Production will resume at the Porsche Zuffenhausen and Leipzig plants from May 4. Porsche has taken necessary protective measures in advance to ensure the safety of employees to the greatest extent, and gradually increased production until it fully resumed production. All employees will gradually return to work as production ramps up at the Zuffenhausen and Leipzig plants. Porsche has negotiated with the labor council and the health management department on specific processes related to production, logistics and procurement, and will strictly abide by the relevant requirements of government agencies.
“The resumption of work in the factory is an important signal for our employees and customers. We have monitored and analyzed the development of the epidemic very carefully since the beginning of the epidemic, and flexibly adjusted the progress of our resumption of work.” Member of the Executive Board of Porsche AG , Mr. Albrecht Reimold, responsible for production and logistics, said, “Under the premise of taking special protective measures, now is the right time to face the future and resume work.”
The Porsche factories in Zuffenhausen and Leipzig have prepared a comprehensive set of measures for the resumption of work. In addition to ensuring the safety of employees, these measures also aim to resume orderly and efficient production as soon as possible. For example, employees in the production department must maintain a safe distance of at least 1.5 meters, abide by basic work rules, and wear masks to work within the designated area.
Porsche regards medical institutions and medical personnel as the most important force in the fight against the “epidemic”, and does its best to provide them with the required protective clothing and other items. As a result, companies are working hard to organize purchases and donations of medical equipment. At the same time, Porsche also made donations to hospitals and donated food to food banks (charitable organizations that provide temporary assistance to families facing food shortages due to financial difficulties). In addition, Porsche also donated an additional 5 million euros to help the ongoing fight against the epidemic.
Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, said: “It will take a huge effort to make the economic and social system work again, and everyone must contribute to this. At the same time, we must also remain active in the face of the epidemic. An optimistic attitude. Because every crisis contains opportunities, and we want to make the most of them.” On March 21, 2020, Porsche decided to temporarily close the Zuffenhausen and Leipzig plants for two weeks, after which the company reassessed and adjusted this move. Factories were closed for a total of six weeks due to the inability to carry out orderly production due to supply bottlenecks in the global supply chain affected by the epidemic.
In addition to suspending production, Porsche also adopted a series of strict measures in the early stages of the epidemic. At present, these measures will remain in effect until further notice: this means that other employees outside the factory will still maintain a high proportion of mobile work, all meetings will be in the form of video or telephone conferences, and the prohibition of all official travel will also remain in effect .
