JCB INDIA:
The country’s leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment, JCB India has announced a 10 day pause
across all its manufacturing facilities in India. The company has cited the
rising number of Covid cases for this temporary suspension. Deepak Shetty, CEO
and Managing Director of JCB India said, “Due to an increase in the infection
rate around us, the health and safety of our colleagues and their families has
become even more important. We have decided to pause manufacturing operations
for 10 days, starting May 1, 2021. This is a precautionary measure and applies
to all our manufacturing locations at Ballabgarh, Pune and Jaipur”
“Sufficient
inventory levels have been built to support the demand for our products during
this period. We do not foresee any challenges in the availability of JCB
products for our customers in India or for our export markets. All our customer
and dealer facing functions will operate normally, while adhering to local
guidelines. There will be no disruption in product support for equipment being
used by our customers due to this pause”
He
further added, “It is important to break the chain of the infection. Most of
our employees in our offices are already working from home and this temporary
pause of manufacturing activities will further help in lowering the active
number of cases in and around our manufacturing facilities”.
MARUTI SUZUKI
: “As part of the car manufacturing
process, Maruti Suzuki uses a small amount of oxygen in its factories while
relatively much larger quantities are used by the manufacturers of components.
In the current situation, we believe that all available oxygen should be used
to save lives. Accordingly, Maruti
Suzuki has decided to advance its maintenance shutdown, originally scheduled
for June, to 1st to 9th May. Production
in all factories will close for maintenance during this period,” said a
statement from the company. The company has been informed that Suzuki Motor
Gujarat has taken the same decision for its factory.
MG MOTOR INDIA: MG
Motor India decided to close its plant for seven days and conserve industrial
oxygen so that it can be diverted to the healthcare segment. Rajeev Chaba,
President & Managing Director, MG Motor India, said, “In these times, our
efforts are directed towards keeping people safe and maximizing service to the
communities.”
The
carmaker has also joined hands with Devnandan Gases Pvt. Ltd. in Gujarat
recently. The association has increased the production of oxygen by 15% per
hour at one of the latter's plants in Vadodara within a week of their
partnership. MG further aims to increase it by 50% soon.
Under
its community service umbrella MG SEWA, the carmaker is dedicated to serving
society. It has recently announced that it is providing lunch to families of
patients at GMERS Hospital. At present, MG’s Hector Ambulances continue to
serve doctors and medical staff during their service to the nation. The
carmaker is also importing oxygen concentrators for the affected family members
of its employees. More similar initiatives are expected to be announced under
MG SEWA soon.
Going
forward, the carmaker does not see any deterioration in demand. However,
supply-chain constraints would continue in the month of May 2021. The
production will be impacted by the shortage of semiconductor chips globally and
the limitation in working hours due to curfews and lockdowns in various parts
of the country.
As
a result of the lockdown, sales during the last 15 days of April 2021 were also
impacted and overall retail sales during the month stood at 2,565 units.
However, MG Motor India’s production and vehicle dispatches to dealers were
significantly higher than retail sales, with the carmaker currently having an
order backlog of over 3 months across its product lines. The carmaker is
currently left with no stock at its Gujarat plant.
HERO MOTOCORP: Hero
MotoCorp was among the first auto
companies to announce that it was proactively halting operations temporarily at
all of its manufacturing facilities across the country, including its Global
Parts Center (GPC), in view of the ongoing escalation in the spread of Covid-19
across the country.
The
company will utilise these shut-down days to carry out necessary maintenance
work in the manufacturing plants. The shutdown will not impact the company’s
ability to meet the demand, which has been impacted due to localised shut-downs
in many states and production loss will be compensated during the remainder of
the quarter. All plants will resume normal operations post this short shutdown
period.
Each
plant and GPC remained shut for four days, in a staggered manner between April
22 – May1 basis the local scenario. All corporate offices of the company are
already in Work from Home (WFH) mode and very limited colleagues are in offices
on rotation basis for continuity of essential services, the company stated.
MAPMYINDIA: MapmyIndia, India’s leading digital
mapping & location-based deep-tech company, is offering to install GPS
tracking systems for free in all vehicles carrying oxygen for hospitals, across
India
Manufacturers,
transporters, hospital administrators & government authorities can see the
live location/movement of these vehicles and can get alert/report instantly if
and where those vehicles are stopped. Email on contact@mapmyindia.com or call
+919999333223 with company and vehicle details - MapmyIndia will align
installation and live tracking dashboard teams to get you started ASAP!
The
MapmyIndia GPS tracking solution, once installed, will make sure that the oxygen/medical
supply trucks are tracked real-time by both the consignor and consignee,
eliminating any diversion or pilferage en-route. The various stakeholders will
be immediately alerted of any route deviation or any incidents that may happen
on the way, triggering corrective action can be initiated without any delay.
The solution will enable critical supply planning well in advance, and with a
high level of accuracy. This will minimise stock-outs of critical supplies like
oxygen, and will go a long way in saving Indian lives, the company said in a
statement.