a press release. The 80-page playbook covers topics like deep cleaning and social distancing.

Ford plans to bring a small number of employees back to its Detroit factories today to get the locations ready to restart production but said a start date had not yet been determined, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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